Péacóg in Gaeilge. The Peacock, Aglais io , is the most striking of the garden Vanessids in Ireland, recorded in every one of the 26 counties and unmistakable when both wings are open.
Identify it in four steps Upperside deep wine-red with a large blue-purple eyespot on each of the four wings, one on each forewing tip and one on each hindwing. Wingspan 54 to 68 mm; noticeably larger and rounder-winged than the Small Tortoiseshell. Underside almost black, finely striated, giving a bark-perfect camouflage when the wings are closed on a tree trunk or shed wall. Flight is a slow, deliberate glide interspersed with wingbeats; when disturbed at roost the wings snap open and the eyespots flash. Habitat in Ireland The Peacock is a hedgerow, woodland-edge, and garden butterfly. It uses nectar sources across the flying season, from March Blackthorn blossom and Dandelion through summer Buddleia, Marjoram, and Devil’s-bit Scabious into late-season Ivy flowers, and depends entirely on Common Nettle (Urtica dioica ) for its larval foodplant.
Adults overwinter in dry, sheltered spaces: hollow trees, sheds, outbuildings, and unheated porches. Warm February and March days trigger emergence, and the first Irish records each spring are almost always of hibernated adults on garden nectar.
Where to see it Wexford Wildfowl Reserve : hedgerow rides and nettle patches at the reserve edge hold Peacocks from March through October.Killarney National Park : sheltered woodland glades and lakeshore Nettle stands, particularly around Muckross.Wicklow uplands and the Glen of the Downs : warm south-facing hedgerow banks with Nettle in the larval stage and Buddleia in gardens on the valley floor.Recorded in every county of Ireland in the National Biodiversity Data Centre butterfly atlas 2014-2019, with a strong garden-recording bias, and listed Least Concern on the Butterfly Conservation Ireland Red List (2010, revised 2019).
Related species
Recorded in 22 of 26 Irish counties in the National Biodiversity Data Centre atlas, with the strongest concentrations in Munster and eastern Leinster. Numbers dropped through the 2010s and partially recovered from 2019 onward.1
Source: National Biodiversity Data Centre butterfly atlas 2014 to 2019, and Butterfly Conservation Ireland annual review 2024.