River Fane Guide
The River Fane flows out of Lough Ross in a South Easterly direction, past the villages of Inniskeen and Knockbridge, on its way into the Dundalk Bay, just below Blackrock.
The tributaries of the Fane rise in counties Monaghan and Armagh and together with the main river, they form over 30 miles of water. The lower part of the Fane is affected by the tide up as far as Craig’s pool, just below Stephenstown Bridge (the N52 crossing).

Lough Muckno is just upstream of Lough Ross and the two are connected by the River Clarebane, but this is all part of the Fane system. The two other tributaries are the Frankfort River and the Drumleak River, both of which flow into Lough Muckno from the North west side.

The river needs plenty of water to get the fish up over the Mill weir, just below Stephenstown Bridge. In low water the best fishing will be from Craig’s pool (downstream from the Mill weir), down to below Mc Kenna’s Bridge (Green Road crossing). After a good flood the fishing is good right up to about ½ mile above Magoney Bridge, which is just over 2 miles upstream of Inniskeen.

Above Stephenstown Bridge, up to just above Knock Bridge (R171 crossing), you’ve got Fitzgerald’s Pool, Swingbridge Pool, Hall Pool, Narrow Neck Pool, Turn Hole and Duffy’s Pool. From Castlering Bridge (R178 crossing) to Inniskeen the main pools are the Campbell’s Mill Pool, Peppers Wall, Mulholland’s Pool, The Splink and Kearney’s.

The Fane also has good Brown Trout fishing and the best of it is from Knock Bridge upstream to Cullaville Bridge (R179), although there is still plenty of fish right up to, and past, Inniskeen. The fishing is good from late April, right through the summer.
The fishing rights on the river are held between, the Dundalk Salmon Anglers, the Dundalk & District Brown Trout Anglers Association, the Village Anglers (at Inniskeen) and in some cases the Riparian owners. It is advisable to check with each party, as to where their waters are situated.
There is also a syndicate, which controls the Balintra fishery just below Inniskeen, but unlike the rest of the river, there are no day tickets for this stretch.
River Fane Tributaries
River Clarebane
River Drumleak
River Frankfort
River Mullaghduff (Little Fane)
River Fane Neighbouring Rivers
River Ballymascanlan (Flurry)
River Blackwater-Monaghan
River Castletown (Courtbane)
River Falmore (Dungooley)
River Glyde
River Kilcurry (Forkhill)
River Killanny