Casa Rizzini: An Italian Hunting and Fishing Outfitter on the Shores of Lough Owel
Casa Rizzini is the trading name of Casa Rizzini Irlanda Ltd., an Italian family-run business that has organised high-end hunting and fishing holidays from a lodge on the shores of Lough Owel in County Westmeath, Ireland, since 1995. It is a long-established, fully licensed, internationally active outfitter with deep roots in the Irish countryside and a catalogue of trips that spans Ireland, continental Europe, the Americas and the Arctic.
Who Are Casa Rizzini?
Casa Rizzini is the trading name of Casa Rizzini Irlanda Ltd., a Limited company registered in Ireland under Tour Operator number 307256. The company has been on the market internationally since 1995, is fully tax-compliant with a current Irish Tax Clearance Certificate, and carries public-liability insurance. Its vehicles are registered in Ireland and licensed for public transport, its boats are insured and fitted with European-standard auto-inflating lifejackets, and its B&B rooms are registered with the Irish authorities. The company is also registered with the IFI (Inland Fisheries Ireland) to issue fishing licences, and all of the hunting concession-holders it works with hold government-granted shooting rights, are registered as tourist hunting operators and are fully insured.
The business is essentially the personal project of the Rizzini family, who moved from Italy to Ireland in 1992 to realise what founder Carlo Rizzini describes as a lifelong dream of living from hunting and fishing. After visiting more than forty countries on every continent in pursuit of game and sport fish, the family selected Ireland as their base and built their operation around a 4-star lodge overlooking Lough Owel, a Blue Flag lake recognised for the purity of its potable water.
The Rizzini Family
Carlo Rizzini, born in 1952, traces his origins to Villafranca di Verona and Palmanova, and his earliest memories are of a sling and a fishing rod. As a child he cycled twenty to thirty kilometres to fish for pike, carp, eel and minnow with two friends, and went shooting with his grandfather Aldo, his father Pin and his uncle Renzo, the man who really showed him everything there is to know about setters and wild quail. Carlo is a qualified Professional Hunter (PH), an international television personality associated with the .410 (or 36 magnum) calibre, and the author of the book Dove ci porta il vento ("Where the wind takes us").
His son Alberto Rizzini is the operational face of the fishing side of the business and presents his own television series (First Emotions, Browning Rocks). His wife Rita Rizzini is the host of the lodge: she has lived in Ireland since 1995, cooks Italian food daily for guests using fresh local ingredients, and is the reason Casa Rizzini offers "all the comforts of Italy in a house set in a park of centuries-old plants and with a breathtaking view of the lake". The wider Casa Rizzini team includes professional hunters, boatmen and local guides selected personally by Carlo over thirty years.
Location and Lodge
The Casa Rizzini lodge sits on the shores of Lough Owel, a few kilometres from Mullingar in County Westmeath. Accommodation is in comfortable double or single en-suite rooms, with full-board catering. The lodge is also described in older copy as a four-star property in an "old English" style with a spa, and a more rustic "glass house" directly on the lake edge. Wi-Fi, mini-bar and daily housekeeping are all included. For visiting sportsmen and women who bring their own dogs, the company provides collection by approved dog-transport vehicles, or can advise on the shortest ferry route from France, which saves around 1,224 km by avoiding a transit through Great Britain.
Hunting in Ireland
Three core Irish hunting packages form the backbone of the programme. Each is run on exclusive ground secured by Casa Rizzini, with a head keeper and local guides rotating the team between hotspots as conditions change.
Wood Pigeon Hunting
The flagship product. Shooting takes place from camouflaged hides on the grain and pasture lands south of Dublin, over stubble of rapeseed, barley and wheat. Casa Rizzini holds exclusive access to more than 200 farms, which means the team can move guests to wherever the pigeons are working on any given morning. The recommended period runs from early July through to mid-August on summer stubbles, and again from early December to mid-January on winter rapeseed shoots and beech woodland. Birds are taken both from single hides and from team hides set up by the company, with seats, camouflage netting and decoys all provided. See the Wood Pigeons Hunt in Ireland page for the package in English, or the Italian Caccia ai Colombacci page.
Woodcock and Snipe with Pointing Dogs
Ireland's mild, Gulf-Stream-tempered winters make it one of the most important wintering grounds in Europe for woodcock and snipe, and Casa Rizzini's pointing-dog programme is built around exclusive areas set aside for this style of hunting. Woodcock are worked in birch, beech, rhododendron, wild-broom and pine forest where a dog can be seen doing its job; snipe are walked up over flat, roadless bog with no pylons or buildings, where the purity of the air means pointing dogs can lock on to birds tens of metres away. The season runs from the start of November to the end of January. Guests can bring their own dogs (collection arranged by approved transport) or travel with their own vehicle via the France - Ireland ferry route. The package is described on the Pointing Dogs Hunting in Ireland page.
Driven and Walked-Up Hunts
For those who prefer driven shooting or walked-up rough shooting, Casa Rizzini runs English-style driven days on private estates for pheasant, red-legged partridge and mallard, with beaters, loaders and pickers-up. The terrain chosen is the Wicklow Mountains, where the natural gullies were literally created by nature to flush game right at the edge of the gun. Driven woodcock and walked-up snipe are also available in the same season. Accommodation on these packages is in a "luxurious old-English hunting lodge" with spa facilities, and the package is described as a "5-star" hunting experience. Details are on the Driving and walking up hunts in Ireland page.
Worldwide Hunting
Carlo Rizzini's "passione caccia" portfolio, accumulated over forty-odd countries, is condensed into a select handful of international destinations, each run through carefully vetted local correspondents who share Casa Rizzini's standards on accommodation, guide quality and fairness to the game.
- South Africa - Antilopi e Pianura. Kudu, eland, impala, springbok, blesbok, blue wildebeest, bushbuck, red hartebeest, duiker, warthog, oryx and Grey-Wing francolin. Hunting is one-to-one with a qualified PH, transport by Jeep and on foot, in colonial-style lodges. A driven Monteria for springbok is also offered. See the Caccia in Sud Africa page.
- Uruguay - Mixed Bag. A week-long "school of hunting and shooting" hosted by Carlo and Alberto Rizzini themselves, on partridge (Chica), dove (millions), pigeon, ducks and hare, with 15 highly trained Setters, Pointers, Brittany Spaniels and German Pointers and their handlers. Accommodation is in a private castle. See the Caccia Mista in Uruguay page.
- Sweden - Forest Grouse. Undisturbed birch and pine forest with blueberry understorey, no roads and no power lines: the realm of black grouse, capercaillie and ptarmigan. Guests can bring their own dog or use the guides' Setters and German Pointers, with all transport by comfortable Jeep and helicopter. See the Caccia in Svezia page.
- Scotland - Driven Grouse. Scotland is described as the country where "hunting is part of daily life". Casa Rizzini holds exclusive access to the best estates for driven red grouse, with lines of 100 or more beaters and "bags of other times" over the butts in August heather. Pointed-grouse days with local championship dogs, goose and duck flighting, and red-deer stalking are also available, with accommodation in exclusive castles, relais-châteaux and hotels. See the Caccia in Scozia page.
- Greenland - Musk Ox and the Polar Circle. A genuine expedition with Inuit guides, their dog teams and sledges, hunting musk ox and ptarmigan across the permanent ice, with icebergs viewed by boat on arrival and the northern lights overhead. See the Caccia in Groenlandia page.
- Canada - Ducks, Geese and the Great North. Two distinct programmes: in British Columbia on the Yukon border, fly-in access by floatplane to a 3-million-hectare territory for Stone sheep, white goat, mountain caribou, grizzly and moose; and in Saskatchewan on the migration highway south, where Canada geese, snow geese, blue-winged geese and Ross's geese pour off the tundra. See the Caccia in Canada page.
Fishing in Ireland
The fishing arm of the business is run primarily by Alberto Rizzini and is built around the same exclusive-access philosophy as the hunting side.
Pike Fishing on the Irish Lakes
Casa Rizzini is the longest-established pike-fishing outfitter in Ireland, having run trips for over twenty years. The team operates a Nitro ZV 18 with an Optimax 200 hp outboard, billed as the only one of its kind in Europe, equipped with Humminbird ONIX electronics, a Minn Kota electric motor and other gear to enable safe travel in poor weather. Methods include fly, spinning and casting, and the operation is strictly catch-and-release, with guests taught lure technique, fight and careful release if they are new to the sport. A small in-season competition called the "Pike Trophy" adds a tournament element. See the Pesca al Luccio page.
Salmon on the River Moy
Salmon fishing is run on the River Moy in County Mayo, about 250 - 300 km west of Dublin. The Moy rises in the Ox Mountains of County Sligo and its waters are reserved to clubs, associations and private families; Casa Rizzini handles all permits. Fishing starts at dawn or shortly after (depending on tide and weather, agreed the evening before), with locally sourced specialist flies and lures available, and a four-star hotel 300 m from the bank providing full board and packed lunches. Salmon can be smoked and vacuum-packed locally to take home. Season: 1 February to 30 September. See the Pesca al Salmone page.
Sea Bass on the Irish Coast
Around an hour's drive south of Dublin Airport, guests meet their guide each morning and head out by boat along the coast. On days when conditions prevent going afloat, the day switches to rock fishing. The B&B is on the coast near the harbour. Season: late June to late September. See the Pesca al Branzino page.
Fishing in Mexico
The international fishing programme is anchored by a long-running partnership with the Grand Slam Fishing Lodge at Punta Allen, on the Yucatán Peninsula. Punta Allen is a tiny fishing village of a few hundred inhabitants, 45 km down a dirt road from Tulum, in the Sian Ka'an reserve. It has no mobile-phone signal but the lodge has internet and international calling from every bedroom, and rooms with sea-view hot tubs. The fishing is for Permit, Tarpon, Snook and Bonefish (the Grand Slam), with Barracuda, Jack, Snapper and Ladyfish also on offer. Season: late April to early October. See the Pesca in Messico page.
Television Productions
Casa Rizzini is unusual among outfitters in producing its own broadcast television. The Casa Rizzini television library includes a substantial collection of programmes, such as the Italian-language series Maestri & Campioni with Renato Lamera, Giovanni Peliello, Francesco d'Aniello and Valentina Cuzani (four world and Olympic champions); Full Action .410, twelve episodes in which Carlo Rizzini hunts clever game across Europe with the small-bore .410; First Emotions, Alberto Rizzini's series aimed at younger hunters; A caccia dove ci porta il vento ("Hunting where the wind takes us"), a global travelogue; and Esox 360, dedicated to the pike. English-language clips, plus episodes from Pike Fishing Ireland 2016, Wood Pigeon Hunting Ireland - Episodes 1 & 2 and Snipe & Woodcock under pointing dogs, are available on the Casa Rizzini YouTube channel.
The Book: "Dove Ci Porta Il Vento"
Carlo Rizzini's biography, written under the title Dove ci porta il vento ("Where the wind takes us"), is available directly from Casa Rizzini for € 45 including postage. The limited-edition book is not stocked in bookshops; it is partly a technical book about the .410 calibre, partly a memoir of more than forty countries across four continents, and partly a record of the family's decision to build their life in Ireland. Part of the proceeds go to charity to help Italians in difficulty abroad. See the Carlo Rizzini biography page.
Hunting Calendar
The Hunting Calendar summarises the open seasons for the species Casa Rizzini hunts in Ireland and abroad. Highlights include Irish wood pigeon from July to mid August and again from December to mid January; snipe and woodcock with pointing dogs from November to the end of January; Scottish driven grouse in August heather; springbok and other plains game in South Africa; partridge and dove in Uruguay; capercaillie and black grouse in Sweden; and Canadian geese and ducks in the autumn migration window.
Planning a Trip
Because every Casa Rizzini package is custom-built around the guests, their dates, the species they wish to pursue and their travelling companions, the company does not publish a fixed price list online; instead, the pages on hunting and fishing invite visitors to Richiedi un preventivo / Request a Free Quotation, and the booking form on the Vacanze Irlanda page allows prospective guests to describe their request and the contact number at which they would like to be called back. All quotations come from the team themselves rather than from a third-party reseller.
Practical Information
Casa Rizzini Irlanda Ltd. is based at Portloman, Slanemore, Mullingar, N91K0D4, Co. Westmeath, Ireland, on the shores of Lough Owel. The team can be reached by email at info@casarizzini.com or by Skype at casarizziniirlanda. The company publishes updates and trip reports on its Facebook page, on Instagram, and on its YouTube channel. Information is published in both Italian and English and is GDPR-compliant.