Traveller boys and their pony at the Smithfield Horse Fair. The monthly Smithfield Horse market is one of Dublin’s oldest …
 Traveller boys and their pony at the Smithfield Horse Fair. The monthly Smithfield Horse market is one of Dublin’s oldest traditions. It is a place where kids from deprived areas of the city buy and sell horses. In recent years the Smithfield area has been redeveloped, which creates a striking contrast to the horse market. The introduction of The Control of Horses Act has effectively outlawed these kids, and the closure of the market is a real possibility.
 Traveller boys and their pony at the Smithfield Horse Fair.
 Jack O Donoghue aged 11, John Sheehan 10 and PJ Fanning from Holy Cross County Tipperay are pictured at the Ballinasloe Horse Fair.
 An old woman passes a young Traveller boy and his pony at the Smithfield Horse Fair.
 Girl and pony at the Smithfield horse market, Dublin, Ireland.
 13 year old Traveller girl Philomena Stoakes from Galway is pictured at the Ballinasloe Horse Fair.
 Traveller girl Philomena Stoakes from Galway.
 Traveller girls are pictured outside their caravan at the Ballinasloe Horse Fair.
 Traveller sisters are pictured at the Ballinasloe Horse Fair.
 Boy and his pony at the Smithfield Horse Fair.
 Boys gather with their ponies in the square at the Smithfield Horse Market, Dublin, Ireland, 2009.
 Horse Breeder Michael Long is pictured in Cratloe, County Clare, Ireland.
 Travellers ride their trotters at the Ballinasloe Horse Fair.
 A father walks his son down Meath Street Dublin.
 An overview of the crowded square at the Smithfield Horse Market, Dublin, Ireland.
 Father and son, Molyneaux yard. Teenagers keep their horses on waste ground next to the Molyneaux yard stables near the Vicar Street Flats, inner city Dublin, Ireland. |
James Horan
James Horan. Irish Horse ‘After almost five years in Australia I returned home to Ireland and found myself looking at my own country with fresh eyes. I decided to document one aspect of traditional Irish culture that has remained largely unchanged, for hundreds of years, but will most likely soon fade into the history books – Irish Gypsies and their pet horses.’ James Horan, 2014  Horse traders Michael Barry and Tommy Cullanan, both from County Clare, making deals for horses outside the Emerald Bar during the 2010 Ballinasloe Horse Fair, Ballinasloe County Galway, Ireland.
James Horan was born in Limerick, Ireland in 1976. Growing up, his family lived on both the Prospect and Moyross housing estates in the city. He remembers as a child other families who kept horses in makeshift stables and rough shelters on the estates. His mother often warned him to stay away from these families. “Crazy, dangerous people that you didn’t want to associate with”, Horan says. They were Irish gypsies and often known as Travellers. The story of Irish gypsies and their horses is a part of Irish culture that’s largely undiscussed. Horse ownership on these city housing estates is often not without other inherent problems stemming from unemployment and poverty, but Horan wanted to reflect in this project a more positive side. For many of the young people, care for their pet horse is a positive and nurturing experience and gives hope where very little may exist.  Traveller boys play with toy guns at the Ballinasloe Horse Fair.
During his five years working on this project, Horan developed friendship, trust and respect for these misunderstood and often marginalised people. Most of the riders Horan photographed have no formal equestrian training. ‘I have met many fearless, competent riders all of whom are down to earth, kind hearted people who love their horses’, says Horan. He has photographed everyone from tweed suited older gentlemen, to the Travellers and gypsies living in their caravans, to the tracksuit clad youth from the estates and nearby working class suburbs ““ teenagers keen to show off their ponies and bare back riding skills on the cobbled stone squares and city streets. This project focuses on the annual rural horse fairs of Ballinasloe, Puck and Spancil Hill, and the monthly inner-city Smithfield (horse) Fair in Dublin. The traders are Ireland’s farming community and Travellers ““ Irish Gypsies ““ who meet to socialise, swap stories and buy and sell horses. Some are also looking for wives or husbands. Rural fairs like Ballinasloe and Spancil Hill have been held in the same field, on the same date, each year for centuries. In contrast, Dublin’s inner-city Smithfield Fair is one of the city’s oldest traditions dating back to the 17th century. Held on the first Sunday of each month this chaotic meeting brings together Travellers and the city’s underprivileged in one cobblestone square. The location of this fair has stayed the same for centuries while the city development has grown up all around it. Once the sight of a traditional sprawling marketplace the square is now completely surrounded by modern apartment blocks and shopping developments. New residents and local authorities are keen to close this historical market and in an attempt to control ownership of the horses, the Irish government is more strictly imposing The Control of Horses Act, 1996, which will ultimately lead to the extinction of this unique and fascinating sub-culture.  An overview of the crowded Fair Green at the Ballinasloe Horse Fair.
About James Horan James Horan is an editorial and commercial photographer based in Sydney. After graduating from University in Limerick, Ireland, he began his career for one of Ireland’s premier press photography agencies. James’ career brought him to Sydney in 2007 where he worked for News Ltd. He then returned to Ireland for 5 years where he worked and lived in Dublin. James returned to Sydney in 2012 and for the past 2 years has run a successful editorial and commercial photography business. To view more images from this large project, see James Horan’s previous book release My Lovely Horse.
Industry recognition Awards: Text and images supplied by Cassie French, Pop-Up Publicity  Traveller boys and their pony at the Spancil Hill horse fair, County Clare, Ireland. At one time, Spancil Hill was said to be Ireland’s largest fair with buyers from Britain, Russia, Prussia, and France competing to purchase the best stock for their Imperial armies. Recently the fair has been revived and is now going from strength to strength. Spancil Hill is a traditional Irish folk song which bemoans the plight of the Irish immigrants who so longed for home from their new lives in America (many of them went to America with the Gold Rush). The song is sung by a man who longs for his home in Spancil Hill, his friends, and the love he left there. All the characters and places in this song are real.
 17 year old Traveller girl Mary Anne O’Donoghue and 7 month old Mary Anne O’Donoghue, from Ballineety County Limerick, are pictured at the Ballinasloe Horse Fair. |
