A new season of the popular social history series “Scannal” looks back at events which shocked, gripped or consumed the nation, piecing together archive, analysis and first-hand testimony to reflect, with the benefit of hindsight, on those events and examine how they impacted the people involved, and wider society.
The stories under the Scannal lens this season are the unsolved case of Mary Boyle who disappeared, aged 4, from her grandparents’ farm in Co. Donegal in 1977 and the kidnapping of Jennifer Guinness. We also take a wry look back at how the issue of water charges has divided this rain-drenched nation over the decades, and we kick off the new season with the scandal that turned the heat up on a 400 year-old festival in Kerry during the long, hot summer of 2022.
Episode One: Scannal: For Puc’s Sake
“The sluice gates of Ardnacrusha have opened in text messages” declared Joe Duffy from his air-conditioned radio studio in August 2022 as the country sweltered in an unprecedented heatwave. Temperatures, tensions and tempers were rising all over the country but it was Killorglin’s King Puck which brought them to boiling point. Tradition dictated that a wild goat would spend three days atop a metal scaffolding during the festival, but in 30-degree temperatures, animal rights activists feared for the goat’s safety.
The tradition in Kerry of crowning King Puck stretches back nearly 400 years. Each year, on August 10th, 11th and 12th, a wild mountain goat is captured, paraded through the town, crowned and then raised up on a 50-foot metal platform as the centrepiece of the ancient festival.
But in the run up to the 2022 festival, animal rights campaigners, already uncomfortable with this tradition, accused the festival committee of animal cruelty for making a wild goat endure all of this in the extreme heat. Festival organisers and Liveline listeners hit back, claiming that the festival was run to the highest standards, that animal welfare rules were strictly adhered to, and that every year, King Puck is treated…..like a king.
The fate of King Puck dominated Liveline for a week and attracted national and international media attention. The controversy brought into sharp focus the issue of the use of live animals in rural festivals and traditions. One side wanted a complete ban; the other felt under attack from a “woke” generation. It was traditional versus woke; new Ireland versus old, rural versus urban.
Across the week, Joe and his listeners discussed compromises and creative solutions – but the organisers were having none of it and remained defiant that there would be no changes. Then the Department of Agriculture and the Marine got involved and King Puck found himself being hoisted up and down the scaffolding as the debate raged and tempers and temperatures soared.
In this first episode of a new series of Scannal, we travel to Killorglin to meet the people at the centre of the Puck Fair controversy of 2022. And we meet the woman who ignited the wildfire by ringing Joe Duffy to ask the question: is it appropriate that a mountain goat be roasted in a cage while beneath him the town goes wild?
Scannal: For Puc’s Sake airs Tuesday, 28th November, 7pm on RTÉ One and on the RTÉ Player.
COVERAGE RELATING TO THE SCREENER OF THIS PROGRAMME ARE UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 06.00 ON SUNDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2023
