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"Are you brave enough to look straight into the eyes of a killer? Don’t break contact, don’t even think of blinking. Keep your eyes open and your head steady.”
Within seconds, Roger the Harris Hawk is flying straight towards me, his beady eyes focused on mine, coming closer and closer.
Just at the very last second, his massive wings whoosh over my head so close I can feel the breeze. He plucks the piece of food, positioned just behind my head, out of John Duggan’s hand and I am left standing gasping and speechless. That is something that doesn’t happen every day!
Falconry Experience
For falconer John Duggan though, this is part of the falconry experience he gives to guests at Mount Juliet and other hotels on the southeast coast.
“Now, people volunteer to look into the eyes of the bird, it’s not for everyone,” he laughs at me.
While I am still standing in amazement, he perches one of his more tame birds, Maggie the Owl, on his glove, allowing our small group to pet her pillow-soft feathers.
Earlier we had met Ozzie, another Harris hawk. Perched high in the trees of Mount Juliet, his eyes followed John and when a dummy bunny was dropped right in front of our feet, the hawk swooped down, grabbing the prey with his legs and holding on with a deadly grip as the prey continued to move.
John Duggan Hawkeye Falconary. Photo: Ramona Farrelly
A trade-off is swiftly done. The rabbit disappears but Ozzie is rewarded with a piece of food.
“You don’t want the bird to feel robbed, he needs to feel appreciated,” explains John.
The way John talks about the birds is with such respect, a deep appreciation.
“These birds are quite fascinating and there is a difference between someone who owns a bird of prey and a falconer.
A falconer is someone who is going to push his bird to the absolute limit, to bring it as near as possible to its wild state.
"So when you have a goshawk chasing hard after a pheasant, pulling them out of the air and above the trees, when you get the bird to do that, you know you’ve done him justice – brought out of him what a wild goshawk was born to do.”
Journey into Falconry
John’s journey into falconry is one that he tells in a relaxed, entertaining manner but it also brought him through the darkest of days.
“I must have only been about seven or eight when I became interested in medieval history and then birds of prey. That was it, I was bitten by the bug.”
He laughs as he recalls putting a sparrow hawk on his Santa list.
My brother wanted a bike, my sister wanted dolls. Me? I wanted a sparrow hawk.
“I’d say my parents were thinking one of them was bound to be a bit off, it has to be that fella. I mean, it’s not like I grew up in a stately home, we lived in Waterford city,” he laughs.
“Anyway, I was told Santa couldn’t bring a bird on the sleigh but my parents would see what they could do.
"My father is a musician and one evening he was telling a guy about my little fascination and he said he could get him a stuffed sparrow hawk.
"Well, when I arrived down on Christmas morning, I was devastated. Did they not realise I wanted a real bird of prey, not a stuffed one?
"Anyway, I got over it and carried that stuffed bird around with me for ages.”
At about 13, John found out about a local guy who kept birds of prey.
“Sure I had him absolutely tormented, knocking on his door asking could I see the birds? I understand because now young fellas do the same to me.
“One day, he took in an injured kestrel and phoned me up to see if I wanted to take him in and rehabilitate him.
“Myself and dad had a bird house built out the back that afternoon.”
Tough Times
As the teenage years went on though, John’s interest waned and the passion dropped off.
“I started working, then I met Caroline. We got married and in 1999 we had our son Sean. We were delighted with life.”
However, when Sean was just six months old, Caroline was diagnosed with kidney cancer. “She was 24 at the time and they had to take the whole kidney.
"Caroline dropped to six stone – the whole year was devastation.”
Caroline Duggan. Photo: Ramona Farrelly
She was fine though, they caught it in time and no chemo was needed. Less than eight years later though, another cancer diagnosis devastated the family – this time it was John.
“It was 2007 and, you know, for over a year before that, I knew something was wrong and my doctor kept telling me I was fine.
I went to Caroline’s doctor instead and within a week I was told I had testicular cancer and surgery was organised to remove the testicle.
This time though the cancer had spread, it had travelled into the glands under his stomach.
“I needed a serious dose of chemo that started the following week. That lasted the whole summer of 2007 – one full week on chemo every day and 10 days off in between.”
Recovery Struggles
Thankfully, John also got the all clear but says that the months and years after a cancer diagnosis can be extremely hard.
“You are just petrified of it coming back again. Our son was only seven at the time and you can’t help but think about the future. Going back to normal life can be a challenge.”
One afternoon though, around the time John was feeling quite down in himself, Caroline saw there was a display of birds of prey.
“We went down and I found out there was a breeder operating in Wicklow.
I rang him asking could I buy a Harris’s Hawk. We got chatting and Ken Smith is now my best friend, my mentor in business.
"That was 2007 and Bonnie the Hawk was part of my recovery, getting my life back on track again – she gave me a focus.
"I spent three years out with that bird. I also bought a springer and they worked together as a team. The springer would hunt out the rabbit and she would catch it.”
Creative Thinking
Bringing this hobby to a career though all came down to a bit of creative thinking.
“I was back working, fitting refrigerators and air conditioning but my heart was out there in the fields.
"So I applied for a back-to-work enterprise scheme and I got a small grant to buy some equipment using birds of prey for pest control, but it wasn’t exactly the right fit for me.
John and Caroline Duggan of Hawkeye Falconry photographed for Irish Country Living Magazine at Mount Juliet estate with some of their hawks and owls. Photo: Ramona Farrelly
“I was with Ken one day, talking about the birds, my future, everything really. And he simply said: ‘Are there any decent hotels in your area? I noticed no one in the southeast is doing falconry.
"There could be an opening. Get yourself a waistcoat, a shirt and tie and start knocking on doors.’
“So I did and you know what it wasn’t an easy sell but when I got in there and showed them what these birds can do, how amazing they are – well, they just wanted to see more, the guests wanted to see more.”
Flying Future
Just over three years later and John and Caroline have 12 birds, two vans on the road and their son Sean is a musician.
“We are making a good living doing something we are both passionate about. We’re healthy and happy.”
And the birds? “Mossy, my goshawk is now one of the best in Ireland, and I still get to hunt with him.
"Hunting season runs from November to January and, of course, that isn’t really tourist season.
"So during the summer months when the hotels are full, I work seven days a week but I take nearly three months off in the winter and these birds hunt in their wild form.”
For more information on John and his falconry experience, visit www.hawkeyefalconry.ie or www.mountjuliet.ie
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