WATCH: Empathetic Limerick man returns wandering swan to river Shannon

AN UNEXPECTED sight was spotted along the banks of river Shannon in Limerick city this Friday morning, a man with a swan under his arm!

Mike Walsh, a passerby at the time, saw the gentleman gripping the swan under his oxter as he walked the bird back to its natural habitat.

Taking place at close to the Anthony 'Axel' Foley memorial statue, just down from The Treaty Stone, and only minutes walk from King John's Castle, Mike spoke of the sighting which he found so peculiar, he recorded the heartwarming event with his phone.

"I came across this guy with the swan, and then I figured out he was bringing it across the river, and down to the water.

"[The man] was very friendly and approachable, I didn't get his name, but from the conversation I gathered that the swan was in his garden, and he had done this two days in a row," he told Limerick Live. 

"The swan got into his garden at night, and I think it was being chased out of the river by the other two swans basically".

A staff member at Jack Monday's coffee house confirmed that the same swan was spotted in the area only days ago, near the Absolute Hotel.

Described as "brave" to handle the swan at all, the man who is still unknown to the Limerick Leader, has been spoken very highly of from all who have seen this video.