Smithfield Horse Market in Dublin, Ireland

• Smithfield horse market dates for 2012: January 1, February 5, March 4, April 1, May 6, June 3, July 1, August 5, September 2, October 7, November 4, December 2
  

Smithfield horse market, in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the oldest - and most controversial - horse fares in the world.

The horse fare takes place on the first Sunday of the month and attracts horse traders and owners from across Ireland. There are also hundreds of urban cowboys that attend as well as tourists and photographers eager to experience the atmosphere of the market.

Dublin residents are all familiar with the fare. However, it is not always as easy for tourists to find. Smithfield is a short distance from the main road through Dublin and the nightlife. The easiest way to reach Smithfield horse fare is to catch a taxi from O'Connell street. It should not cost more than five euros.

• VOTE NOW: Should Smithfield market stay open despite animal cruelty? Click here for poll
• PICTURE GALLEY: Click here for the best pictures on the web of Smithfield market
• Visit the official Smithfield horse market blog

The 400-year-old market started alongside vegetable and other livestock traders in one of the run-down factory areas in the North of the city.

But as the popularity of horses among farmers and city-folk grew the market developed into a bustling sale on the first Sunday of each month.

Once a month hundreds of equine traders and buyers descended on the bleak cobble square eager to make a profit or collect a bargain animal for carraiges or ploughs.

But during the 1960s the market attracted a new type of customer - bored kids from the inner city council estates who bought cheap ponies.

They became known as urban cowboys and rode the animals through tarmac streets and let them graze on public fields.

This practice gave the Smithfield market a bad reputation as many horses were mistreated and abandoned around the city.

Further controversy came in 1997 when Dublin city council started a sweeping modernisation of the run-down Smithfield area to make Dublin a tourist hot-spot.

Residents who moved into luxury flats that now lined the former Smithfield square - renamed a 'plaza' - complained about the noise and smell of the monthly market.

And town-hall bosses tried to close the market in 2002 after a horse bolted into a car and injured a woman who had her young son in the passenger seat.

Since then the city council and various animal welfare organisations have campaigned tirelessly but without success to shut the market down.

Traders and buyers have continued using the cobbled area once a month to sell their animals and prices as low as 10 Euros - around seven dollars.

An ancient by-law giving traders the right to use the market means that there is noting police or council officials can do to remove the horses.

Tourists and photographers who are fascinated by the romanticism of the market continue visiting the area to see the market in action.

This has led to a bizarre situation in recent years where dozens of traders are surrounded by police as the cram into the square to sell their animals in a backdrop of luxury flats and chrome sculptures.

Much of the abuse that is dealt out to the animals continues and as many as 100 horses are abandoned in the city each year.

The future of this unique market is currently uncertain as council officials battle to find an alternative site for it and traders refuse to leave Smithfield.

But It should certainly be a source of interest for anybody who is interested in horses and concerned for their welfare.

There are various websites that give more information about the market and it's interesting history.

A quick search of Google news will also yield the latest newspaper articles that have been written about the market or horses connected to it.

For anybody who would like to visit, it happens on the first Sunday of every month and there are plenty of cheap hotels nearby. Dublin is great to visit on the weekend, thought it is particularly expensive.  Book a hotel in advance and it shouldn't cost more than 40 euros.

When visiting the market, be sure to take a camera. Many of the Irish horse owners are happy to pose to have their picture taken but always ask them first. The Irish people are also happy to chat at the market. But bear in mind, there is a suspicion about people such as the police and DSPCA interfering with their business. Remember to keep your wits about you as the horses can sometimes be agitated and unpredicatble.