Smithfield Horse Market

The horse market has been held in Smithfield in Dublin 7 (not far from the city centre) for over 200 years. It takes place on the first Sunday of each month in the beautiful large cobbled Smithfield Square and attracts scores of dealers. It is largely run by Travellers (Irish Gypsies) who come from all over the country to buy and sell horses, ponies and donkeys. But you also get small farmers who will bring an animal there to sell to make a little extra income. And then there are the kids - mostly from deprived areas of Dublin, or indeed from the "Inner city", who regularly come here to trade their animals. Interestingly as some of my photographs show a lot of young girls from these Social Housing estates own their own ponies.
In recent years Smithfield has been redeveloped and now the Square is surrounded by modern - and very expensive apartments, plus Hotels and office blocks. Part of this redevelopment involved cleaning (by hand) and relaying 400,000 of the cobble stones. Now however the City Council have come under pressure, including from these new residents, to move the Horse Market to a new greenfield site in the suburbs. The DSPCA have also condemned the Market for the danger it poses to the public and to the animals that trade hands there. Dublin City Council wanted to relocate the Fair this year but plans have been put on hold due to budget constraints.
In the meantime the monthly Market is a unique attraction and tourists from all over the world visit and photograph it.
What I found just as interesting as the beautiful animals were the faces and features of the Dealers and the kids and the farmers from the country taking part in this historic monthly event. You can mingle freely among the animals and the buyers and the sellers, take in the sounds and the smells, witness deals being done and "feel" for yourself a tradition that is hundreds of years old. It's a fabulous day out - and it's FREE!