A straight-horned, long-necked goat has been “coaxed” down from the mountains to be this year’s King Puck. There was no epic chase on the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks this year for the 400th anniversary of Ireland’s oldest festival, however, as this was “a prince-in-waiting,” according to veteran goat catcher Frank Joy.
The animal was spotted three years ago on MacGillycuddy’s Reeks and deemed the finest specimen on the mountains and the Puck worthy of holding the throne for the special celebrations. Yesterday Mr Joy revealed he has been “coaxing” the goat down ever since.
As a result, no chase was needed this year and he walked right up to the Joys. “It was unbelievable,” said Mr Joy. “We can be weeks tracking the goats to catch the right animal, but he just calmly walked right up to us. It was as if he knew he was the chosen one and was answering his calling.”
The goat will be crowned next Saturday Gathering Day and ritually dethroned on Monday after his three-day reign. This year is a four-day affair and begins on Friday with a welcome for cyclists who began last week at Trafalgar Square.
Mr Joy has been goat catcher for the fair for almost a quarter of a century. He and his son Francis caught the beast near their farm outside Glenbeigh.
The black, white and brown animal will be known as “King”, unlike other years when goats have been called after well- known people, including a local judge who allowed the fair’s late-night bar exemptions to continue as normal.
The King is a feral goat and from his build and his straight horns, Mr Joy recognises him as one of the old work goats. There are few of them now but along the west coast they used to be mounted with panniers to carry turf from the mountains.
Mountain people often did not have their own turf-cutting or Turbary rights and were forced to collect the scads from the mountains, with the goat bringing the turf down the sheer cliff faces, Mr Joy explained.
Puck Fair’s origins are believed to go well beyond 400 years but the first written reference is a charter from James I in 1613 which grants Jenkins Conway, the local landlord at the time, the right to collect a sum for every animal brought to the August Fair held in the town. This would suggest that the fair was already well established.
Passports for the “Kingdom of Puck” will be for sale online and at the fair. For full details of Puck Fair 400 and to download a programme see puckfair.ie.