The annual Donnybrook Fair near Dublin included fiddlers and dancers, but it was best-known for the frequent eruption of whiskey-fuelled fighting – often involving heavy clubs known as shillelaghs.

The fair was shut down in 1855, but by that time the word donnybrook had bashed its way into the language to mean a free-for-all or brawl.

Photo: AZAdam from Flickr