When I was a kid on the Shannon during the forties and fifties there was still at least one punt gunner plying his trade. The results were visible in several poultry and fish dealers around Limerick all through the Winter. In the mid to late fifties I used to hunt ducks near the cottage of the very last of these characters. His punt and gun would be drawn up on the foreshore near his front door. That very gun is now in the Limerick Museum. What a monster. About 20 years ago there was an article in “Shooting Times” the U.K. magazine, about a guy who built his own multi barreled muzzle loading punt gun. Used it on the Severan estuary. Obviously a project and a pastime for nutters. C’est la vie.
