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
Travelers
In Off the Road
An inside look at Ireland's Travelers The children you see in these photographs are Irish Travelers – so called because their families travel about stopping in roadside camps and at the few government-built campsites. Their numbers are estimated to be 25,000. The origins of the Irish "Traveler" also known as "Tinker", has long been in question. Modern scholars suggest that … [Read more...] about In Off the Road