PHOTOGRAPHER DONAL MOLONEY found himself in Kerry recently, snapping all the tourist favourites – Fungi, Tom Crean’s pub, colourful shop fronts and rugged cliffs.

But he wanted something different to photograph, something that doesn’t appear in the guidebooks.

He stumbled upon “numerous four wheel drives and men with ruddy complexions in Wellington boots”.

His curiosity was piqued and, he says, “Moments later I’m knee deep in organic matter at Mharglann An Daingin.”

Once a year, battering Scotch rams with twisted horns and black and white faces butt heads as they await their moment of glory in the arena.

The market is packed with children, young and old, their parents, and their grandparents.

“Deals are being struck and coats are being fluffed by owners who have travelled from far and near,” he says. “Rams are bought and sold. The next stop for them is their own field with 40 ewes to service over the winter months.”

With sounds of English and a variety of dialects from gaeilgeoirí, Moloney found it difficult to pick up everything that was going on – but there was always a local on hand to explain the language of the trade.

“Behind all this festivity is a community of folk who work from dusk until dawn on the land before they even start into the admin of tagging and paperwork,” Moloney says.  ”Their warm welcoming smiles hold no grudges against us Dubs – post Hill 16 – and the biggest question of the day is ‘Did you go to the match?’

Check out the photos from a day at Mharglann An Daingin: