Two Traveller women share their views and memories of the Cahirmee Horse Fair in Buttevant.
Three great fairs held annually are traditional meeting places for the Traveller Community; Puck Fair in County Kerry, Ballinasloe Horse Fair in County Galway and Cahirmee Horse Fair in County Cork.
The Cahirmee Horse Fair takes place every July in the town of Buttevant. At the fair, Donncha Ó Dúlaing meets two Traveller women, one from Limerick and the other from Rathkeale in County Limerick. They have been attending the fair for 35 years and do so because,
Our people before us came here.
The women have seen the fair change over the years. Travellers once parked along the main road whereas now they are restricted to a field. The women say Travellers face discrimination as some publicans refuse to serve them. The women say the 100 caravans attending this year will not be back when the Fair returns in 1980.
The women turn down a request from Donncha Ó Dúlaing for his palm to be read as,
It has to be done in a private place.
Earlier Donncha Ó Dúlaing was impressed by the Rathkeale woman's rendition of the Brendan Shine song 'Do You Want Your Old Lobby Washed Down’. He asks her for a reprise, but instead, she sings a couple of verses of the ballad ‘The Flower of Sweet Strabane’. Buoyed by the applause she continues with a song 'The 'Fair of Cahirmee'.
This episode of 'Donncha's Travelling Roadshow' was broadcast on 11 November 1979. The presenter is Donncha Ó Dúlaing.
