Heaven smiles down on Camp Fair fun
THE prices were slack, but the craic was mighty as the Camp Sheep Fair somehow managed to book the finest weather of the second half of the year.
The sun came blazing down on the village as the Cross swelled from early morning with farmers, sheep, sellers, buyers and hundreds more who were simply there to soak up the atmosphere and merriment of this age-old scene.
It provided sheep farmers with a wonderful opportunity for market, laid out a whole heap of fun for all ages and also served as a great reminder of the extraordinary bond between humans and animals that exists in rural Ireland - just witness Domnick Walsh’s colourful snaps full of people with their beloved horses, dogs and sheep.
Best of all, the Fair fulfilled its renewed mission of encouraging the young of Camp, and West Kerry in general, to identify with their native culture of sheep farming.
Former All-Ireland shearer and Camp Fair organiser Jimmy O’Dwyer is a man who knows a thing or two about said culture. “We were delighted with the day and could not have asked for better weather.”
They could have asked for better prices for wethers though. “I sold 100 wether lambs for €40 a piece. 36 years ago I was selling the equivalent lambs for £20 so, when you think about it, it doesn’t really add up but there you go. The main thing about the renewed Fair is that we try to get young people interested in it and that really seems to be working.
“My mother was a great woman for the mutton pies, so it was very heartening to see my niece, Gráinne O’Dwyer, out selling mutton pies she had made. It’s those kind of things that made the day for all of us,” Jimmy said.
The youngsters were also out providing a lot of the atmosphere of the day, in trad sessions outside Ashe’s up until the sheep and stalls cleared out by late afternoon, giving way to a richly-deserved night of continued ceol and porter-fuelled craic.