Since the early 17th century, the small town of Muff in County Cavan, Ireland has celebrated summer with a Muff Festival. See the town's name actually comes from a bad Anglicization of Magh, which means "plain." What else did you think "Muff" might mean?
As recorded in some schoolchild's handwritten essay about the holiday:
There is a fair held once every year, on August 12, and Muff cross, between the ruins of the castle of Muff and the rock of Muff. On the rock, there are several tents put up for the occasion, in which there are refreshments and amusements.
People come very early in the morning to buy and sell their cattle. When the buyer chooses a beast, he goes to the owner and asks him for the price. He gives him a slap on the hand and they keep dividing until the bargain is made.
When the bargain is made, the money is given to the seller and a luck penny is given back. They then put a mark on the animal sold. When they buy more than one beast, they tie them to each other.
Visitors come from a very far distance to dance at the fair in the evening.
The Wall Street Journal even covered the Muff Fair in 2010.
In addition to some delightfully tacky spinning clip art GIFs, IrishIdentity.com explains the fair as such:
There are other annual horse fairs in Ireland in places like Killorglin, Ballintubber, Ballinasloe, Ballycastle and Ballyduff but the fair of Muff has a special magic of its own.
The annual fair of Muff survives from the 17th century. It is conducted on the conventional carnival style, retaining much of its traditional popularity and continues to attract a large crowd. Sometimes called the pattern or patron fair, its origins may be traced to the year 1608 when King James 1 granted to Garrett Fleming of Cabragh, a licence to hold a Tuesday market at the Castle of Clanchye in Co. Cavan and a fair on the 1st August and the two following days. This may have been the revival of an earlier O'Reilly fair. However, it is said that Fleming's interest was chiefly to secure the customary tolls.
I don't know how reliable of a source that website is; it also suggests that the Muff Fair has some roots in the traditions of indigenous Irish Traveller community, also known as Mincéirs, but I can't find any other sources to confirm that. So it may or may not be true. But comedian Justine Stafford's visit to Muff Festival, as seen in the video above, is really all the information that you need.
If you don't want to visit Muff Fair yourself, you can always buy a Muff Hoodie to show your love of Muff.
Image: TenthEagle / Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 3.0)
