Horse Tales: Ancestral journey to Ireland continues & the Muff Horse Fair

As mentioned in a previous Horse Tales column, we’ve just returned from a trip to Ireland on an ancestral journey that was anchored by two completely different family roots. On one end was a lengthy visit to my great-great-grandfather Patrick Hand’s farm in Drumiller, County Cavan, where he farmed in the mid-1800s – a place steeped in rural tradition.

To find our other family line, we had to leave the drumlins of Cavan and traverse the entire Emerald Isle. We drove across the face of the country, journeying south past Killaloe, then north to Ennis to the edge of the River Shannon, arriving at Ross Hill in Kildysart to stand where my other great-great-grandfather was born. We continued on to Galway before departing for home.

From Dublin on the east coast up to the horse fair of the north and across to the dramatic tidal coast of Clare, we traced pretty much every mile of our Irish heritage.

It was thrilling to pass by so many fields of horses, as well as horses in use – beginning on our first day in Dublin, with the lineup of Irish cobs in the horse-and-trap passenger carts waiting patiently outside the Guinness Storehouse. Then onto Dromoland Castle, in County Clare, we were passed on our hike around the historic estate by another horse and carriage ride. Historically, these distinctive two-wheel open carts were called “jaunting cars,” where passengers sit side-by-side or back-to-back. They served as the original “taxis” of 19th-century Ireland. The driver, known as a “jarvey,” guides visitors along Dromoland estate’s tree-lined pathways and golf course trails. During the hour-long tour he provided a historical overview of the 16th-century castle and shared stories about the O’Brien family who originally inhabited the estate.

Had our timing been just a little sharper, we would have landed in County Cavan right in the middle of the Muff Horse Fair, an annual gathering that takes place every Aug. 12 that my great-great-grandparents and the rest of our County Cavan ancestors undoubtedly attended for generations, as it is almost within walking distance of where Patrick Hand’s farm was located.

We arrived in Kingscourt just after Aug. 12, missing the legendary Muff Horse Fair by a matter of days. You could still feel the energy of it in the Cavan air. The fair is one of Ireland’s oldest traditions, dating back to 1608. The roads around the Rock of Muff fill with the sounds of traders and the thunder of hooves, the excitement of visitors gathering for horse trading, stalls, games, music and a great day of local history in motion. It is a non-organizational event and is determined by the desire of the nearby residents and out-of-town folks to show up and keep the local tradition alive.

The fair was described in an article written for the Small Farmers Journal by Ian Sherry and Stasia Sherry: “Here there is no Tourist Board involvement; no advanced publicity; no signposting on the roads; no attendant Guards; and I can see why. It is a gathering as untamed as an Irish hare; impossible to restrain; that no insurer would underwrite and as long as things don’t get absolutely out of hand the stance adapted by the authorities is – ‘leave well enough alone.’”

The Fair of Muff is linked to the ancient Festival of Lughnasa, a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. It originated as one of the major communal harvest celebrations held at the foot of the sacred mountain Loughanleagh. The fair continues to draw people back year after year to enjoy a tradition that is centuries old and has stood the test of time.

The modern form of the horse fair dates back to 1608, when King James I granted a formal Royal Market license to Garret Fleming of Cabragh. Fleming was allowed to host a Tuesday market at Muff Castle, alongside an annual three-day fair beginning on Aug. 1. Lughnasa is traditionally observed on Aug. 1, marking the midpoint between the summer solstice and autumnal equinox.

Rather than establishing a new event, the Royal Charter officially organized and codified the centuries-old Gaelic gathering that local residents had traditionally celebrated on the mountain slopes or elevated sites such as Loughanleagh for generations, for religious rituals, athletic games and trading. After Great Britain and Ireland adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, the date of the Fair of Muff leapt forward to its current permanent slot of Aug. 12 each year.

Today the fair operates as one of Ireland’s oldest continuous horse markets. The flat crossroads at the townland of Muff, situated near the base of the mountain, was an ideal geographical meeting ground for the horse trading, dancing, eating, games and more. It continues to be a focal point in the Irish calendar among horse traders for the buying and selling of horses, where a deal is done with “a spit and a handshake,” preserving more than 400 years of documented trading and thousands of years of traditions, beliefs and cultural practices passed down by the Celtic people, all deeply rooted in the changing cycles of nature.

by Judy Van Put