Golden eagle sighted in the Twelve Bens in Connemara

A golden eagle has been sighted for the second time in two years in the Twelve Bens in Connemara.

A golden eagle has been sighted for the second time in two years in the Twelve Bens in Connemara.

The sighting was made by archaeologist and walker, Mr Michael Gibbons, who is based in Clifden, Co Galway, and was reported to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Mr Gibbons, who saw the bird a week ago, said it may have been one of a pair introduced from Scotland to Donegal's Glenveagh national park in 2001.

Mr Gibbons was just north-west of Binbaun, when he spotted three ravens "making a racket" .

"I was looking westward towards Letterfrack when a bird spiralled up in a looping turmoil of air, and drifted westwards," he said.

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The golden eagle, one of 60 species of eagle worlwide, retreated and became extinct in Ireland in the 19th century.

Since the bird was re-introduced in Donegal, it has been sighted in Tyrone, Fermanagh, Derry, Leitrim, and as far south as north Kerry.

Mr Gibbons said that there had been unconfirmed reports of several sightings in Connemara before, but it is well over a century since it had a physical presence on the Connemara skyline. "It may well be that it is one of a pair checking out potential nesting sites on some of the cliffs around here," he said.

Mr Ger O'Donnell, wildlife ranger said the Donegal birds had all been tagged and could be traced. The service's scanner in the Connemara National Park had not picked up traces of the bird to date, and so this latest sighting could not be confirmed, he said.