An Australian black swan which swapped the idyllic pleasures of the Blessington lakes in Co Wicklow for the rugged beauty of west Clare abandoned its mate in the process for the affections of two whooper swans.
Mr Jim Hayes, manager of the Tulfarris Hotel and Country Club, said that one of two black swans he bought recently from a pet farm mysteriously disappeared five days after it set up home on his golf course.
"They were happy as Larry on our little lakes in our golf course and then one just disappeared," he said.
No evidence of an attack by a fox was apparent, although suspicions ran high. "We could not find any evidence at all of any feathers," he said.
But he was then told of a sighting of a black swan in BallymoreEustace, Co Kildare, followed by a sighting at Tullaheir Lake, in Moyasta, Co Clare, a fortnight ago, which was reported by The Irish Times.
The swan, with a distinctive red beak, had been seen in the company of two whooper swans, which normally migrate to Iceland at this time of year.
"Fortunately for the black swan that is remaining, two of our ducks have adopted it and will not leave it day or night," he said.
He is now trying to get confirmation that the Co Clare visitor is indeed his before making arrangements to reunite the pair before next month's Senior Irish Open golf championship.
The black swan, Cygnus atratus, is a native species of Australia, including Tasmania, and, like its cousins, usually mates for life with one partner.