King Puck 'goes up' in Killorglin during his especially cooled coronation
A wild mountain goat is crowned 'King Puck' by Alesha Williams, Queen of Puck Fair at the annual crowning ceremony in the town square, Killorglin on Wednesday evening.
The sun smiled on one of the most anticipated Puck Fairs in living memory on Wednesday drawing record crowds to Killorglin from early morning to await the coronation of a mountain goat.
Puck Fair is the ancient festival where “the goat is king and the people act the goat“ in the immortal words of fair president Declan Mangan.
Pubs open until 3am each morning and thousands of emigrants return home.
The horse fair opened at dawn. By noon young riders took their animals into the River Laune to cool.
Puck 2022 drew dealers from Belgium and the UK with blood stock vans arriving in numbers not seen since the days of the Celtic Tiger.
“The quality has improved. They stopped breeding them. The prices are good,” confided a man selling lop-ear rabbits at €35 each.
His son had turned down €8,000 for an eight-year-old cob — he could get more.
Still, a miniature pony, “a lawn mower” could be got for €400; but the dwarf donkeys were going for €5,000.
A young man from Knocknagoshel got €5,000 for his five-year-old gelding, he said, loading him into a dealer’s box bound for England.
There had been heated discussion in the media about the way the heatwave might affect the goat.
“There is no fear of the goat. He is thick-skinned like myself,” said Puck Fair veteran Donal Grady from Killarney, whose family are involved in the jarvey business.
Donal, a county councillor, has attended the horse fair in Killorglin for well over half a century. The worry about the goat was genuine given the heat, but a cooling system was being installed in his cage, he was reliably informed.
“It’s a cooler, not just a fan,” Donal said.
This was in line with the Department of Agriculture advice for keeping all animals watered and cool.
The Department has no role in licensing the capture or display of the wild goat in Killorglin, a spokesman said. However, it added: “The Department is monitoring the situation closely."
On Bridge Street, there was no dampening atmosphere as a traditional session flowed from Falvey’s Pub.
Jack’s delicatessen and bakery were doing a fine trade leading Phil Duffy from Fossa to remark she had just eaten one of the best beef sandwiches and drunk the nicest of cups of tea in her entire life.
Stalls selling jewellery drew women seeking shade, while guards on the beat said the atmosphere was “jovial”.
Ten-day-old twins Thomas and Charlie O’Connor from Killorglin were enjoying their first Puck, where they posed in the Sam Maguire Cup.
As for the main event, cool as a cucumber, King Puck received the magic words from Queen of Puck Alesha Williams and, watched over by a retinue of goat catchers and his personal vet, the only native Irish royal “ went up” for another year.
He will reign until Friday evening, and “be treated like a King,” according to the organisers.
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