I have been to the fair twice in the last 10 yrs. Both times on the 23rd of June. It's an amazing bit of Irish History even to this day. As we approach the "cross" (crossroads) we start to see people walking, some pulling horses behind them toward Spencil Hill. A mixture of youth and adults walking on the side of a narrow, tree's overhanging. one lane road. Every so often you see a youth (10-15 yrs) actually riding bareback at a dangerous pace and looking a little out of control. You think to yourself the road must open up sooner or later but it never does. The closer you get the more crowded the narrow lane becomes. It seems that many of the locals are walking from their meeger farms to the fair. I notice cars starting to park on the side of the road so I assume I am getting closer. I can barely see the crossroad ahead but I am completely stopped due to the shear numbers of people and horses waiting to enter this muddy track of land. Having to drive by the entrance to an even smaller one lane road I find a clearing where cars are parked any which way. My first thought is "how" everyone is going to get out of this place when its over. The roads surely can't allow for two way traffic. Amazingly, they do.

As I walk up to the entrance I see a sign (in need of a little work) which states this sinple cross in the road is actually "Spencil Hill. Quite a let down in one way but in another, after some inside laughter on my part, a fitting view of a time in Irish history that has stood still for over a hundred years.

There is no charge, there is no fencing, there is no organization but everyone seemed to know where to go. So I followed. There are horses everywhere. Some tied to stakes in the ground and some just being held by the reigns by their young and old owners. The lower field has a fenced corral where horses and riders of all ages are jumping over barrels and wooden jumps. The horses look well kept and well fed something that slowly disappears the further I go. There are food venders in trailors and some just with a table selling sweets, Fish & Chips, some type meat pie, soda drinks and water.
I can here a horse auction commencing and start to see some resemblence of my idea of a horse fair.

As I pass by the food venders I start seeing a complete different picture then what I just walked past. There are more young kids on top of these large Irish horses, bareback and only a rope aroud the horses neck. It starts to get very crowded with almost ever step a horses reareand has to be sidestepped. I come to realization that there is no way I could get out of the way if a horse gets spooked and kicks out with his hind legs and I happened to be right behind him. I seem to be the only one worrying about this because as I walk, it only gets mor crowded. Every so often I would hear a scream "to watch out" as a horse starts to get a little frisky and see the crowd running from a spot.

As I start to get out of site and sound of the front entrence I see a bad combination starting to form. As I approach a road, blocked off from below, (the fair continues on) I see a small Pub with many men standing around with a pint in their hand. most have sticks in their hands, torn from nearby trees. I saw quickly what they were being used for. If a horse would approach too close to them they would crack the stick on the horses rear and the horse would dart any whichway and the men would laugh at what they caused. People are being knocked down from the horses reaction. Luckly the crowd has spread out but very dangerous none the less.

Looking like finally the end of the fair, I walk down the road a wee bit, I start to see old horse trailors that looked so bad I dont see how they ever got them there. Tied to the back of the trailors are old, malnurished, sick looking horses that are being sold for meat. The owners look like "tinkers" the Irish version of Gypseys. Sales look like their going slow but before the fair is over I am sure some are sold. A kind of sick feeling started to come over me. What the fair meant to these people was so far different to what is meant to the people at the entrance but none the less, it has been this way from the start of Spencil Hill's Horse Fair so many years ago.

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Bob Ryan
rryan2552@yahoo.com