Foot and Mouth hits the County... (Part One)

In 1941, the deadly Foot and Mouth disease spread rapidly through parts of County Kilkenny, including the Callan district. It especially threatened the Modeshill area in neighbouring County Tipperary.

The Bovine Angel of Death visited farmer James Ryan of Hugginstown, and Patrick Hoyne of Rathmoyle, Tullaroan after FMD seeped into their herds: The livestock they had worked so hard to rear for slaughter in the factories were instead condemned to an earlier demise in the open countryside.

Fair Days (Part Two)

Some of the hawkers who had done a roaring trade in pre-war Callan Fair days were severely restricted by the Emergency cutbacks. These men engaged with their customers from donkey carts, which had tarpaulin covers supported on sally sticks on the side of Green Street that had the pubs and shops.

   The standings, as they were called at the time, were jam packed before the war with fruit, biscuits, and sugarstick. The sugarstick was deemed a special delicacy for decades in Callan and was prepared by the stall owners in advance of fair days. The sticks came in two colours: blue and white.

Fair Days (Part One)

The money collected at the tolling booth on fair days in Callan in the first half of the twentieth century went towards funding the many important services administered by the Town Commissioners.

Two gateways to the green allowed access to the farmers and their livestock and the buyers, and four turnstiles enabled pedestrians to file through without getting in the way of the livestock or transport.

More Old Kilkenny

• Foot and Mouth hits the County... (Part One)
• Fair Days (Part Two)
• Fair Days (Part One)
• Alliance Francaise host jazz session
• Caught in a Time Warp — The Battle of the Clocks
• Tony O' Malley (Part Two)
• Capture Kilkenny (Part Two)
• “Capture Kilkenny!”
• In his nineties Mick reflects on his life during WW2
• Country folk and the Emergency
• Spring clean your body
• Invasion fears…
• “…It was all so simple then…”
• “…It was all so simple then…”
• “…It was all so simple then…”
• Preparing for the Worst…
• Stop the excuses and start living
• Preparing for the Worst…
• Preparing for the worst…
• Rationing: Black Bread and a Pinch of Tea