Main Street, Cavan
This is a photograph of Main Street, Cavan, taken from the Market Cross.
Main Street, Cavan
Main Street, Cavan
This is a photograph of Main Street, Cavan, taken from the Market Cross.
In the Main Street there was once a site called the "Bull Ring". On that spot a form of bullfighting was once carried out. It was a popular spectator sport across the country. A bull was tied a metal ring on the ground by a rope which was looped through its nose ring. Dogs were then allowed to attack the bull until it died.
There was also a set of stocks on the Main Street. The stocks were used as a form of punishment. They were a wooden frame with holes through which the person being punished had to put their feet and hands. They were confined there for all to see during the duration of their punishment.
It is thought that the stocks were not used after the early 1800s. There is an interesting story connected to the last time they were used. The last person in charge of the stocks was a man called Rutherford. Legend has it that he was also the last person to be punished in them. A young man named Brady pretended that he was interested in how the stocks worked. He persuaded Rutherford to demonstrate how a person was placed in them. When Rutherford had placed his hands and feet in the holes in the wooden frame, Brady quickly tightened the screws and imprisoned him there! After being left there for a considerable period of time Rutherford was released and the stocks dismantled. They were never used in the town again.
Another interesting form of punishment was carried out along the river near Farnham Street. There was once a "ducking stool" there. This was a stool or a chair attached to a long lever. Troublesome women were tied to the stool/chair and ducked in the water. Like the stocks, this practice died out long ago.