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The Donkeys of Ballyyahoo

Three donkeys illustrating a free children's story about the donkeys of Ballyyahoo - Ireland's magical townThere are always Donkeys around Ballyyahoo. They are very friendly and some of them are funny.

The donkeys in the above photo belong to Daisy-the-donkey-woman.

Some people say donkeys are a noisy nuisance. But in Ballyyahoo we love listening to them.

It’s not just hee-haw. They make lots of sounds. If you listen carefully, you’d nearly think they were talking to you.

DAFFO THE DONKEY

The donkey in this picture is called Daffo, not because she’s daft because she isn’t, but because her owner couldn’t think of anything else to call her – because he’s a bit daft himself.

Daffo belongs to old Paddy Plant. Paddy is ninety-six but you’d never think so. Apart from a bad case of jip of the hip, Paddy’s like a man half his age.

Sometimes Paddy keeps Daffo in the field behind his house where he also has a little donkey house for shelter.

Donkeys don’t have water-proof coats and so they have to have somewhere to keep dry when it’s raining.

When she’s not in the field or in his house, Daffo grazes in the fields down near the Halfamoon beach. 

She loves to graze and eats a lot of grass. Daffo can eat a field bare in a very short time.

CARROTS AND APPLES

donkey eating a carrot illustrating a free children's story about the donkeys of Ballyyahoo - Ireland's magical townIf I have some apples or carrots I bring them with me to feed Daffo.

I always stop for a chat with Daffo – donkeys like company and they get lonely if they are left on their own.

Paddy worries about Daffo getting lonely. Even though he talks to Daffo every day.

Daffo usually stays at the very back of the field where the best blackberries grow.

When he sees me coming he always comes running to the front of the field.

This is where the stone wall is and I always stop and stand there.

Daffo comes running when he sees me – to see if I have anything in my pockets. I nearly always do.

Donkeys get to know you pretty quickly if you bring them a treat.

Donkeys love treats and they’re far from shy.

They’re very peaceful and watchful so much so that someone even wrote a poem about them. To read Donkey of Brown by Patricia Higgins click here.

TWO CARROTS AND AN APPLE

One day I had two carrots and one apple. I held the carrots out to Daffo one by one and she scoffed them down really fast.

Donkeys make really loud noises when they’re eating. Imagine a whole room full of people eating walnuts shells – that what a donkey sounds like when it eats.

APPLE MAD

After Daffo had munched the carrots into nothing she was desperate to get the apple I was holding out towards her.

However, she was in such a mad rush to get it that she lunged forward too quickly.

I was afraid she’d bite my hand and I dropped the apple. It fell down and got stuck between the stones in the wall.

flowers growing out of a stone wall illustrating a free children's story about the donkeys of Ballyyahoo - Ireland's magical townDaffo couldn’t get it back then and I could tell by the noises she was making that she was really upset.

I tried to reach down for the apple but I couldn’t get my hand down far enough because it had fallen all the way to the bottom.

DESPERATE DAFFO

Still, Daffo was mad to get that apple. She wasn’t going to let a stone wall get in her way.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw her start knocking the wall down – with her big donkey nose!

Luckily I jumped back in time – the stones just missed my feet by inches!

Here’s a little video of Daffo knocking the wall down.

If you’re wondering why the video gets a little bit wonky, it’s because I had to jump back to avoid those big rocks falling on my feet!

Keep watching and see what Daffo does with her ears at the end.

For some fun stories from Ballyyahoo click here.


 

 

 

 

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