The 1960s were an exciting time to be a part of Irish agriculture.

The Irish economy depended heavily on agriculture as driver of economic activity, with a huge focus on better farming methods and prosperity.

Macra na Feirme was established in 1944 and was coming into its prime in the early 60s, with a can-do attitude for anything it put its hands to.

A huge number of today’s marts around the country started trading in the early 60s. Irish marts owe their beginnings to the cattle fairs that were held in many towns around the country. I have often listened to neighbours talking about getting up at 3am to walk cattle for miles to the nearest cattle fair.

There they would stand all day with their group of cattle to get the best price.

It was a dealer’s paradise and all sorts of tricks were pulled to get the deal of the day

I’m told shaking hands, back slapping, spitting and jeering were all part of the trading process.

Farmers would talk about the seasoned dealers meeting farmers out the road early that morning, especially in a times of good trade, to try and get the cattle bought before the farmers would get to the fair.

It must have been theatre-like to watch it. It was a dealer’s paradise and all sorts of tricks were pulled to get the deal of the day.

In the late 1950s, farmers were growing uneasy of the fair day trading and some farmers in the east of the country came together under the guidance of the Irish co-operative movement to build local marts.

Many were built in the early 60s, including Carrigallen, Elphin and Raphoe, to name but a few. Some marts, particularly in the east of the country, including Dowra, Delvin, Cavan and Cootehill, were run by private individuals who saw a business opportunity in setting up the marts.

Farmers selling and buying cattle saw them as a huge step forward in terms of fair trading and they took off

Marts didn’t get off to an easy start. Dealers saw them as a threat to their business and plenty of stand-offs and protests occurred between dealers and mart managers at the beginning. Farmers selling and buying cattle saw them as a huge step forward in terms of fair trading and they took off.

The story of Raphoe Mart

The idea of a mart was first floated in 1959 and after a period of canvassing support from local businesses and farming families, shares were sold at different values from £1 to £200, with the total money raised coming to £5,320. The construction of the mart then began on a site just outside the town.

Raphoe Mart.

The first meeting of the East Donegal Co-Operative Livestock Mart Ltd committee was held on 16 May 1961. The first sale was held on Thursday 27 July 1961, with the mart packed out with 430 cattle. Top price on the day went to JJ Woods for his five 350kg bullocks, selling for £53 each.

Samuel Fletcher.

Samuel Fletcher, a long-standing member of the committee, remembers fair days in Raphoe. He is still farming drystock on his farm at Glenmaquin, between Raphoe and Letterkenny.

“Farming was a lot different back then,” he said. “Farms were a lot smaller and most people were working full-time on farms. Breeds were also a lot different back then. The majority of farms around here had dairy Shorthorn, with Angus bulls used on some farms.

“The Angus and Shorthorn cross gave you a blue grey, which was very popular in Scotland as a suckler cow. There was a very good export market for these heifers, with some very good prices paid for the right ones.

From the time I was 13 years old, I worked with horses on the farm

“We got our first tractor in 1961. I was 19 at the time. From the time I was 13 years old, I worked with horses on the farm. I used to be able to plough an acre a day and that was a good day’s work. We grew turnips and fed them to cows tied in a byre during the winter. We would have also fed Indian meal or maize meal to store cattle destined for sale. The majority of the feed we used was produced on the farm. Not everybody had a bull and people used to walk cows on a rope for miles and miles to get to a neighbour’s bull. The introduction of AI changed all that. It was an exciting time to be farming.”

Farming isn’t what it used to be. It’s very hard to make money nowadays

Robin Craig is another long-standing member of the Raphoe Mart committee. He is also still farming just outside Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, and has seen huge changes over the years.

“Farming isn’t what it used to be. It’s very hard to make money nowadays. Paperwork and regulations and box ticking have left it very difficult for farmers. It’s sort of taken some of the joy out of farming to be honest.”

Mart manager Ann Harkin has been the backbone of Raphoe Mart for the last 30 years. She has also seen lots of changes along the way, but the last 18 months have been particularly challenging.

“The mart was always a social occasion. Sometimes, you forget just how important it was for some people to come out and meet people. For some, that might have been the only day in the week where they would have a conversation with someone.

We received an enormous amount of goodwill from the local community

“The last 18 months have been tough, but the team here in Raphoe Mart really rallied together during that time and everybody just got on with their job. Nothing was a problem, no matter what was suggested. We just wanted to make sure everybody was kept safe and sound until we got out the other end.

“We were very lucky to be in a position to celebrate our 60th anniversary. We received an enormous amount of goodwill from the local community, including over €6,000 in prizes for our prize draw for buyers and sellers over the last few weeks.

“Marts are of huge importance to local farmers and I hope we will be here for many years to come providing our service to the farmers of Donegal,” she said.