Unrestrained virility was clearly in evidence on the streets of the Kerry town of Killorglin last night as its traditional festival, the Puck Fair, got under way.
Thousands of tourists and local people craned their necks as a bewildered-looking goat was winched 50 ft above them and declared King Puck, the only king of Ireland, at least until tomorrow.
The deification of the goat is a tradition in the town going back centuries when a goat was said to have warned townspeople that an enemy army was approaching.
Nowadays, there is a friendlier reception for foreigners and the festival is said to symbolise notions of virility and the arrival of late summer. Well, that is one explanation, according to locals.
There was plenty of high spirits expected in the town's pubs last night, many of which were expected to stay open until 3 a.m..
The eclipse may pose a danger, however, as festival organisers are concerned that King Puck may become startled and wreak revenge on his subjects - understandable, considering that he has to spend the next two days suspended 50 ft in the air looking down on the partying hordes below.
Many of the people attending are horse traders who have been cutting deals at impromptu horse sales throughout the town. Overseas visitors have been treated to an elaborate display of body language during the sales. The art of twitching has been raised to a new level and the closure of a sale is still done by the whacking of hands and the occasional spit.
The organisers said King Puck was caught near the foot of the Macgillycuddy's Reeks at the beginning of August. The local man who captured King Puck, Mr Frank Joy, said he was "a bigger fella than last year, with a horn span of 42 inches as against 36 inches".
The all-white King Puck will, according to the organisers, be fed and watered at intervals as he looks down upon the sometimes debauched proceedings below.
As one local remarked, "whether it is from the eclipse or the drink, we will be bleary-eyed by the time this festival ends".
Despite these sentiments, the festival was popular with the town's young people, led by 12-year-old Puck Fair Queen Sarah Crowley. She read the fair's traditional greeting in several languages and placed a crown on the goat's head. Her chief attendant, Miss Tara Evans, said neither of them were nervous. "We've done Beauty and the Beast at the local pantomime, so this is no big deal," said the modest young girl.