The English Market: A Corkonian's Eating Tour

Ask a Corkonian where a visitor should start and the answer comes back without a pause: the English Market. It has traded since 1788, it sits in a covered Victorian hall between Princes Street and the Grand Parade, and it is still a working food market rather than a tourist set-piece. Queen Elizabeth II visited in 2011 and the photographs went round the world, but the market does not need royal endorsement. It needs you to be hungry.

What to look for

Cork's food identity grew out of its history as a butter and salt-beef export port, and that history is still on the counters. Four things are worth seeking out because you will not find them done as well anywhere else.

Drisheen is a soft blood sausage, traditionally made with sheep's or beef blood, and it is about as Cork as food gets. Tripe, the lining of a cow's stomach, is its classic partner; the two are served together in the old style. Spiced beef is a salt-cured, spiced cut that originated in County Cork and sells hardest around Christmas and New Year. Buttered eggs are eggs rolled in melted butter while still warm from the hen, which seals the shell and gives the egg a longer life and a faintly nutty taste. None of these are gimmicks. They are what the city ate before refrigeration and what it still eats now.

The stalls worth your time

You can do the market in twenty minutes or in two hours. If you have the time, a few stalls reward a stop.

On the Pig's Back has held a stall since 1992 and is the place for French and Irish farmhouse cheeses, pâtés and charcuterie. O'Flynn's is a fourth-generation Cork sausage maker, in business since 1921, with more than fifty varieties on the counter. The Alternative Bread Company bakes one of the widest ranges of handmade bread in the country, including organic sourdoughs and a long list of gluten-free options. The Real Olive Company, near the Grand Parade entrance, has been selling olives, oils and Mediterranean deli food since 1993 and is now part of the Toonsbridge Dairy group.

Fishmongers, butchers, a fresh-pasta shop, a wine merchant and fruit-and-veg stalls fill out the hall. The point is not to buy from everywhere. It is to walk slowly, follow your nose, and pick up the makings of a picnic or a few things to take home.

Up the stairs to the Farmgate

The single best thing to do in the market is to climb the stairs inside it to the Farmgate Café, on the gallery overlooking the floor. It has cooked the market's own produce for more than thirty years, including the tripe and drisheen that most cafés would not touch, alongside fresh fish, market vegetables and proper baking. A window seat over the floor is the prize; the lunch rush fills them, so go early, ideally before noon. There is a self-service section as well as table service if you are in a hurry.

Practical notes

The market is open Monday to Saturday and closed on Sundays and bank holidays. Trading hours are roughly 08:00 to 18:00, though individual stalls keep their own times and many wind down earlier on a quiet afternoon. Confirm current hours on the market's own page before a special trip.

Entry is free; you pay only for what you buy. There are entrances on Princes Street, the Grand Parade and Oliver Plunkett Street, so you can walk through on your way across the city centre. The Farmgate Café upstairs is reached by stairs; contact the market office about lift access if you need it.

One last thing to get right. The blaa, the soft floury bread roll, is a Waterford speciality with EU protected status, not a Cork one. Order it in Cork and you may get a raised eyebrow. Ask for a buttered egg or a bag of spiced beef instead, and you will have passed the test.