How Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka Got Christina Hendricks Hooked on Falconry: 'It's Quite Magical' (Exclusive)

Christina Hendricks owes friends Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka for unintentionally introducing her to a cherished hobby: falconry.

While The Buccaneers actress, 48, was working on the NBC crime comedy-drama Good Girls, Harris and Burtka recommended she visit Ashford Castle, an 800-year-old estate–turned–five star hotel situated on the Ashford Estate in County Mayo, Ireland. Over the years, castle has hosted guests including Brad Pitt, Pierce Brosnan, John Lennon, Ronald Reagan and Oscar Wilde.

“Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka had said, ‘Oh, there's this incredible place … I think you'd love it,” Hendricks, 48, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “’I said, ‘You know what? I want to go there. That's what I want to do.’ And I remember being on the set of Good Girls and looking it up, and I said, ‘I am going here.’

Ashford Castle offers its guests more than 30 activities, from horse riding to fishing and kayaking — but it was falconry that caught Hendricks’ eye. Long considered one of the oldest sports still practiced today, falconry has its participants, or falconers, train birds of prey (falcons, sometimes hawks, eagles or buzzards) to hunt wild game.

“It never even occurred to me to do something like that,” she admits. “I don't think I'd ever seen anyone do it. And I went, ‘yep, we're going to do that, and horseback riding, and we're going to do all the things.’ Then I was able to do it in Scotland last year, and then we went back to Ashford Castle again, so I did it again. And now I just find myself looking for places where I can do it.”

The Mad Men alum describes the sport as “peaceful,” but moreover, she enjoys the sensation of being so close to the birds.

“The birds are absolutely majestic,” Hendricks explains. “I feel very safe when I'm with them. ... You're in these beautiful places just walking along, and what's more beautiful than a regal bird soaring next to you? You feel more at one with nature. It's quite magical."

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The Buccaneers drops new episodes Wednesdays on Apple TV+.