Flickr Meet Dublin – Smithfield Horse Fair
RedMum | January 7, 2008Over the weekend I met up with some of the members of the Meet Dublin group on Flickr. Flickr meets are where a group of people (mostly members of Flickr) go around and take photographs and my idea of bliss. This month (January) the group is exploring Dublin 7 with different events each weekend, last weekend was the turn of the Horse Fair in Smithfield.
The Smithfield Horse Fair meets once a month in Smithfield, on the first Sunday of the month. There were nearly as many photographers as horses last weekend as well as the presence of Gardai and the DSPCA. Dublin City Council would like to move the fair out of Smithfield but so far it remains in Dublin 7.
Flickr meets are an excellent opportunity to meet up with people whose work you have been admiring on Flickr. Not only are they are a great social outing but you can also learn lots from others. It is fascinating to see how different people approach the same shot.
So if you fancy some photography projects and a bit of craic too, check out Meet Dublin on Flickr as well as their Facebook group.
Anyway here’s some of my favourite shots of the day, you can check out more here and more in the Meet Dublin photo pool here.
Slightly off topic, but they really should move that horse fair out of the city centre, to a greenfield site somewhere. The smell, horse mess and litter lingers for days afterwards…
I dont know which looks more inbred the horses or the people there.
The Smithfield outdoor open space has been preserved as an amenity area for the people of Dublin, ALL the people of Dublin including the people who always traded in horses.
Traditions should not be allowed to die just to appease a contemporary notion, that value is only placed in commercially branded packaging.
This event is absolutely disgraceful and appalling in its current organisation. Those poor horses are completely mistreated by their owners and they look miserable and sick. This event has to be regulated if it stays on the Smithfield market and strict rules imposed.
I think Smithfield should be left alone,it’s been here for decades,it’s irish trad,All thats wrong with people that don’t want it there,is that they don’t know 1 end of a horse to the other.I’am 4om a well of back ground,and i think it’s a gr8 day out.
Keep Smithfield going……..
Its sad and disgraceful how the poor horses are treated, something serious has to be done, this weekend I came across 4 traveller children heading back into Clondalkin halting site with four ponys, they had ropes tied around the horses, the poor things looked terrified, and rightly so, these children dont know right from wrong so you can be sure those horses are going to be rode into the ground…..what can be done, if anyone out there knows of a group I can join (I have others that would like to help also) please let me know.
i live in the private stylish new apartments in smithfield and i love waking up to the noise of the horse boxes and the voices of the horse traders and the craic for that first sunday every month. it s great that there are still some good oul irish traditions still on going. anyone who bought apartments in the area knew exactly where they were buying into and cant expect the fair to be stopped just to please them. they choose where to buy there. it always was , still is, and hopefully stays SMITHFIELD MARKET!!!!!!!!
the fruit market is gone
the car yards are gone
dont ruin the history and traditions of the area and it s people altogether to humour property nvestors and property prices
and i never find litter a problem, the area is always totally cleaned up and completely empty that evening
if people don t like the fair they should buy somewhere else but do there research this time !!!!
Eilish, Delighted you love to wake up to the sounds of neighs from horses and ponies in pain – it must be a joy to you each 1st Sunday knowing that there is the traditional collection of abused, mistreated and malnourished animals right on your doorstep. Great also that the biggest thought in your small head is that the place has been appropriately cleaned up and that all the sick and injured animals have been ‘whipped’ off to new places for further neglect and starvation. Hope you enjoy your breakfast while watching the proceding of the fair… pity the horses don’t have the same craic you do..
true
I have kept horses for years in a private livery and it isnt cheap. In my opinion these people care alot about there horses. I have been around horses now nearly 20 years and have an expansive knowledge about horses. The majority of horses in there are not treated badly and are in great condition. To say these animals are sick is ridiculous….the people who are stating this have never been in there, as out of 100 horses a small number will be lame or have a scar. Horses will be horses!
The fact that this is held every month encourages these people to look after their horses and by gathering together they can share advice on the care of them. If it wasnt held every month, these horses may well be left in the field without attention and would be more likely to become ill and injured. The very fact that these people take these horses to the market once a month means these horses are being moinitored to ensure they’re healthy.
I do not know what most of the debate is about anyway as this market effects a handfull of people that live around the market once a month and most of the people coming on here giving out about it are at home on that sunday still in bed.
The people at this fair keep horses in the working class community and help avoid horse riding becoming a snobby sport for those with money. Horses have been used as a mode of transport for 1000s of years and to argue that a certain class of people should not be allowed to ride to and from this market is also absurd.
A horse is more likely to be injured on a hunt or out racing then while its being ridden to the fair.
Abused-they are not, they are just handled more coarsly
Mistreated-is it mistreating an animal to keep it exercised and fit?
Malnourished-very few are…most are perfect weight…most horses in the more wealthy classes are overweight which is not healthy either.
And as stated they are not ‘whipped off to new places for further neglect and starvation’……for example I bought one at the market in great condition and he is in a five star home to be reschooled and he is being given all the attention in the world.
I own one horse I have broken in and have five years and is out jumping 120 courses and competes annually in the RDS in showing. The pony I bought in smithfield is a lil super star also while he may not be of the same quailty as my competition mare he gives me more enjoyment as he is a real character.
so in the future those of you who give out about smithfield -DONT if you havent a clue what you are talking about
You enter the market at your own risk and if you feel its dangerous dont go
The majority of horses are treated well and you will always see a que for the farrier….that tells you these people care for the well being of these horses
all these uppity so called ‘middle class’ dubliners coming on here talking about those poor horses and the dreadful way the peasants treat them! never mind the horses being malnourished, have you been up the northside recently?! Its not about horses, its all about you thinking your above us. Well it wasnt long ago that we were ALL second class citezins. strait outa the horses ass !
My two cents… There have been ‘horses’ tied up overnight at lamp-posts outside Smithfield Plaza since last night. Had they food and water? No. Have there been hours and hours and Hours of animals in distress since before 6.30am this morning (some NINE hours ago)? Yes.
It’s all very well to speak of Tradition and Culture – but the fact is, the Smithfield Horse Fair is a tradition that should be swept away with. Have you seen the state of those wretched animals out there? Do you think it’s right that Many of those nags should be ridden in bareback from miles out, with three kids sitting bareback on them, whipping them along with ropes?
The noise is simply awful. The smell and the filth is appalling. And the people… well, within 20 seconds of leaving one of those apartment buildings a while ago, I had spotted four seperate fights going on amongst the ‘traders’, with haymaker punches being flung and shirts ripped off, while swarms of Gardai buzzed around – all of that with lots of little kids also around in that chaotic, aggressive atmosphere. (Such as a five- or six-year old who two of those fighting men bowled over, into manure – but did they stop? Did any of the onlookers say or do anything? Did anyone even go to the kid? No, to all.)
I notice here that many of the posters are complaining that those who deride the fair are some kind of elitist snobs, or that the fair’s detractors “don’t understand” the cultural aspect of the fair. All of which is utter nonsense – to be Working Class does NOT provide a Free Pass to celebrate and indulge in something as bloody awful as the fair, and, frankly, if the city has changed, and the area has changed a little, then the fair Also has to change with the times.
There are literally dozens of Greenfield and Brownfield sites around the city that the fair could move to; places that would not disturb the residents – and, frankly, it is foolish indeed to claim “We were here First” when the fact is that the fair DOES disturb all the nearby residents, who, whether ‘just’ once a month or not, become trapped in their homes, while distressed animals (and too, too many ARE distressed) are badly treated outside.
Smithfield Horse Fair has had its day. Or should have.
To all those knocking the fair I ask you this, have any of you actually been to the fair? Or are you all happy to cast judgement from high up in your ivory towers. I’d safely say that all those opposing it would be too scared to walk amongst the ‘knackers’ and ‘peasants’ and would simply baulk at the idea of getting a bit of horse poo on their shoes.
Also, tarring all the traders with the ‘Cruelty’ brush is rubbish, yes you’ll get those who are, but if any of you have ever been to it you’ll see how well kept the majority of the horses are.
This is whats wrong with Dublin and Ireland, newcomers wanting the surroundings to change in order to suit them and their sensitivities.
“Hear-Hear” PAUL…Totally agree with you.Well Said.