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livestock

Sláinte! The Great October Fair

By Edythe Preet, Columnist
October / November 2019

October 1, 2019 by Leave a Comment

The Ballinasloe October Fair is one of the oldest fairs in Ireland. While now predominantly associated with horses, in its heyday it served as a market for the sale of cattle and sheep by the farmers of the west to their counterparts in the east of Ireland. An Irish adage advises: Go East for a woman; go West for a horse. When I was a girl I had a … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Great October Fair

The King Ranch

By John Kernaghan, Contributor
December / January 2001

December 1, 2000 by 3 Comments

How the orphaned son of Irish immigrants ended up owning one of the largest cattle ranches in Texas. Kingsville, Texas: You look across the flat, dry miles stretching to the horizon, land that was even more foreboding 150 years ago, and wonder how an Irish river pilot could see this developing as the epicenter of the American cattle industry. This was the Wild Horse … [Read more...] about The King Ranch

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May 10, 1869

The Transcontinental Railroad was completed. The first spikes were driven in 1863 during the Civil War, and over the following 6 year period, over 2,000 miles of track was laid entirely by hand over rugged terrain including the Sierra Nevada mountains. The Central Pacific Company built East from Sacramento, while the Union Pacific built West from Omaha, Nebraska. Both teams tried to beat the other’s record for track laying. The Central Pacific concocted a plan to lay 10 miles in a day. Eight Irish tracklayers put down 3,520 rails, while other workers laid 25,800 ties and drove 28,160 spikes in a single day. On May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah, a golden spike was hammered into the final tie.

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