School: Gortnaskeagh (roll number 16321)
- Location:
- Gortnaskeagh, Co. Leitrim
- Teacher: Anna Nic Aodha
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0199, Page 199
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- XML “Local Fairs”
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- They are held in Manorhamilton in Lurganboy and in Sligo. Fairs are always held in towns. Buyers often buy cattle before a fair day.
If there was a good fair buyers often come out as far as crossroads meeting people with cattle and buying them before they would reach the town. Fairs were held in Garrison and Bundoran long ago but they do not take place there now. Down in Kerry there is a fair held every week called the "Puck Fair." The fairs are held in the streets of the towns. If a beast is bought the buyer has to pay so much on her before he was allowed to take her out of the fair green. From two pence to four pence is paid according to the kind of the cattle. Two pence is paid on a calf and four pence on a heifer or cow. When a beast is sold luck is always given. It is called "Luck." If a neighbour buys a cow you have to give him more luck than if a stranger bought her. When the seller and the buyer agree they strike each others hand. When a cow is sold there is mud put on her flank and sometimes there is a piece of hair cut from behind her ear.
- Collector
- Patrick Kelly
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Gortnaskeagh, Co. Leitrim
- Informant
- Mr Patrick Kelly
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 65
- Address
- Gortnaskeagh, Co. Leitrim
