A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Daniel sees the moon darken as an eagle descends into the bog where he is stranded. The bird knows his name, questions him and offers transport, initially praising his attendance at mass and his apparent kindness toward birds. Daniel rides on its back, gripping its throat. Instead of bringing him home, it rises higher, refusing to descend near two armed men and treating his protests as interference. The tale supplies great wings and a hooked nose, but no measured size or special hybrid anatomy.
At the moon, the eagle claims fatigue and orders Daniel to dismount onto a projecting reaping-hook, threatening to shake him off if he refuses. Only after Daniel is stranded does it reveal the motive: he robbed its nest the previous year. It laughs and departs, leaving him suspended. The reversal turns an apparent rescuer into an avenger. Daniel eventually wakes while his wife splashes water on him beneath Carrigaphooka’s walls; the published account therefore contains this eagle within the dream adventure rather than establishing it as a separate local bird species.
Origins & earliest records
Daniel O’Rourke, XV, printed pp. 105–111, in T. Crofton Croker’s Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, new edition, Philadelphia, Lea and Blanchard, 1844. The opening narrator claims to have heard the elderly Daniel near Hungry Hill on 25 June 1813; the tale ends with Daniel waking beneath Carrigaphooka’s walls.
Records & interpretation
The selected complete narrative gives this figure speech and a specific role in Daniel’s journey. Its closing awakening frames the journey as a dream after drinking; the opening collector-style date is part of the published narrative frame, not independent corroboration of the adventure.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, Daniel O’Rourke, XV, pp. 105–111
Complete tale through Judy’s waking-water intervention; the edition’s preface describes a condensed forty-tale selection from earlier volumes.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textCroker, 1844 selected edition: Daniel O’Rourke, XVResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
