Volume: CBÉ 0220 (Part 2)
Archival Reference
The Main Manuscript Collection, Volume 0220, Page 0220
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- There are twenty one fairs held in Taghmon every year. The largest of those is the “Hiring Fair” held on the 2nd of May.
Up to the time of the war the farmers used to pay off their servants and this fair, and renew their “time” for the next year. All the servant-boys and girls for miles around used to gather in to the fair, to get their pay and get hired for the coming year. The girls used to carry open umbrellas, filled up with apples, oranges, cakes, sweets, and sugar-stick. The men used to go drinking. An extra force of police used to be drafted in to the village for the fair, as it rarely passed off without a fight.
The hiring fair is held in Wexford Town on the 1st May, and the same things used to happen there. But since the war [?], all the servants receive their waged weekly, on Saturday night.
All the tinkers for miles around used to gather to the hiring fair. All kinds of games used to be carried on, trick o’ the loop, wheel o’ fortune, etc.
