The male citron-crested cockatoo who, until now, didn’t have a fitting name has been officially christened Troy by Dublin Zoo
A parrot at Dublin Zoo has been named in honour of Republic of Ireland footballer and national treasure Troy Parrott.
The 23-year-old striker propelled Republic of Ireland into the World Cup play-offs with a hat-trick and 96th-minute winning goal against Hungary on Sunday.
The previously unnamed male, citron-crested cockatoo – which is a critically-endangered parrot – has been at the zoo for most of his life.
But after the “beautiful, joyous moment” on Sunday, zookeeper Diana Farrell said the zoo wanted to honour “Ireland’s hat-trick hero”.
“It’s not quite the statue many fans were calling for at full-time, but we hope the original Troy sees it as another feather in his cap,” she said.
Parrott has been the toast of Dublin since Ireland’s win.
Social media has been awash with clips of frenzied scenes of celebration back in Parrott’s homeland.
Dublin Airport even renamed itself the Troy Parrott Airport on its official X account.
Zookeeper Diana Farrell said she was hopeful that the newly christened Troy will attract a “huge flock” to the zoo
Ms Farrell told BBC News NI the zoo was undecided about a name for the bird as they “always want a meaningful name for most of our animals here and it just kind of fell into place on Sunday evening after the goals were scored”.
“He is a species of parrot – it just kind of made sense,” she said.
Ms Farrell was among the many others watching the match and said it was “absolute mayhem” as she watched the goals on her phone with a colleague at the zoo.
She hopes the “real” Troy Parrott will see their tribute and come to see his namesake.
“Hopefully he picks up what we’re talking about, we would love to see him in here, a lot of our keepers are huge football fans.”
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Striker Troy Parrott propelled Republic of Ireland into the World Cup play-offs with a hat-trick and 96th-minute winning goal against Hungary on Sunday
Ms Farrell said she was hopeful that the newly christened Troy will attract a “huge flock” to the zoo.
“They are critically endangered, we want to showcase [them], we want to people to gain knowledge about them, and this is another way we can do that.”
Ms Farrell described him as “quite chirpy and cheerful” and “very engaging and inquisitive”.
He is one of only two citron-crested cockatoos at Dublin Zoo and he is housed with a “lovely female” named Katie, after another Irish footballer – Katie McCabe.
It is hoped the two will produce chicks for the critically-endangered species as the zoo is the coordinator for the European Zoo Breeding Programme.
