Hopes soar as seven pairs of white-tailed eagles lay eggs

The first white-tailed eagle chick of 2014 has appeared in Mountshannon, Co Clare, but one hatched near Glengarriff, Co Cork, has died.

The Golden Eagle Trust along with the National Parks and Wildlife Service yesterday confirmed at least seven pairs of white-tailed eagles have laid eggs, with hatching possibilities yet to be confirmed in remote areas of Kerry and Connemara.

The Mountshannon breeding pair created history last year when they reared the first chicks to fly from a nest in Ireland in over 100 years.