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Before the cattle marts took over the selling of livestock and farm produce, that important aspect  of farming took place on fair days. The main street or the square of the town would become a heaving mass of people, animals, carts and stalls. The marts offered a point for disease control, and traceability that eventually became the norm. But before that, to pass through a town on a fair day was to witness  rural Ireland in full flow. Fairs were busy, messy, and lively occasions, and  very much looked forward to by both the shop keeping  and farming communities. There was a May Fair, an August Fair and another around December 8. Not only were animals bought and sold, but friends met, couples exchanged glances; clothes and boots were bought, and glasses of porter sealed a deal.

Galway Grammar School was founded by Erasmus Smith about 1667 in a temporary premises and it moved to High Street about 1684. An entry in the records for January 22 1684 reads: “That Dr. John Coghill be desired to write unto Mr. Patrick Mains in Gallaway that he will more particularly inspect the house there belonging unto Sir Robert Ward concerning the necessary repairs to make it convenient for a school and a commodious dwelling for the schoolmaster and usher and for boarders lodgings that it will amount to.”

Set in the idyllic setting of Glasson Country House Hotel on Sunday January 4, the Little Black Dress Luncheon is the perfect Christmas present for the special ladies in all of our lives. The luncheon, in aid of Midlands Simon Community, is the perfect excuse for ladies to dress up in their favourite black number, on a day traditionally known to be the woman of the house’s only day off in the year, and a chance for the ladies to recuperate after the busy festive season.

One of Mayo’s leading promoters of the Irish language and culture, Máirtín G Ó Maicín, launched a new book of his writings in the library in Castlebar yesterday (Thursday) evening.

It is hard to believe that it is a decade since Oscar Wilde and Thomas Vilde took up residence outside Matt O’Flahertys on Williamsgate Street. A gift from the Estonian nation, in that period they have become the iconic face of modern Galway. Tonight a concert of Estonian music will be held to mark the occasion. I caught up with the happy Wildes as they sat outside a shop in the city centre.

KEVIN BRIDGES, the Scottish comedian described by fellow Scot Billy Connolly as “brilliant”, by The Guardian as a “comedy prodigy”, and by the Daily Mirror as “a MUST-SEE act” is coming to Galway next year to play two shows.

The latest Daft.ie rental report has shown that rents in Mayo have risen by just under two per cent in the past 12 months. The report has shown that in Connacht rents rose by an average of 3.4 per cent from September 2013 to September 2014, with Mayo’s rents rising by 1.9 per cent. In Mayo the average advertised rent is now €551 a month, which in itself is 20 per cent lower than what it was at peak levels.

The annual commemoration in honour of Fr Michael Griffin, a Galway priest abducted and killed by British forces during the War of Independence, takes place in Barna this Sunday.

Rents are now more expensive than they were at the same stage last year in every county in Ireland, according to the latest quarterly Rental Report by Daft.ie. Nationally, rents have risen by over 11 per cent in the space of 12 months with the national average rent now €933 compared to €842 a year previously.

There is a swirl of wonderful wordiness and lively debate in Westport today and continuing all weekend for the fifth annual Rolling Sun Book Festival.