The Ballinasloe October Fair is one of the oldest fairs in Ireland. While now predominantly associated with horses, in its heyday it served as a market for the sale of cattle and sheep by the farmers of the west to their counterparts in the east of Ireland.An Irish adage advises: Go East for a woman; go West for a horse.When I was a girl I had a bicycle. I wanted … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Great October Fair
livestock
The King Ranch
How the orphaned son of Irish immigrants ended up owning one of the largest cattle ranches in Texas.Kingsville, Texas: You look across the flat, dry miles stretching to the horizon, land that was even more foreboding 150 years ago, and wonder how an Irish river pilot could see this developing as the epicenter of the American cattle industry. This was the Wild Horse Desert or … [Read more...] about The King Ranch