Ballybricken Fair

Ballybricken Fair

Busy day at the Ballybricken Fair circa 1900

Courtesy of Waterford City Library Services

Ballybricken Fair
Courtesy of Waterford City Library Services

Ballybricken Fair

Busy day at the Ballybricken Fair circa 1900

Courtesy of Waterford City Library Services

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Ballybricken is one of the oldest and most historic parts of Waterford City.

This area was the centre of the livestock and bacon-curing industry so it is not suprising that it was chosen to cater for the sale of all livestock. At one time there were a total of five bacon factories in the city; now there are none.

The fair on Ballybricken was held monthly. The fairs were colourful and busy events. They brought the countryside to the city and reminded both how much they depended on one another.

The farmers would start to arrive at the fair at 5am. Many would have walked with their cattle and horses for as long as 10 miles. Pigs and poultry were driven in a cart. The fair began at 7am.

Mayor's Walk Market

Famers on the Mayor's Walk in 1893. The street where calves, bonhams and hens were bought and sold during the Ballybricken Fair.

© Jack O'Neill

Mayor's Walk Market
© Jack O'Neill

Mayor's Walk Market

Famers on the Mayor's Walk in 1893. The street where calves, bonhams and hens were bought and sold during the Ballybricken Fair.

© Jack O'Neill

Enlarge image

Cattle were assembled in the square at Ballybricken, horses in Wellington Street, pigs and sheep in Mayor's Walk and donkeys on the Yellow Road. At Christmas, live turkeys were sold in Jail Street

Until close at 3.30pm, people browsed and traded livestock and vegetables

The farmer who failed to sell his animals may have gone to the pawn shop where he pawned his spare harness to get money for the last of his shopping.

When the fair was over, the city's gardeners would collect the animal droppings to use as fertilizer. At 5.30pm, the council workers would arrive and wash down the square with jets of water.

The most important fair of the year was the May Fair. This was also known as the 'Hiring Fair' when those seeking employment were hired out to farmers for the season.

Fair Day on Ballybricken

Pigs being loaded into a creeled cart on the completion of a sale.The broad-rimmed hat is worn by the countrymen, city and town dwellers wore a cloth cap or a bowler hat.

© Jack O'Neill

Fair Day on Ballybricken
© Jack O'Neill

Fair Day on Ballybricken

Pigs being loaded into a creeled cart on the completion of a sale.The broad-rimmed hat is worn by the countrymen, city and town dwellers wore a cloth cap or a bowler hat.

© Jack O'Neill

Enlarge image

Another popular fair was the October Fair or Onion Fair deriving its name from the fact that onion growers sold their produce there. The onion stalls often stretched down into Patrick Street.The fairs turned Ballybricken into one of the most thriving parts of Waterford City but alas the fairs have now ceased and we can only remember them with nostalgia.