Puck Fair, one of Ireland’s oldest festivals, will see its late-night drinking tradition survive for 2025 after an appeal by publicans in Killorglin succeeded at the Circuit Court in Killarney on Tuesday.
The Co Kerry festival sees a goat crowned king for three days and three nights, with daytime activities and street entertainment alongside traditional late opening at pubs.
Fourteen Killorglin publicans applied on July 10th to the District Court, sitting in Cahersiveen, for the annual special exemption to their licences over the three principal nights of the August event, known as Gathering (August 10th), Fair (August 11th) and Scattering (12th)
However, gardaí objected on the grounds of straitened resources. District Court judge David Waters set closing time at 2am in line with the Garda submission, saying the fair was not all about drinking.
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On Tuesday in the Circuit Court in Killarney, Judge Terence O’Sullivan said he saw no grounds to shorten Puck Fair’s traditional drinking time.
The fair dates to 1603, the last year of the reign of King James I of England, Judge O’Sullivan noted. Since the 1970s, the pub closing time at Puck has been 3am.
“Prior to that, there was a 24-hour opening of the pubs in Killorglin,” barrister Katie O’Connell, instructed by solicitor John O’Dwyer, had told the court.
All-day and family activities took place and afterwards people would go for a drink, she said. Street entertainment ended at midnight and then the fair volunteers would like to go for a drink to relax and enjoy themselves.
Puck Fair was “bigger than Christmas” for people from the region, the barrister said. The statue of the Puck Goat sits at the entrance to the town and economically the festival is important to Killorglin.
Only the gardaí, not the locals, had objected, Ms O’Connell added.
Garda Supt John Ryan said Garda objections were twofold. The pubs received a 2am exemption the night before Puck Fair and gardaí felt four nights to 2am was sufficient; and having pubs open to 3am required additional police resources, making the reduction reasonable, he said.
State solicitor Diane Reidy said the issue was one of resources, not public order, and Puck Fair was the only festival in Kerry seeking to open to 3am.
In his decision, Judge O’Sullivan said the traditional opening had been to 3am, and there was no evidence of anyone in the locality objecting on noise or nuisance.
He said he did not see any grounds to depart from the tradition.
