Cornmarket, cattle and the Bulkaun

Memories

By Kevin McDarby

The exit of the cattle-loading ramp is located on the Cornmarket Road; we always understood the road between the Neale Road bridge and the Kilmaine Road bridge was the Bulkaun Road.

The access ramp for this loading bay was originally via the Fair Green [behind Flannery’s Pub] and it was only in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s that access was diverted from the Fair Green to the Neale Road…Michael Flannery may help here as it was his Dad, Paddy Flannery who made the “alteration”. Also the loading bay was there, long before the railway closed or ceased its operations in Ballinrobe.

On Fair Days cattle were shipped out via the railway and via cattle trucks, I can still see a big CIE cattle truck with a four wheeled trailer in tow and as a child I could never understand how this trailer was backed into this loading ramp.

The Fair Green was used to keep/hold stock on fair days (possibly cattle that were to be shipped/trucked out).  The the cattle pound in Cornmarket (on the site of Supermacks today) used to hold cattle (for a fee) until the farmer was ready to walk them home.

Remember that a fair day was a big day out for the farmer; his only outing/get-together for the month or maybe longer. Pubs did well on fair days, as did the shops of the town.

In passing

In the Fair Green towards the lower third close to the Bulkaun road there were very three large trees apparently up on a mound of rocks etc…maybe the rocks were just piled around the trees over time?

The middle of these trees had very large iron nails/hooks inserted in it and so, we as children, never ventured to play on this tree as we were led to believe that this was where bad people were actually hung; what was the purpose of these large iron nails only on the one tree I often wondered.