Fair Day in The West Of Ireland, Elphin, Co. Roscommon, 1971

‘Fair Day’ is a portrait of a dying tradition the buying and selling of livestock in Elphin, Co. Roscommon.
For hundreds of years the Fair Day was an integral party of the life of every rural community.
There’s talk of prices at other fairs, of how the winter feed lasted, and how well the lambing went.
This excerpt from the film shows the preparations on the morning of the fair as farmers herd their livestock and gather in the town to begin trading at the mart.
The dealers are impatient men. They would like to buy quickly and leave for another fair in another town.
‘Fair Day’ was broadcast on 21 December 1971. The narrator is Bill Golding and the script was written by Wesley Burrowes.
‘Fair Day’ was RTÉ’s entry in the 1971 Golden Harp Festival. While it did not win, the film did get highly recommended.

[@stormytempest6521]

Charming old Ireland...Cherish it.

[@jasborb]

Elphin, Co. Roscommon, a fair step from Connemara. Some poetic licence perhaps.

[@jimmymcjimmyvich9052]

You are right. I see the Cagey Shady hooers.

[@carolinetv5112]

I was thinking that. Being from Ballaghaderreen!

[@Paulco67]

There was a horse fair in the early 70s on James St, Dublin. Hardly 300 yards from the Guinness factory entrance! I actually saw a photo of a man riding his horse into the pub for a pint. For real

[@polki1482]

Smithfield is still going second Sunday of every month

[@maguire296]

Great film

[@fincorrigan7139]

All I remember of the fair day was the streets covered in cow dung and piss until the rain came and washed it away. There's a reason why they all moved to marts.

[@oldwobble916]

Not really the same, but this reminds me of our first holiday in Ireland in 1974. We saw a cow driven trough the main street of Granard, to be delivered at the local butcher in a side street.

[@kevfit4333]

Before the EU and it's layers of grey Germanic buerocracy.

[@oldwobble916]

@@kevfit4333 But the EU also brought a lot of benefits for Ireland. I was there last time in 2006 and I saw a lot of billboards on building sites and at road works about EU subsidies. I agree, not everything is great about the EU, we suffer with you in the Netherlands.

[@OscarOSullivan]

There are still butchers who slaughter on the shop site.

[@davidsmyth8647]

​@kevfit4333 what? You are definitely not from a farming family or remember pre EU farming.

[@patrickporter1864]

So you now know where food comes from. Don't you.

[@davidowen6977]

Lyrical and a Beetle doing some pulling 💚

[@JJONNYREPP]

Fair Day in The West Of Ireland, 1971. 20.7.24. Ayyyyyyyyyyye.........

[@maebh123]

All is changed, changed utterly,a terrible beauty is born

[@brianquigley1940]

The language sounds almost like... poety.

[@kevinmchale333]

but not quite

[@thepintman6166]

When Ireland was Irish!

[@jockstrap]

Elphin is only a kick in the arse up the road from Carrick on Shannon in Leitrim ye could walk it in a hour, Nice aul chapel in Elphin

[@brianquigley1940]

👍 👍 👍 👍 👍

[@michaelstaunton1632]

👍👍

[@DuderinoDeux]

Bull?

[@Paulco67]

They walked the 6 miles with the cattle to the fair. Really? Did they walk home? Jesus

[@jimosullivan4866]

yes, they did and many more , walked 16 miles a few times myself after the fair if my father didn't sell

[@Wild_west_84]

Yeah pretty common mileage at least according to the stories my dad would tell me. 20+ miles in some cases

[@polki1482]

6 miles is nothing😂

[@dechannigan2980]

My dad told me his widowed mother walked cattle 12 miles, didn't get a satisfactory price and often walked them home again and didn't sleep for two days. .

[@pmacc3557]

Eejit