The birds of Kilbeggan do battle every evening

Each evening, two avian armies descend on the village of Kilbeggan to confront each other, writes Richard Collins 

Kilbeggan, straddling the River Brosna in Co Westmeath, was founded by St Began, one of the ‘12 apostles of Ireland’. A licence to distil whiskey there was issued in 1757; Locke’s of Kilbeggan has the oldest working still in the world. The distillery museum is a major tourist attraction.

The Irish fought the Danes at Kilbeggan in 972. A son of the distillery owner was hanged following a skirmish during the 1798 rebellion. Now another conflict has erupted. Each evening, two avian armies descend on the village to confront each other. The combatants depart at dawn.