I’m ahead of schedule and waiting on a photocall to promote the upcoming Smithfield Fleadh, when I glance in my car mirror and catch a glimpse of the end of a four-wheeled cart silently slipping by, without the distinctive clippity-clop of a horse-drawn cart.
On further inspection, as the cart heads off down through Smithfield Plaza, it turns out a man in shorts is towing the vintage cart behind him.
A former marathon runner and fundraiser for the children’s hospital at Temple Street, Padser Harris (71), originally from Smithfield and now living in Ballyfermot, has been around horses for all of his life.
Padser proudly claims that he is the oldest working jarvey in Dublin city, and that for more than 30 years he has been bringing tourists around the city to see the sights in his horse-drawn carriage.
“I tell the stories and the history,” he explains.
We organise to meet again at 6:30am as he gets his 15-year-old horse Christine ready for the day ahead: breakfast, water, wash and a brush.
Padser recalls using a borrowed baby bottle to hand-feed Christine as a foal. Christine shares the discreet urban stable with Ringo.
“I was brought up around horses. I was around horses all my life since I was a baby. It’s in the blood. I keep going because there’s nothing else I could do at my age!”
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