Help the Animals of Beara Wildlife Sanctuary
Articles about Alex and his animal sanctuary:
https://westcorkpeople.ie/interviews/birdman-of-allihies-lends-nature-a-helping-hand/
https://www.echolive.ie/corklives/arid-40839164.html
https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20462274.html
I first met Alex when I was 20, it was during Covid and I had moved down to the Beara Peninsula far from the panic and isolation of the city.
I went for a run one day and saw some geese, and a seagull, and an emu! Wandering free around someone’s garden. I knew I had to investigate. An old Glaswegian man with a birds nest crocheted into his hair caught me, I had no explanation other that I wanted to say hello to the birds. Alex gave me a tour and we soon found common ground in our belief that all animals, even those that can’t survive in the wild, deserve the opportunity of living a full life and he asked me if I’d like to move into his guesthouse and help him out (after about 20 minutes of me meeting him, but how could I refuse).
I have never met a more interesting man, beginning life in an institution for misbehaved youths in Glasgow to travelling the world on a bike, to becoming an ordained Buddhist monk in the forests of Thailand to running away to Ireland where he fell on hard times but found sanctuary in a Buddhist community in Beara, eventually getting a loan from the Credit Union to buy his 2 acres of land he immediately dedicated the last 25 years of his life to planting trees, rescuing injured animals and creating a paradise for their rehabilitation or some cases, to live out their remaining years in peace among friends.
See a day in the life of Alex in the below video:
https://youtu.be/kvquONyi7Gw?si=BdDY7QQ9rsTNMqcX
Beara Wildlife Sanctuary is not a charity, an accredited organisation of any kind and receives no support from the National Parks and Wildlife Service or the Government.
Alex lives off a modest pension and every spare cent he gets or is given goes to taking care of the animals, building new enclosures, buying feed, paying vet bills, and ensuring the sanctuary lasts the test of time.
There are over 40 animals currently living in the sanctuary and more that are turned away due to lack of space.
We want to build a new flight training aviary, big enough to allow injured and young birds the chance to practice flying so they have the best chance of survival when they leave the sanctuary.
The area is also subject to wildfires with careless local farmers being known to set their fields alight to get rid of briars. The centre must be fireproofed, freshwater diverted from a local stream and endless vet bills to be paid.
Alex has single handedly hatched and released over 50 barn owls into the wild and is leading in the regions conservation of owls as well as having rehabilitated countless Seabirds and injured wildlife from foxes to hedgehogs to gulls.
Any support you can give will go towards the cause and ensure that Alex ‘The Bird Man of Allihies’ can keep doing his good work and that us volunteers can get to work in safeguarding this sanctuary for future generations of injured wildlife.
Thank you for taking the time to read this!
See a day in the life of Alex in the below video:
Organizer
