The bizarre incident unfolded before the lens of Irish Examiner photographer Dan Linehan yesterday on the grounds of the castle, when the swan landed in a field of Limousin cattle.

As tourists looked on, the cattle first surveyed the swan, but when he then hissed at the cows they took off in his direction.

As our photographs show, he failed to fly away, despite numerous attempts and was butted and stamped on by some of the cows.

As tourists tried to distract the cattle Adam Whitbourn, garden manager at the Castle for the past 12 years, managed to lean over the fence and drag the swan out of the line of fire.

“It was a surreal experience,” said Adam. “If you weren’t there you would not have said it happened.”

Adam said the swan had only landed in the field from Blarney Lake due to a territorial dispute with another swan. After a brief “standoff” the cattle ran directly for the bird.

“It was an aggressive attack,” Adam said, adding that it was “bad timing” that the swan arrived in the field in the first place but fortunate that he was there to rescue it.

There was no adult bull in the field and Adam said the attack was likely because the cows would not have seen a swan before and believed it posed a threat to their calves, meaning the herd’s “defensive instincts” kicked in.

“Nature can be cruel,” he said.

Adam had previously worked for the RSPCA in the UK for a year and as the tourists distracted the cows he pinned the swan’s wings and carried him to safety.

“He was quite exhausted at this point,” he said.

“I put him back in the lake and have checked on him twice. He’s sitting there looking bedraggled so I’m hoping it’s a happy ending.”