Donal Hickey: Never fear! The Puck King will return

Queen of 2019 Puck Fair Maeve McCarthy crowns a wild mountain as 'King Puck' on Gathering Day in Killorglin Co. Kerry. Picture: Don MacMonagle

In normal times, final preparations would have been made by now for one of the country’s most famous and oldest fairs. But, due to the pandemic, Puck Fair, in Killorglin, Co Kerry, has been cancelled for the second year running.

Believed by scholars to have its origins in pagan times when the goat was a symbol of fertility, the fair has this animal at its centre. A mountain goat is crowned King Puck and elevated to a high platform in the town square where it sits in a cage and presides over the shenanigans from August 10 to 12.

Donal Hickey: 'Having its origins in pagan times, the Puck Fair has the animal at its centre.'

Animal rights campaigners have protested, but the fair organisers always insist the ‘monarch’ is well treated and fed properly during the three-day event before being restored to its natural habitat on the hills. Surefooted and agile in their own terrain, these goats have been around for thousands of years. They jump from rock to rock and climb with ease, aided by their hooves which have spongy pads and a thick layer of skin on their front knees.

During the fires that raged in Killarney National Park, last April, these doughty survivors were among the first animals to make it to the safety of the lakeshore.

Last year, a spectacular photograph taken by Belfast-based Bethany Cradick of a line of goats crossing a narrow sea arch on East Skeam Island, Roaringwater Bay, in West Cork, had an international impact.

A mountain goat is crowned King Puck and elevated to a high platform in the town square where it sits in a cage and presides over the shenanigans from August 10 to 12. Picture: Don MacMonagle

Our feral goats descended from domestic populations brought here around 4,000 years ago. Some escaped into wild, remote areas. Even now, some are still escaping from goat farms and joining these feral herds.

Perhaps, the country’s best-known herds are in the Burren, Co Clare. And a minority among them (maybe even fewer than 10%, according to surveys) are believed to be descendants of the old Irish goats. Fears are voiced from time to time that interbreeding may affect the purity of the Old strain.

Goat’s milk and cheese have beneficial effects, we’re told. Said to beautify the skin, the milk is promoted as a cure for skin conditions and asthma. The owners of Ardsallagh Goat Farm, Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, say the milk helps eczema sufferers. However, more scientific research is needed to confirm the anecdotal benefits.

The goat features prominently in folklore, sometimes as evil. The devil is supposed to be able to turn himself into a goat and a horned goat with cloven hooves is an age-old image of Satan.

But they’ll have none of that in Killorglin where, all going well, Puck Fair will resume in 2022. And, to prove their high esteem of goats, locals have erected a bronze statue of an imperious, regal specimen by the bridge entering the town.