Ireland's School of Falconry
About
A licensed zoological collection inside the Ashford estate, set up in 1999 by James and Deborah Knight and, on the school's own account, the first falconry school in Ireland. The product is a private hour-long hawk walk in which you carry and fly a Harris hawk through the estate woodland with an instructor, who talks you through the individual bird rather than the species. The school breeds and keeps its own birds and does not sell them. This is the clearest example of the Ashford estate's split status for a visitor: you do not have to be staying at the castle to book, but the school holds only a limited number of daily slots for non-residents and says they fill fast in summer. Booked guests park in the castle visitor car park and walk about fifteen minutes through the grounds. The school itself stands on the County Galway side of the estate.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓You carry and fly the hawk yourself, not a demonstration
- ✓Private walks only, so no group of strangers
- ✓Woodland on the Corrib shore rather than an arena
Tips
- →Minimum age is 7 for insurance reasons; younger children cannot enter the school at all.
- →Walks run on the hour and half hour between 09:30 and 16:00, subject to availability.
- →Up to two pre-booked adult spectators can come along at EUR 25 each.
- →Showers are fine; the hawks do not fly well in prolonged heavy rain, so ring if the forecast is solid rain.
- →There is a 48-hour cancellation policy.
Best Season
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