Adrian Murray from St. Bridget's School with his wild salmon from the Royal Canal in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, with fisheries officers Dermot Broughan (left) and Tony Robinson

From the Irish Times - Derek Evans

ANGLING NOTES: I HAVE HEARD it all now. Salmon caught at sea? Yes. In rivers and loughs? Yes. But in a canal. Surely not? But it is true. On a recent outing to the Royal Canal, Adrian Murray landed a wild salmon in Mullingar. Murray, along with pupils from St Bridget’s School and supervised by fisheries staff Dermot Broughan and Tony Robinson, caught and released the fish near the the Harbour Bridge.

Scale samples revealed the salmon was a kelt. Broughan’s synopsis is that it entered the River Inny via the Shannon and then went into Lough Owel from the overflow near Bunbrosna. Once in Lough Owel, it made its way into the water supply system, which enters the canal.