Trading slow but spirits high as Puck kicks off

“D’you see that fine mare over there. Wouldn’t you know she was special from the way she stands out,” nudged the man with a funny hat, pointing his stick in the direction of a grand grey in the middle of the field.

“Just like a good looking woman,” he added quickly, a roguish glint in his eye.

Quality animals, however, were scarce at Puck Fair in Killorglin, Co Kerry, yesterday as equine men, with weather-beaten faces shaded by a variety of headgear, were fast to report.