E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Mayor of the Bull-ring (Old Dublin).
This official and his sheriffs were elected on May-day and St. Peter’s Eve “to be captaine and gardian of the batchelers and the unwedded youth of the civitie.” For the year the Mayor of the Bull-ring had authority to punish those who frequented brotheis and houses of ill-fame. He was termed Mayor of the Bull-ring from an iron ring in the Corn Market, to which bulls for bull-baiting were tied, and if any bachelor happened to marry he was conducted by the Mayor and his followers to the market-place to kiss the bull-ring.
