The Dublin Flea Market has been running for about two years now. I have seen it advertised on the bus and always meant to go, but the weather was too bad, or I was tired, or I didn’t want to go on my own, or it felt like it was just too far… Today, I decided, no more excuses! Bertha and I, we were going to hit this place up.
It took about half an hour to cycle slowly across town, with lots of stops to take photos like this…
A gallery shopfront
…and it was such a lovely morning for a ride! Not much traffic, lots of tourists wandering around looking at maps and pointing, not too cold. The car park was pretty full by the time I got there (about 11.30) but I found a spot for Bertha right by the stalls outside.
There was a nice enclosed area here with a big mat and small chairs and wooden toys for children to come play, or be watched from a nearby stall. There are lots of clothes, shoes and accessories. These range from bits and pieces from Penny’s and Dunnes to true vintage wear to awesome designer pieces. This caught my eye.
Along the vintage lines, there were a number of retro furniture dealers. It was encouraging to see that their stuff was in mostly excellent condition. I would definitely come here to find something unusual for the house.
There was a great variety of food available inside in the main area: homemade pizza, panini, greek, falafel, lots of home-baked muffins, cakes and biscuits… as well as Italian coffee, fresh juices and smoothies. I had an excellent espresso and this vegetarian moussaka with greek salad and tzatziki.
This is the Co-op, an excellent space filled with organic, gluten-free, everything-else-free, environmentally-sound products. It’s very encouraging to see a place like this really really busy.
In fact, the whole market was packed by the time I left (about 1.30). Every stall holder was willing to cut a deal to make a sale and I found some really great things, bits and pieces I’d been looking for for ages. Here’s what Bertha had to carry home…
…And this is some it…
Posh-looking brown bag for carrying music (€4), purse from Penny’s (50c), two silk scarves (€2) and the grey sweater dress with pompoms (€2). To anyone wary of buying clothes at a flea market, it’s really not what you think. There’s a toilet close by and most stall holders are more than willing to let you go try something on. All of the clothes I was looking at smelled freshly washed and none of them looked worn at all. The shoes and leather jackets are in varying condition – sometimes this made them look cooler, sometimes not.
Whether you buy anything or not, it is a really fun, relaxed place to check out and meet up with friends. The next one is October 30th. I won’t be able to go – but why don’t you? 🙂
I didn’t even know about this market – must make a trip there soon!