Irish food &
farmers markets.
A festival is one weekend a year. A market is fifty-two. 26 established markets across 9 counties — where they are, which day they trade, and the part most traders get wrong: who you actually apply to, and whether you need a council licence at all.
Four kinds of market, four different answers
Whether you need a casual trading licence depends entirely on how the market is run. Getting this wrong is the most common wasted application in Irish market trading.
Covered market (leased stalls)
Council-licensed market
Privately operated market
Community or co-op market
By trading day
Saturday has the most markets and the strongest footfall, which also makes it the hardest to get into. Weekday markets complement rather than compete — you can build several trading days a week without any of them clashing.
Monday
1Wednesday
4Thursday
6Friday
7Saturday
11Sunday
85 further markets on this list (Skerries Mills Market, Howth Harbour Market, Marlay Park Food Market, Coppinger Row Outdoor Food Market, Balbriggan Fish & Farmers' Market) run on a day we have not been able to verify. They are listed on their county pages, but check directly before travelling — we would rather say we do not know than print the wrong day.
By county
Common questions
Do I need a casual trading licence to sell at an Irish farmers market?
It depends entirely on who runs the market. A market held in a designated casual trading area — typically an on-street or council-park market — requires a licence from that local authority. A market on private land, such as a shopping-centre car park, does not: you negotiate directly with the market operator. Covered markets like Cork's English Market and Limerick's Milk Market are commercial leases and have nothing to do with casual trading at all.
How do I get a stall at the English Market or the Milk Market?
Neither is a casual trading pitch, which is the most common misunderstanding in Irish market trading. The English Market is leased through Cork City Council's English Market office on multi-year terms; the Milk Market is managed by the Limerick Market Trustees on stallholder agreements. Both have long waiting lists and neither is arranged through the casual trading regime.
What does a market stall cost in Ireland?
It varies by market type. Galway City Council licenses St Nicholas's Market at €65 per linear metre per year — the clearest published rate in the country. Private markets typically charge a daily or weekly pitch fee negotiated with the operator, and community markets are usually the cheapest. Covered-market leases are commercial rents and are in a different bracket entirely.
Which day is best for market trading in Ireland?
Saturday has by far the most markets and the strongest footfall, which also makes it the hardest to get into. Weekday markets are a useful complement rather than a competitor — Mahon Point in Cork trades Thursday, Ennis trades Friday, Kilkenny trades Thursday — so an operator can build several trading days a week without any of them clashing.
What do I need in place before applying to a market?
Food business registration with the HSE Environmental Health Service on behalf of the FSAI, normally at least 28 days before you start trading; public liability insurance, with €6.5m the common minimum; an RGI certificate for any LPG appliance; and, for a council-licensed market, a casual trading licence for that authority's area.