Centuries-old tradition continues at Puck Fair despite recent controversy

PR firm declines to provide information on how long goat would spend on his perch

Leila Mulvihill, Queen of Puck Fair crowns a mountain goat as King Puck at Puck Fair, Ireland's Oldest Fair in Killorglin, County Kerry on Thursday. The tradition of crowing a wild goat goes back over 400 years and thousands of locals and tourists packed into the town square to view the event.

If you have never been to Puck Fair before, there is something deeply surreal about seeing a crowd of people cheer on and clap as a goat is hoisted some 50ft above them in a metal cage.

But as odd as it sounds, the centuries-old tradition and key feature in the Killorglin town fair would appear to be as popular as ever.

Indeed, the controversy around this tradition may have even helped.

One American family happened to be staying in the town before heading to Cork for a family wedding and they decided to go after they read about the decision to end the tradition of leaving the goat in its cage for all three days of what is one of Ireland’s oldest fairs.

The best-known feature and tradition of the fair is the annual crowning of the goat as “King Puck”.

But instead of spending three days stuck in the cage, as was traditional for around 400 years up until last year, a goat only spent around 75 minutes in his high-rise cage for yesterday’s opening night after his “coronation”. 

John Mullane, Rathkeale at the annual Puck Fair horse fair in Evan’s field, Killorglin, Co Kerry. Picture: Dan Linehan

After going up around 5.32pm, after a temporary stop at one of the floors of the blue and white structure it is suspended from to pose for pictures with Puck Queen Leila Mulvihill, he was taken down around 6.45pm and whisked off to some secret location.

Given the sensitivity around this year’s festival, and the reluctance of the event’s high-profile PR firm to answer basic questions like “how old is the goat” and “how big is his cage”, one couldn’t help imagine his accommodation for the duration of the fair is some five-star shed, with as much food and water as he wants and a small posse of vets hovering nearby ready to race to his side should he so much as sneeze.

His next appearance will be on the closing and so-called Scattering Day, which is Saturday, of the fair.

Concerns about the goat’s welfare became a big issue last year when the fair, which dates back to the early 1600s, was held during a heatwave.

It was so hot at various points that last year’s goat had to be taken down from the cage and cooled down.

The issue was debated on radio programmes such as RTÉ’s Liveline, where callers condemned the centuries-old tradition.

The Hoynes family from New York State were not concerned about the controversy.

“We heard about it but we have to assume the goat is very well cared for,” Bill Hoynes, who was there with wife Deirdre and sons Rick and Ben and Ben’s fiancée Michaela, told the Irish Examiner.

“We didn’t know the festival was on when we made plans to come over but we heard all the fuss around it when we arrived last week.

“We are fascinated and find it very interesting, especially as it’s a tradition going back so far.” 

Local councillors said recently there has been a degree of resentment locally over the way animal rights groups have used the media to highlight concerns for the welfare of the goat.

Miley Cash the well-known horse dealer with Codie Guy at the annual Puck Fair horse fair in Evan’s field, Killorglin, Co Kerry. Picture: Dan Linehan

But in doing so, local Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Cahill said, ancient traditions have come under threat from the “unbelievable pressure” from animal rights activists.

Mr Cahill has suggested the welfare concerns come from “snowflakes” who are holding locals to ransom and who “campaign for animals while wearing cow skin shoes”.

In another departure from tradition, Dublin PR firm Drury - whose high-profile clients include government departments and multinational companies - was taken on to handle publicity for the event.

The PR firm declined to provide information on how long the goat would spend on his perch throughout the festivities, among a series of other questions.