Fair Of Borris

The Fair was held annually in Borrisoleigh for many years until the 1960s. Cattle were brought from the hinterland and beyond. The square and surrounding streets were packed to capacity with farmers who were buying and selling cattle.

Most shops and private houses barricaded their windows. Shops put sawdust on the floors to absorb moisture and so forth. The schools were closed and many of the boys cut an ash plant and went around the fair offering to look after a farmer’s cattle while he went to the pub for refreshments. The school closure added to the buzz of the Fair. As it fell on the 27th of November, exactly one month before Christmas, the excitement was palpable. Children visited the window of Winnie Fahy’s shop in Chapel Street to gaze at the toys.

The pupils from St. Patrick’s Boys’ National School have commemorated the Fair for the past few years. An enactment of the Fair has been held to give the present generation of boys a sense of what happened in the Square down through the years.

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