Cheep way to forecast a super summer?

 

The arrival of five new swallows in a well-known North Clare pub has turned an old proverb completely on its head.

“One swallow never made a summer,” is frequently trotted out to indicate that a single instance of something doesn’t indicate a trend.

However, visitors who are flocking to see baby swallows near Vaughan’s Bar, Kilfenora are hoping for an entirely different meaning from this proverb.

As the sun splits the rocks in North Clare this week, patrons believe the new swallows may be the perfect portent for a sizzling hot summer.

And no one can argue that their presence in Kilfenora is a one-off as swallows have pitched up a new home in a nest at a walkway between The Barn and the pub for six years on the trot.

Orla Vaughan, who runs the hostel beside the pub, said five baby swallows were hatched in the nest, one flew away on Friday and two on Saturday.

Speaking to the Clare Champion on Monday, Ms Vaughan said another swallow actually fell out of the nest on Friday on to a beer barrel and remained there while its parents fed him. Later, the baby swallow flew up to a nearby fence for about 30 minutes before heading for the skies. She expects the last remaining two will head for the hills over the coming days.

“A lot of people who come into the pub enquire about the birds. When I posted pictures of the birds of Facebook it generated a lot of interest from locals and visitors,” she said.

While the owners considered filming the birds with a camcorder, they were afraid that this could attract too much attention and result in someone maliciously breaking the nest as it is located quite low from the ground.

When Clare Champion photographer John Kelly visited the pub last week, he managed to photograph four baby swallows in a row.