Lost racing pigeon gets lift home to Ireland on Cork trawler

Tue, 10 Aug, 2021 - 13:33

Louise Walsh

A racing pigeon who got lost flying home from France and landed on a fishing trawler in the Atlantic ocean has been returned to her owner.

Lady Ann's owner thought she was lost forever when bad weather made her fly off course during a 405-mile race from France to her home in Drogheda, Co Louth.

However, the pigeon landed on a trawler fishing for prawns 180 miles of the west coast of Ireland where she stayed with the crew for two weeks.

Patrick Diver, skipper of the 'Alannah Reilly' boat, says the crew grew very attached to the pigeon and hoped she would stay with the boat until their return to Ireland where they could make sure she got home safely.

'Very cheeky'

The Donegal native, who fishes out of Castletownbere, Co. Cork, described Lady Ann as 'very cheeky.'

"We are based out of Castletownbere and there were nine of us out on a 26-day fishing trip for prawns, about 180 miles from the coast.

"The pigeon landed on the boat and was quite cheeky in that she'd make her way inside the wheelhouse anytime she'd see the door open.

"We grew very attached to her and just wanted to make sure she got home. I've a friend, Steve O'Dea in Gweedore, who races pigeons so I got in touch with him to see if we could find the owner from the pigeon's leg tags.

"If we could hold on to the pigeon and she didn't fly off in those two weeks she was with us, we said we would do everything to get her home. So when we landed back in Cork, I drove home to Gweedore with the pigeon where Steve checked the tags and got in contact with another pigeon racer, Graham Reilly in Ardee who, in turn, contacted owner Jack Reilly.

"We spoiled her for the trip to keep her with us and we are delighted that she got home."

Return to racing

Jack Reilly told LMFM's Late Lunch show that Lady Ann was doing great and he hopes she would be racing again soon.

"Lady Ann has raced seven times this year and has put in great performances. She has about 1,334 miles under her belt at this stage and always landed home safely apart from this time — when she got a lift," he laughed.

"She was let out in Saint-Malo in Brittany at 11am on June 27 on a day when there wasn't great visibility across the English Channel.

"She missed Ireland, flew to South England and kept going but missed Wexford. She eventually spotted a trawler to land on and the skipper and crew, to whom I extend my huge gratitude, fed her rice and water and she grew so tame, she was eating from their hands.

"She had a little fly around the boat every day but always came back to them.

"The journey from France should've taken up to 10 hours so I knew something was wrong when she hadn't returned by that evening. Quite a few pigeons didn't make it back because of the weather.

"She was a good consistent pigeon with good experience so she should have made it back no problem.

"So she was transported back to Cork by trawler and then brought by van to Donegal and then by car to Ardee when Graham gave me a ring to say he had my pigeon.

"I was delighted to get her back and she will race again, but I'll ease her in slowly. As soon as she got back to the loft she went to her nest as if she never left.

"Even with all the scientific knowledge we have today, no one can explain how pigeons can find their way home. It's a lovely mystery that I like about pigeons."