Fair Day
Fair days in Ireland were very important and people
walked for miles on the day to go and sell their livestock. The history of fair
days goes back several hundred years. The fair days of the early years however
were occasions where only the gentry were in a position to buy and sell and the
ordinary people were there just to serve their masters.
Political
movements used the fair day to gather support for their policies and this was
particularly true of the ‘land leaguers’ during the fight against landlordism.
When the land question was settled, the fair day took on a much more serious
role for the small farmers, now masters of their own land.
To start with, there was never a fair in Doon but a
Bonham (piglet)
market was held pretty regularly in the village.
Cappamore
was the nearest village in which a fair was held and it took place four times a
year.
Locally there were also fairs in Cappawhite, Newport
and Kilcommon. In
Tipperary town the fair was held every third Tuesday of the month and Nenagh and
Cashel would also have been very popular fairs for the people of Doon.
A
fair was never held on a Saturday or a Sunday in Co.
The local schools would be closed on fair days so those days were eagerly looked
forward to by the schoolchildren.
Barriers would be erected outside shops and premises
on the day to protect against the crush of the cattle. Cattle were never allowed
to stand outside a Church.
They
could stand across the road from the Church but not in front of it.
People
walked for miles with their cattle and if they weren’t sold they had walk them
back home again. Farmers and jobbers (cattle buyers) appeared in abundance. It
was a day for wheeling and dealing and at times it would seem that no animal
would ever be sold but finally a great deal of haggling would be followed by the
hand stroke which meant a deal was struck! This wasn’t the handshake as we know
it but one man would put out his hand, palm upwards and the other man would blow
into his own hand and would meet the outstretched palm in a downward chopping
motion and a slapping sound could be heard. There was no written contract - none
was needed at a time when a man’s word was his bond. Many a row also ensued and
at times a deal could only be completed over a few pints in the pub.
A
bit of matchmaking also took place on fair days.
Through shared knowledge and discussion a
father would meet a particular man and after some negotiations money would be
exchanged and the deal sealed to marry off his daughter.
A
lot of local shops and private houses in the villages and towns where the fairs
were held would provide teas and food for the travelling farmers and jobbers on
that day. It
was a long day for the men and a decent meal was necessary to see them through
it.
A fair day was a ‘men only’ affair. There were no
women to be seen. The exception to this was at the Bonham market where women
were allowed to attend as they were usually the people who would feed and rear
the bonhams.
One of the major fairs was held on the Fairgreen in
Cattle at that time were of the Shorthorn and Black Polly breed and cows could
live to 25 years of age whereas the lifespan of a cow nowadays is only about 12
years. The farming methods at that time were less intensive and the cows were
treated with great care. The cows were overwintered indoors but the rest of the
cattle would have spent the winter outside. The breeds of Shorthorn and Black
Polly were quieter animals and so could be more easily herded for miles and more
easily controlled while standing in the villages and towns where the fairs were
held.
The hawkers which we got used to attending
agricultural shows in later years didn’t exist then. Outside of the cattle, the
only other items sold on fair day would be trees, shrubs, hedging and also
clothes. Hanafins
car from Thurles always attended the local fairs from which they would sell
clothes.
The local rate collector would attend on the day and
the local bank would always be open. Sub banks and visiting banks would also be
open for business. Money
was scarce at that time and the livestock the farmers sold at the fairs was for
the most, their only source of income and the money made from the sale of the
cattle would pay outstanding bills and also the farmers would stock up on food
supplies for the months ahead.
The fairs fizzled out in the mid 1960’s. The marts took over then. In some towns
for a period of time the fairs and marts carried on simultaneously until
eventually the fairs ceased to be. The marts provided a fairer way of selling
cattle and also the necessity to control or attempt to control animal disease
gave cattle marts an advantage over the fairs.
Eileen Moloney