I vacation in Ireland every summer, staying in the next village over from Dun Laoghaire, Sandycove…read more(where Joyce Tower of Ulysses fame is located), and at least one visit to this Sunday market is always a must. A lovely setting, in The People's Park, near the waterfront of Dun Laoghaire. I do have to say, I think it was better years ago when there were more produce vendors and it was more of a farmers market. Now it is 90% prepared food stalls, a few artists, and only a couple of produce vendors. But the food is good and varied, with many ethnic goodies to try. There is an excellent cheese vendor (Irish cheeses are amazing!), a wood-fired Neopolitan pizza, and you are pretty close to the famous Teddy's of Dun Laoghaire ice cream shop to get your "99" fix. AH, MEMORIES: I remember one farmer was selling wine he made from his own grapes. Yes, Irish wine!!! Admittedly, the Sauvignon Blanc tasted like grape juice, but I still have the empty bottle with a lovely hand-colored label. My Mom had her first ever raw oyster (from Galway) here. I almost had to force it down her throat, but she loved it. The vendor no longer comes here, but every year when I visit her in Ireland we have to go out for some great Irish oysters. But she still eats only one!

I care for 3 things more than the next person (probably): 1) coffee, 2) the sea, 3) food markets…read more Imagine my excitement when on my visit to Dublin, I happened upon the People's Park Market! An absolutely adorable outdoor food market that I would recommend any/every visitor to the lovely Dun Laoghaire. On my visit in early August, the weather was bright and gorgeous. Altogether, the adorable dogs and babies abound, the smell of food swirling, the bustle of cheery people was incredible. There is no shortage of a variety of different foods (barbecue, sausages, falafels, Korean noodles, Japanese, hamburgers, Thai, coffees) for you to choose from. You can eat, take a stroll, or people watch. My visit was amazing and I would definitely recommend to other visitors and would like to make a trip out there again in the future should I ever find myself in Dublin again :)

I'm hoping the Coppinger Row market is a little livelier in good weather; on my visit the handful…read moreof stalls set up in the chilly alley were working hard to keep warm, let alone busy. The offering is promising -chutneys and organic fruits, fresh baked goods and that wandering crepe stall I see at every public event. The very nice hanging sign tells me the market was awarded for its good practice standards; the clean, mannerly shoppers were testament to those ambiguously positive standards. Here's the thing-as nice as this is, it's got a long way to go. I'll let you know by how much once the weather improves.

Ooh yeah I know - this street is usually so boring but it's refreshing to see the markets here…read moreevery week. It only gets 3 stars because the market is really small, so variety of choice isn't huge. However I'd love to see them develop this market into something really special, and, who knows, maybe daily? Now THAT would be cool!

This is a good size market that is on about once a month or sometimes more if there is an event on…read more It is located up at Farmleigh house and there is loads of parking. It has moved location from the courtyard and stables to a lot up the back of the estate and although its larger now it's lost a little of its charm. I can't quite put my finger on it but this market just doesn't have me running back. It has everything a market needs but maybe just doesn't have the atmosphere. There are all the usual suspects - fruit and veg, crepes, hot dogs, coffee..... It does have a lovely guy who makes jam from the "Malone farm" it's really good and another man from Northern Ireland who makes chutney and curd which are also great.

Keep an eye on the Farmleigh website to see when this market is on, it's usually one Sunday a…read moremonth. It's such a pretty location and usually a great selection of options. Lovely home grown produce from around the country. Nice for a Sunday stroll too.

I'm a bit torn-Lolly and Cooks make lovely cupcakes, but overall I think Buns win my award for…read morefavourite cupcakes in Ireland! You can order big orders from the website or catch them at various farmers markets around Dublin-have spotted them at Ranelagh on Saturdays and Sundays (on from 10-6pm) and also at Howth Farmer's Market on Sundays. They seem to also sell their cupcakes to the Nutz stall in the Ilac centre. Paula and her husband are soooo friendly and usually have a few samples on offer. This is dangerous-you WILL want to buy everything you taste. Multiple varieties are on offer, all beautifully decorated. I can't decide which is my favourite. There's a vanilla one decorated with a flake and sugar strands which I could swear tastes like a 99 ice-cream. Banana bread one is sweetly delicious and decorated with a banana chip, there's a divine carrot cake version, orange and poppyseed, lemon, vanilla chocolate, double chocolate, red velvet, Oreos....the list goes on. I'm usually to be found staring at the stand knowing I want one of each, but fighting the urge because it could seem greedy. And I can only invent a starving family of 10 a few times before it begins to seem a bit unlikely! Luckily, they offer mini versions too for €1.50 so you can sample them all. I have been reliably informed that they remove the calories from these during baking...and also that calories don't count on a Sunday. Enjoy!

The Howth Market is located in a seaside village and has a great variety of souvenirs as well as…read moretasty treats to satisfy any craving. Each vendor is responsible for their own items and you can usually talk to the artist or owner directly, which makes the buying experience even more personal. I loved the variety of items here and would love to spend more time when I am in the area again.

A very busy, but very nice little market. From great little shops to delicious coffee and treats,…read morethere's something for everyone. Since off the shops have a free very random things from other parts of Ireland (cliffs of moher postcards, etc.) but there's plenty of local good there. The location, near the railway station is quite nice, as well.

I cannot recommend this highly enough. The beauty of this spot is that it's one of those gems that…read moreis still somewhat under the radar. There's a wonderful small farmers market on site but the restaurant is warm and cosy from the outset. I've been a number of times and it's really hard to go wrong with their wonderful menu. Pulled pork option is delicious. I've had breakfast here previously and produce is all fresh. It's quite the experience to afterwards take a walk around the farm.

No where to sit. zero tables and chairs yet sell food! was floored as a group of us went here. I…read morewondered why everyone sat in the grass in the ground, which is going to be damp even in summer sun. so uncomfortable and there was thick eye watering chocking smoke coming from some of the food stalls. maximum revenue for the stalls, zero comfort or regard for customers!! Not nice of the greedy management.

Nice market that we unintentionally found by following the signs on the Clontarf road when on our…read moreway to Sutton one Saturday. And what a lovely setting this market is set in. St Annes Park and a backdrop of a fabulous red brick building. The veg stall looked well stocked. There was more than one baked goods stall, of which the fare was well presented. The obligatory olives stand. Hand made jewelry. The highlights for me:- Sheridans Cheesemongers; we were able to sample everything we were interested in and bought three cheeses as a result! Free parking The doggies tied up outside the market gate all looking anxiously for their ownsers return. Lowlight:- I got an americano from the coffee stall just inside the gate which tasted awful. I should have followed my gut and left the queue when I saw the milk steamer on the machine was not cleaned after each use, a habit like this is big no-no. Thanks to the Elite coffee event last year for teaching me this. Yelp, like a life college :)

On a cloudless Sunday morning, I can think of nothing better than trotting up to this GIANT Flea…read moreMarket. There are more stalls than you can shake a stick at and if you have the time (and the patience) to rummage around, you could hop in a real gem. As they say one person's trash, is another person's treasure. The place is well ran, and car entry is only €2 with ample car space. I've picked up countless bargains here, spare tools, clothes, furnishings for house and general Nick Knacks. I do tend to steer away from the electronic items as most things could be damp from being outside. A word to the wise, empty your bladder BEFORE you go! The bathroom facilities are a joke and the smell of urine will probably burn your nasal hairs.

Came here after hearing great great things from family in the area. We had the shakshuka and…read morecoffee. It was just amazing. And then we had desserts which was just out of this world. Stranfield we will be back

Vegetarian café with great food and ambiance (4.5/5 Green Stars)…read more We stopped here en route to Carlingford on a friend's recommendation and all three of us were very happy we did. The place is lovely - the café is filled with light and plants and the surroundings are beautiful. Mum is a picky eater but she relished the mushroom quiche and finished the entire piece even though it was huge! (Seriously - about three times the size of portions elsewhere.) My brother loved his herbed rice bowl and I liked the organic porridge with fruit and the pistachio plum cake. The only kink was that several items arrived much later than the food - the coffees, bread, and honey for my porridge (I had already finished my porridge by then). The store is filled with great stuff - fresh fruit and veg, and a good selection of some of the most ethical products. Weirdly, the Strandfield website contains no info other than an address, so you have to rely on reviews to get info in advance. The lunch menu is mostly comprised of sourdough pizza, salads (including a quinoa bowl and herbed rice bowl), and sandwiches - see menu photo. There are also lots of bakery items, including freshly baked scones, cakes and wheaten bread (which was really good - I bought one to take home). I'm giving Strandfield café 4.5 out of 5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact, for these reasons: · I didn't actually notice at the time but the menu is 100% vegetarian! · Strandfield uses free range eggs from their own farm. · My porridge was made with organic oats · Flowers and plants in the café come from Stranfield's own nursery · The grocer sources local and organic fruits and vegetables along free range eggs, and organic health foods · The store stocks a really good selection of ethical goods - I could do most of my shopping here if I lived here. · Strandfield would benefit from providing more info (on the website or menu) on ingredient sourcing.

The Dublin food coop is a market hall which sells lots of organic food - local and imported. They…read moreare open on Thursdays (afternoons until late) and Saturdays during the day. Thursdays they have a limited selection with their organic/fairtrade/eco products and one supplier of fruits/vegetables, Saturday is the full show. First, this is a real coop with the whole community concept and you are encouraged to join as a member if you come regularly. Until recently they had a guest fee/suggested donation for visiting on Saturdays but this is gone so you are now free to check it out and see if you like it. Memberships gives you a 5% discount which might only be worth it if you shop there a lot, but even if not it might give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. While the coop is somewhat like a farmers market, it's kind of different because it has lots of different areas. It's definitely not as posh as the Temple Bar Farmers Market, so if you're looking for something like that - you're wrong here - this is much more down to earth (although Natasha's living foods also has a stand there) First there is the coop-run fairtrade/eco/organic store, which is a bit like a big health food store. Some of the "staple" products (like different beans, sugar, etc.) are packed by the coop itself and seem very competitively priced, others you can find cheaper in other places around town. The selection is great though, there's some things I haven't found somewhere else around town (like these German soy-based meat substitutes).They also do refills for some of the eco washing up/laundry liquids. Then there is the organic fruit/vegetable/eggs sellers - I think there's four or five competing ones there. They mostly have similar produce though and more than I'd like is imported - I couldn't find any Irish apples there, while they seem to have them at the Temple Bar Market. Also although there are all these producers together you might not get as lovely mushrooms or might be missing some not-so-common fruits/vegetables. They do their best, and all the guys are very lovely, but if like me you're looking for something very specific you might still have to hit both F&B and the Temple Bar Market to try to find it. If you hit these two first, you might be lucky here though. Then there's a few other sellers, two guys sell bread, one is German and sells nice German breads, the other I haven't tried. And then there's the milk/cheese stand from Moonshine, one of the main reasons I'm coming here. They have the non-homogenised (but pasteurised) Moonshine Milk, which is my new favourite as it tastes much better than the usual one to me. And it's not expensive for organic milk, 2.35 for 2 litres of the tastiest milk you'll get. Their cheese is also delicious. If you're hungry right there, there's also a cafe and a few sellers of snacks - two Indian foodstands, and a few other sellers of organic soups/pasties/muffins/other snacks. What I tried there was tasty, but nothing to write home about - I wouldn't say it's worth going there just for that. One thing you won't find in this huge markethall is meat - it's fully vegetarian. I must say I didn't really notice though until I read it on their website that this is part of the concept. I'd personally like a closer place to pick up a good selection of organic meat too, but it's only a small downside for me.

A favourite place of mine to do some vegetable and whole goods shopping on a Saturday (indeed I am…read moreeven a member of the co-op) and then sit down to one of the best kept secrets in Dublin; the cafe's Amazing Eggs with a latte. No really, that's what they're called, and they seriously are amazing, soft silky eggs with a little fried garlic and some cheese chucked in, on top of a slice of toasted brioche (from the German baker who sells his bread there) topped with fresh tomato and basil. Heavenly. All the ingredients they use in the cafe are from the market and you really can taste the difference. Just remember to tidy up after yourself, it's a co-op after all. ;)