Serving for Centuries

Cork English Market

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Feeding You and Your Baby Right From the Start

Most of us know that eating a healthy, balanced diet will help to keep us fit and healthy and prevent disease in later life, but few of us think seriously about our food until we start to plan a pregnancy. That is when we realise that what we eat will affect not just our health but also the health of the baby.
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Welcome to Cork English Market

Entrance via Princess StreetIt is one of the oldest of its kind. Trading as a market since 1788, it pre-dates most of the other markets like it. Indeed,  Barcelona's famous Boqueria market did not start until 80 years after The English Market first started to serve the people of Cork. It has survived the Famine, revolutions, wars, fire and economic decline.


The Market has adapted down through the years and now offers a larger range of produce than it did in times past. In times past, most of the shoppers were shopping on a cheaper budget or haggling with the stall owners in hopes of even better deals! A thing that can still be seen today if you feel up to the challenge!

Nowadays thanks to the heightened emphasis placed on health and nutrition, coupled with the popularity of travelling abroad, the market has developed into a cornucopia of exotic fruits, vegetables and meats; tastes and flavours to cater for a diverse population.
You can stroll through the market and see traditional butchers and confectionery stalls alongside organic foods, alongside espresso and handmade chocolate stands. The quality of produce being sold in the market today is of the highest standards, supported by the long standing Irish tradition of friendly and personal service.
The market is a must when in town for the day. The atmosphere is reminiscent of bygone times and especially on a wet and windy day its nice to stroll through and remember that as much as things change, they stay the same. So drop by and have a look around, you'll be glad you did.


You can easily find all the stalls, restaurants, bars, cafe's or places listed above by checking in the map area.
The Market is open from early morning till 5.30pm. Monday till Saturday
Access via Princess Street, Grand Parade and Oliver Plunkett Street.

 

Past & Present

Left direction
New Entrance
New entrance New entrance to Prince's-Street Market....


The entrance to the new Prince's-street market... will henceforth rank amongst the principal buildings in our city. It is certainly as handsome a structure as exists in the three kingdoms having the same object, and reflects the greatest credit on our city Architect who designed it, and superintended its construction, and on Mr Walsh, the builder, who carried out the design. The only fault that can be suggested, not in the immediate work itself, but in connection with it, is the difficulty of getting a good view of the front in its position, in a narrow street, which is also one of the busiest thoroughfares in Cork....

The front is a well-designed and graceful structure which under any disadvantages of position must look well. In the centre is a lofty entrance or gateway, twenty feet high and ten feet broad. This being the main purpose of the erection is of course the part to which everything else is subservient. Use and profit, however, are not neglected in the accessories, which consist of two exceedingly handsome houses, especially designed for shops, one at either side of this entrance, the whole forming a large building designed artistically, and erected in a workmanlike manner. There is no particular style adhered to in the design, but in it a general resemblance to buildings built in brickwork after the Lombardo-Italian school, prevails. The front is chiefly constructed of red brick, tastefully varied however in several parts by other colours. For instance, the large arch over the entrance is in black and white brickwork, and the mouldings are of the limestone of this district. The whole building stands on a base of two feet and a half of handsomely cut limestone. The houses on each side are divided vertically on the lower storey into three divisions by two pillars, one division acting as a doorway, and the other two serving as windows. The second storey of each house is in four divisions created by three handsome pillars, and the top storey in five divided by pillars. Over the central arch is a large semi-circular light very ornamentally finished, and a little above this is a circular space for a clock, should it ever be deemed advisable to put one there. The whole is surmounted by a capping of limestone, consisted of a series of corbals, each carrying a semi-circular arch over it, the spaces under the arches being deeply cut, so as to throw a deep and effective shadow - an arrangement that must be noticed and admired by anyone looking at the front from Princes-street. The keystone of the large arch is of limestone. On the whole the front is one of striking beauty.

Passing in through the archway, the visitor stands in a corridor thirty feet deep, the shape of the arch, at each end of which there will be exceedingly handsome gates; inside the outer one will be an entrance from this long archway or corridor into the houses at either side. Inside the corridor lies the market. As is well known, the orginal object of the change in the market was to provide protection for the dealers carrying on their sales there of vegetables, fowl, fruit, fish, etc. That this object has been realised with the utmost regard to utility, and yet in the most perfect compliance with the rules of good taste and effect, will be evidenced to the most casual visitor to the market.

1986 Fire
1986 FireAnother Fire struck the market on Monday night the following is from The Cork Examiner on Tuesday January 7th 1986. The price of the paper was 0.45p
New Market after fire
Restoration after Fire
1980 Fire
1980 Fire
Right direction

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