Hi Newstart
I was the same as you last summer and asked advice of the forum. Had some great replies and helpful information- see Connemara Fly Fishing lower down the page.
Never caught anything but had some great fun casting and the coach who taught me the rudiments of casting seemed quite happy with the set up I ended up with.
Rod was a TFO 9 ft, 8 weight, 4 piece. It cost around £120 but I’m sure someone on the forum will point you to an equally useful rod that’s a good bit cheaper.
Lines were Mill ends 9 weight forward lines from Mullarkeys at around £5 each. See
http://www.mullarkeys.co.uk/
Reel was an Okuma Airframe 7/9 from Veals, around £30 and you can buy spare spools for them.
I got a mixed bag of saltwater flies from Oceanflies
sales@oceanflies.com which is in the UK but I’m sure there are some good supplies in Ireland – I think John Quinlan in Waterville sells them. If you can tie your own, you will find a helpful link on how to use polypropylene string, also lower down the page.
Hope this helps and if it’s really poor advice, I’m sure someone will kindly put me right. :lol:
Tim