2019 Queen of Puck - Maeve McCarthy
Each year, a girl is chosen from one of the primary schools in the surrounding district to be the queen of the fair, Queen Puck. As queen, she has an official Lady in Waiting and up to ten assistant girls, similarly chosen. The coronation of Queen Puck is celebrated during a ceremony evening of entertainment about a month before the festival itself.
Here’s the letter we received from Maeve expressing her interest in becoming Queen of Puck:
My Name is Maeve McCarthy.
I am 12 years old and a 6th class pupil at Scoil Realt na Mara, Cromane.
I live in Cromane Lower with my Mum and Dad, my two brothers Aidan and James, my sister Orla and my dog Bubbles. I love music and I can play the tin whistle, the violin and I am learning the banjo.
One of the reasons I love Puck is all the lovely music available for free on the streets of Killorglin.
This year, I would love to be the Queen of Puck because I would do a great job. I am a confident speaker and I love meeting new people. I love everything about Puck, from the horse fair on the first day to the fireworks on the last. The food is always unbelievable and with all the stalls you are never bored.
And that’s why I would love to be the Queen of Puck.
Yours hopefully,
Maeve
The selection process sees an independent judging panel trawl through all the entry letters from 6th class pupils across the region before interviewing each hopeful and hearing them read aloud the famous Puck Fair welcome speech, which is recited during the Coronation Ceremony on the festival’s opening day.
Maeve, a student of Scoil Réalt na Mara in Cromane, will now take her rightful place among a long list of former Puck Queens, each of whom has played a central role in Puck Fair over the decades.
One of Maeve’s most important ceremonial duties as queen (besides addressing her subjects during the coronation ceremony and meeting & greeting visitors to Puck Fair throughout the festival) will be to crown the goat during the crowning ceremony on the opening day of Puck Fair (also known as “Gathering Day“) and making his coronation as King Puck official. During the final day of the fair, or Scattering Day, our Queen will also remove his crown, signifying the end of his reign.