School of Falconry

Best vacation activity EVER. TJ is a two-year-old Harris hawk that we accompanied around the grounds of Dromoland Castle this afternoon. We thought maybe we'd each get to handle the bird once, but we each received our own leather glove. As Jim the falconer walked us through the woods and educated us about the history and details of hawking, he would set the hawk free to fly into the trees, then place a small bit of beef on one of our gloves and down would swoop TJ to land on your arm and gobble up his treat.

Jim admitted that he'd taught TJ some bad habits. On several early walks, TJ had hopped on someone's head and Jim had quickly held out a treat to get him down. The hawk quickly learned that if he wanted a treat, he should jump on somebody's head.

It's amazing how light and delicate they are. Am I rambling? It seems like it, but I can't really express how incredible this was. You're standing there with a hawk on your arm, and you can barely believe it's happening.

After the walk, we visited the mews where they keep their other dozen hawks, falcons and owls. Pretty amazing.

Not sure we'll be able to top this.