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Ballinasloe Irish Horse Fair

Ballinasloe is one of the greatest horse fairs in the world. It is the oldest running horse fair in Europe and the largest in Ireland. 1828 is the first newspaper reporting but it was probably trading long before that and traders travelled from central and eastern Europe to exchange livestock. It is held every year for a week in October in Ballinasloe which is situated on the river Shannon in east Galway, about ninety miles from Dublin and forty miles from Galway city.

Ballinashoe Horse Fair is a very important event in the Irish horse-trading calendar. The horse fair is held on Fair Green where it is estimated 2,000 horses and a huge range of equipment are exchanged. The trading is very discreet and mannerly with no raised voices and everything seems to be conducted in a nudge rather than with direct statements. We saw no money exchanging hands.

Traders from all around the country and abroad, go to buy and sell horses. For Travellers involved in keeping, breeding and maintaining horses, the fair is the most important social, economic and cultural event of the year. The central attraction of the fair is the horse market where approximately 35,000 people attend, but there is also trading in other animals during the week and a thriving street market. By the end of the week the town can expect to have had 100,000 visitors. There are cultural events, sponsored by Guinness, on a huge sound stage in the town and a separate field where displays such as jousting and faconry are held.

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There is a lunge range and a show jumping ring on the Green, where sedentary people show their skills. Almost without exception the trading and horse control is male. Some women were riding horses and there were women spectators but the trading was entirely male. Most of the horses were tethered or being led (about 90%) a few were being ridden or used on sulkies.

Parts of the fair are very obviously Traveller centered. 35% of those 2000 horses traded are thought to be Traveller horses.

At the flasing run (where the Travellers race their horses) there is a great deal of excitement and noise. The streets around town are full of horse boxes. The Travellers park their trailers on the hill above the Green and are charged £60 per trailer and £10 per horse box. This is a recent charge, is used to be free. Fortune Tellers are charged £100 for their pitches.

Insurance companies, the Irish SPCA and Government legislation are all trying to restrict long established practice. Ballinasloe Horse Fair is an exempted activity on the grounds that it is a traditional activity but some of the traditional practices of Travellers are under threat. It is impossible to quantify the economic importance of the fair to Travellers because although Travellers make up 30% of those doing business at the fair, they are extremely reluctant to discuss the finance involved. The cultural importance is clear and the inroads being made by officialdom is causing concern and ultimately threatening the survival of the fair.