Well done JJ

e fairs he attended afterwards, right up to the very last of them in the 60s, remained true to his rst impression of this now dead Irish tradition. “ e fairs were mighty”, Jack re ected, “they were the heart and soul of Callan and the town was never the same since they stopped”.

He recalled that peopleboth buyers and sellersembarked on their journey to Callan for the fair as early as 3 A.M., depending on how far they had to travel. ey came from places like Grange, Kells, Windgap, Mullinahone, and Ballingarry, to be joined by hundreds of locals. ere was a very visible cash ow at the fairs. “Jobbers” and “tanglers” -men seeking to buy-in before the animals reached the Fair Green- met cattle coming into town. And every buyer had his “man in the town” who tipped him o or gave him the wink about a “nice lot” from such-and-such a place. To be continued...