Ashford Hawk Walk and Kylemore Abbey

We did the Hawk walk at Ashford Castle and it was the the highlight of our 2 week trip in Ireland. This is a true backdoor experience, the birds are magnificent!

My sister tells one and all that her Hawk walk was the highlight of our two weeks in Ireland last summer. I simply walked along and took pictures, but just watching her pleasure in it all made it a great day for me as well. The staff were kind, flexible ( our transport made us a few minutes late) and took the time to teach and share about the Hawk. We went for the private hawk walk and it was worth every penny.

Loved the Hawk Walk one of my favorite things in Ireland

yup, the walk was great. My wife and I opted for the long walk, private tour and we each took a bird. Our guide helped with the birds so we could get plenty of photos. We were happy with each having our own bird and felt like our money was well spent even for the long walk. It was a very unique experience watching as your bird returned through the trees of the forest and landed on your arm, very cool! We stayed at a B&B near Cong, you do not have to stay in the castle to book the walk. Great B&B. http://nymphsfieldhouse.com/ Be sure to have your 16 year old have their own bird IMO!

Incredible experience. You will learn a lot and have great fun doing so. A very peaceful experience.
Ashford Castle is incredible, too.

Highlight of our trip as well. It was just incredible. Kylemore Abbey was also very nice. Just as pretty as the picture.

I guess I got my answer!! Thank you all!!!!

Perhaps all the Hawk Walk guides do this, but a short while into our walk (each with a hawk), Tommy asked if he could have my camera to take some shots with both of us. Great offer. He kept it for several minutes and took some memorable photos of us and the hawks including a few spectacular mid-flight shots that I would never have captured.

Kylemore Abbey is a great spot. The walled gardens were a highlight. Connemerra and Clifden is one of our favorite placess in Ireland.

The Hawk Walk at Ashford Castle is truly amazing, I was the first Rick Steves Guide to introduce it to our schedule about a decade ago and it gets rave reviews year after year. I highly recommend it.
For those who cannot get a reservation at the Ashford school of falconry due to its massive popularity, or in case you might not be travelling to the west of Ireland, I've helped a master falconer (Eric), launch an enhanced 'Falconry Experience' in Dingle, which is a 'hawk walk' on blissful Dingle Harbour with the added bonus of also flying and experience other birds of Prey that you won't get to fly on the Ashford Castle 'Hawk Walk', such as barn owls, falcons and Orla the Golden Eagle!

For anyone interested check out www.DingleFalconry.com

And of course, there are many other hawk walks all over Ireland, all very enjoyable.
Happy travels everyone
Stephen McPhilemy
Rick Steves Ireland tour guide
Dingle

Just did it yesterday absolutely amazing. Words really can’t explain really. We had two hawks name Swift (after the poet) and Shamardah (Irish for summer pronounce sour-ah) they were awesome together!