Louth falconer breeds two new eagle chicks through artificial insemination – ‘They are like my own children’

Dundalk man Brian, who has lived in Stameen, Drogheda for many years, was the first person in the country to breed the magnificent birds through the process of artificial insemination.

On Monday, two more tiny birds came into the world – the sex of each will take some time to determine – so names are still up in the air, so to speak!

“We still don't know whether they are boys or girls, as you send away the contents of the egg – the blood vessels and everything like that – to England and they do a DNA check on whatever DNA comes up on it then it's either male or female,” explains Brian. “I know that the second one born might be a female because she has a bigger head. And of course the female of all birds of prey have much bigger heads!”

Brian, who owns Newgrange Falconry, a mobile falconry school based in Co Louth, first bred a Golden Eagle in captivity for the first time in Ireland in 2016, sparking hope for efforts to reintroduce the birds of prey here.

He owned the parent birds - Russian Olga and German Odin – which resulted in three chicks; first Boru, then Sky and Conan.

The ‘dad' of the new eaglets is called Eddie (yes, Eddie the Eagle!), and the ‘mum’ was Sky.

"They take a lot of looking after right now, and I have what I think is the female in an incubator, and I am constantly worried about them, and whether the other eagles take to them,” says Brian. “I’m like a Mammy Hen myself, and you’re looking for any signs of problem, and I can lose a lot of sleep in the early weeks.”

Brian says this might be his last AI production, as the birds live for a long time.

“I might not breed anymore eagles because I don't want to end up with eagles that people don't want,” he explains. “ An eagle is a bird that is going to outlive you; they can live up to between 40 and 50 years in captivity, and for 20 to 25 years in the wild.”

The journeys of Brian’s creations have been captured in still and video form by local nature photographer Noel Marry, whose film about Conan’s conception has been entered into the Boyne Valley Film Festival this year.

“We have been working on ‘The Eagle Maker’ since Conan was born in 2021 and I am nervous but excited for people to see it,” says Brian with a grin. “All these birds are so special to me, and they are like my own children.”

Meanwhile Brian is as busy as ever with his Newgrange Falconry business, and has forthcoming displays in Carton House and Castle Leslie.

"I only do a couple days of the week anymore, even though people still love to see these magnificent creatures,” he adds. “This is my passion, and I love to see how much enjoyment people get."

More details on https://newgrangefalconry.com

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