The Tourist Guide 1
Cork handmade sustainable goods and a personal to
uch thats is totally lacking with the advent of online sales. We take a look at some of the best around. Things did take a positive turn when a collective of dynamic young creatives formed the Dublin Flea in 2010, taking over Newmarket Square in the heart of the liberties and transforming it into a vibrant community with sustainability and opportunity at its heart and friendship, collaboration and fun at its soul. Unfortunately this trailblazing market was lost to the all-consuming property developers and the city was a much poorer place. Their energy and vision did however reawaken a dormant market culture and soon after there were a slew of small event venue based markets on the scene, led by the Ha’penny Flea in the Northside music venue the Grand Social. Running every Saturday this inspired others to take up the gauntlet and soon this creative energy spilled over into the civic sensibility and the city council eventually came into the fray with markets built around public holidays like Christmas and St Patrick’s Day. While we still await a proper permanent daily market, things are beginning to look up again as the demand for markets ramps up; from traders and artisans who can’t afford a premises to work or sell out of to customers who are looking for We Love Markets - The Digital Hub, Thomas St, Dublin 8 - Last Sunday Of Every Month from 11am until 5pm. With over 15 years experience as market operators the We Love Markets crew are at the forefront of developing and understanding the needs within Dublin’s market culture. Dublin as a community has an amazing collection of high quality local produce, independent startups, local enterprises, businesses and designers and they have successfully managed to bring them all together under their umbrella by creating a vibrant market community. They firmly believe that creating the right location and space for sustainability and growth is imperative within the circular economy framework and leads to markets reclaiming the town’s heartbeat with such a positive attraction for local communities and tourism. The Digital Hub (adjacent to the Guinness Storehouse) is their location and is a great space that hosts over 80 stalls comprising vintage clothing, bespoke furniture, artisan crafts and food products, vinyl records, jewellery, art and lots more. The vibe is ultra friendly, the sounds (courtesy of the Relish Records mobile store) are sweet, the coffee is strong and its a perfect Sunday rummage. They also run a bi-weekly version in Bray Central Plaza, Main St Bray, County Wicklow which is a short local rail ride on the DART from numerous Dublin stations and operates from 11am until 4.30pm. Bohemia Flea Market - 345-349 North Circular Road, Dalymount Park, Phibsboro, Dublin 7 - 2nd Sunday Of The Month from 11am until 5pm. Situated in the car park of Dalymount (colliqually known as Dalyer), home of the Dublin soccer team Bohemians, this market is another good reason to get out of bed early on a Sunday. It’s another biggie; up to 100 stalls with a mix of antiques, vintage, mid-century, bric-à-brac, collectables, fashion for all (and a fitting-room!) vinyls, arts, prints, jewellery, vintage bikes and there’s a table tennis table for those who fancy a game amongst all the browsing. Sounds are provided by the Brand New Retro crew and theres plenty of food stalls to keep you nourished throughout the day. The Libertine Market Crawl - Thomas House/Dudleys/Luckys/All My Friends/Arthurs - Thomas St/ Francis St, Dublin 8 - 1st Sunday Of Every Month - 12pm - 5pm. The new kid on the block, the Libertine Market Crawl is an indoor pub crawl with 50 market stalls spread across 5 pubs within walking distance from each other in the Liberties, a centuries-old neighbourhood, known for traditional pubs, weekend markets and tourist attractions. Christ Church Catherdal is nearby and Viking history is explored at Dublinia and the Guinness Storehouse has high-tech displays celebrating the beloved Irish beer. It’s a family & pet friendly event and the participating pubs in order of the suggested walking route are Thomas House, Dudley’s, Lucky’s, All My Friends and Arthur’s Blues & Jazz Bar. Alongside the 50 stalls, the event also features tarot reading and an alt/punk theme at Thomas House, food & henna tattoos at Dudley’s, delicious Coke Lane Pizza at Lucky’s, a tattoo artist at All My Friends and face-painting & live music at Arthurs, Dublin’s best known venue for jazz and blues and its an ideal way to sample all sides of Dublin culture. Moore St Markets - Moore St, Dublin 1 - Thurdays/Fridays/Saturdays from 11am until 5pm. A new venture to revive Moore Street’s rich history supported by Dublin City Council through the Office of City Recovery, this new weekly market provides International food stalls, arts & crafts, artisan food products and live music alongside Moore Street’s traditional fruit and veg traders. Where else in Dublin can you buy strawberries and buzz along to local musicians on one of Dublin’s most historic living streets? If the goal is to celebrate the creativity, diversity and history of Dublin city, this market certainly hits the target and is worth a visit just to see how cosmopolitan Dublin city has become over the last few decades. 5