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James and John Connolly Murphy from Mitchelstown who helped to release pheasants into the wild in sanctuaries to replenish the stocks in the area.

Releasing pheasants into the wild isn't something that every family would think of doing, but for the Connolly Murphy's in Mitchelstown, it was their way of contributing to the conservation of the natural habitats and replenishing the local stocks of pheasant.

This week, Paul Connolly Murphy with the help of his father Kieran and brothers James and John, released more than 30 pheasants into the wild within sanctuary areas.

The idea came from a horticulture project Paul had to do as part of his Leaving Cert Applied course in the CBS Secondary School and he wanted to do something different and unusual.

He bought 50 one-day-old chicks from the Rathcormac Gun Club and while ten of the chicks succumbed to the elements and unfortunately died, the rest were released this week, while they kept a handful to rear further.

The family had the chicks for 16 weeks and they fed and watered them as well as enlisting the help of a bantam hen, who in Kieran's words was 'one of the best mothers he has ever seen'.

"One of the bantam hens reared 25 chicks - you wouldn't believe it, but we caught it all on video. She could be described as the world's greatest mother, it was brilliant," Kieran said.

He added that by using the hens, the family were able to limit the amount of human contact and ensure that the pheasants would be ready for life in the wild.

Kieran explained that one of the motivating factors behind his son's choice of project was the fact that pheasant stocks in Mitchelstown were quite low due to the bad winter.

The Connolly Murphys also kept a pair of melanistic pheasants, which are black, so that they can breed them and reintroduce them into the area.

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