Hugh fin-ishes after 50 years working at Ballynahinch market

Hugh fin-ishes after 50 years working at Ballynahinch market

18 December 2024

HUGH “The Fishman” Bannon is hanging up his scales after 50 years serving the public from his stall in the weekly market in Ballynahinch.

A popular and highly respected trader he will attend to his final customer tomorrow morning ending an association that began when he helped his late father, Barney, during school holidays.

“I have always enjoyed going to the Ballynahinch market,” he said. “There was alway a buzz about the place and the craic was great.

“Over the years I have met an awful lot of people who have become regular customers and more importantly good friends.

”They never miss a week – I see them every Thursday and that is one aspect of the job which I will miss. 

“There are people coming to me whose mothers and fathers bought fish from me – it is brilliant when a customer becomes a friend.

Hugh recalled how, with his late father, he attended the fish auctions in  Ardglass and Kilkeel three or four nights a week before spending hours filleting the product in an outhouse at their home in Clough.

“The product has to be good – that is the most important thing – and we had to make sure we were properly prepared  for the next day,” he said.

Initially, Hugh explained, there were two main types of fish on offer to the public – white and smoked – while today the customer has a wide choice, including salmon which is the most popular.

Hugh will also be leaving his Friday morning post outside the Barbican supermarket on Newcastle’s Dundrum Road – a site he has been associated with for about 16 years.

As he looks forward to his well earned retirement – he will be 69 on New Year’s Day – Hugh says he will miss the banter and the craic, but not the bitterly cold winter mornings.

He and his wife, Deirdre, enjoy walking and a number of new routes are on the agenda while Hugh hopes to indulge his passion for horse racing by attending courses across the country.