Fairyhouse Market

Access

I know there are a few older threads on the market but the latest one is from a couple of years ago so didnt want to really drag up a zombie thread.

I went with a couple of relatives to Fairyhouse market last sunday and as i had not been there in about 4 or 5 years i was hoping the place improved from my last visit.

Its gone to the dogs in fairness and i was surprised its gone so much downhill in that time.

Its full of tat and crap, multiple overpriced tool stalls, knock off clothes, cds, dvds, boots and runners, bullsh1t tarot readers and drug promotion/use paraphernalia stands.

Barely any stalls inside anymore - presume they started to abandon ship when they saw for themselves that the place was going downhill.

I feel sorry for the proper long term stalls selling there - the book sellers/home baking stall (only one in the whole place!)/veg stalls. There seems to be only a few hot food stands there, i was starved and was going to get a hotdog from one of the two hotdog stands there, but i stopped once i saw the lad serving them with his bare hands! And he was looking like an extra out of love/hate with the socks up over his tracksuit bottoms. :rolleyes:

Only stayed about an hour and did get a few veg bargains before i left but that was about it. Even spotted a lad selling bootleg cds and dvds on way out the gate!

Ive been to markets up the north and the UK before and they wipe the floor with fairyhouse - the UK ones are so well run and very artisan covering a wide range of varying stalls.

I dont know how Fairyhouse is still running in my opinion.

Slippin Jimmy

Was at it last year. I can only echo what you have said above. Didn't find anything of interest in it. Every second stall seemed to be selling the same thing. I'm glad I haven't wasted my time going back.

jeffk

Yeah its gone really downhill now.

Even the mother and father don't want to bother going now, they always say as you get to the end this is all rubbish(car boot section)

The best thing in it now is the little coffee stall.

Its something to pass a hour while waiting for the Sunday dinner or the football

blackbird 49

just posting about the car boot sales at the market, I'm hoping to go on Sunday with some items to sell, I was just looking for some feed back from people who have done car boot sales here. Thanks

FairyHouseSM

Hi, I am one of the managers for Fairyhouse market and this thread was brought to my attention. First let me apologise for the experience you had at our Sunday Market. I hope you don’t mind if I take the time to respond to all the points you brought up.

In your message you say that your last visit was 5 years ago, you are correct that the market underwent a very large change. This was due to the recession where price was king and our customers wanted bargains!! The expendable income people had in the boom was just gone and this forced many markets who didn't adapt to close their doors. We listened to what people wanted and ensured that we had the best value of all the markets in Southern Ireland (can’t comment on UK / NI as we have not visited them in some time). The good news is that things are on the way up again and we are working hard on attracting more artisan items which you are looking for.

We also are working on creating a great environment for the children to make it a fun day out for the whole family. For example this weekend we will have the Q102 blue crew doing face painting. In the past we have had pony rides, magicians, music and even a few bouncy castles. We also have a new safe playground which is open every week.

As for the food stalls, we take this very serious about gloves not being worn as it is in our terms and conditions for all food stalls that gloves must be worn at all times when handling food. We have talked to both the stalls which it could be and they are as shocked as we are about this happening. All food stalls have been warned about this breach of the rules and we have been ensured by each and every one of them that it will not happen again on any of the stalls. Thank you for bringing the breach to our attention.

The comment about being a love / hate extra made us laugh a little bit but we are an equal opportunity market. We do not discriminate from race, gender, social class or anything else. As they say you should not judge a book by its cover. It’s unfortunate that you didn't get to interact with the food stall holder as they are all very friendly and you probably would have had a bit of banter with them.

We are happy that you got some bargains before you left. Judging by the date of this post I think that weekend was very bad weather wise, there is one thing we cannot guarantee and that is the Irish Sun. We have just checked the weather forecast and it looks like it will be a sunny one. So I invite you to come back when the sun is out and experience the market in it's full glory. Once again thank you to everyone for your feedback and feel free to PM me if you have any other suggestions or feedback.

I do not want to break any rules so I won't post a link to our facebook. I tried putting photos up but since I am new to boards I can't do so for 10 days. Again I don't want to break rules so here are some links you can copy / paste into your browswer if you want to see some. Sorry about the photo of the playground, it's a bit dark I will take better ones tomorrow and put them on our facebook.


fairyhousemarket.ie/images/boards/q102.JPG
fairyhousemarket.ie/images/boards/playground.jpg
fairyhousemarket.ie/images/boards/magician.jpg

Zaph

FairyHouseSM, as you are posting on behalf of a company I have to ask you to refrain from posting any further until you have obtained a verified rep account from the guys in the office. They can be contacted at reps@boards.ie and I have made them aware that they should be hearing from you.

Please note that further posts without having first obtained a verified rep account will result in a siteban.

FairyHouseSM

Hi Zaph,
Thanks so much for the heads up on that. I emailed them yesterday but have not heard back so guess its a Mon-Friday thing. I will respect the rules and won't post any more until I am verified. The Sun is out today so can't wait to put photos up of the Playground in full swing today.

jeffk

We went on Sunday.

A lot more traders, I’m putting this down to the summer and them not setting up in winter knowing people won’t go as much.

Still stick to just over an hour to see what you want. LOADS of fake branded stalls, shame the two bakery stalls are gone.

All herself ever seems to come out with is washing liquid etc

Access

@ Fairyhousesm

Fair dues to you for replying and taking time to do so, but i think you skimmed over some of the points that were made and rushed to defend the market somewhat before taking on peoples comments on here.

Firstly, take the weather out of the equation - the weather was fine on the day i was there and if it was bad i certainly wouldnt have blamed the market for that!

Your €2 parking price is fine and spot on in fairness and i dont mind paying it to be honest.

I haven't been in about five years due to my work, so i wasnt trying to point out that i have avoided the market for that time, but merely didnt have the time to attend. Previous to my last visit five years ago, we attend the market about 1 to 2 times a month so we were regular visitors.

Take on board the fact that i want to support the market, but in its current form, it seems to be tired and frankly needs a reboot - get rid of the tat, the knock off clothes, cds, dvds, boots and runners and drug promotion/use paraphernalia stands. Im sure in the stall holder contract/terms it states no selling of counterfit goods or services - so why cant one of ye walk around and throw out the knock off sellers like the dvd/cd copys that were for sale near the gate on the day i visited - Stop having customs and the gardai do that job for you - they have enough to do in fairness and reports like the gardai going into your market to do such busts does nothing for the reputation of the market in fairness.

We listened to what people wanted and ensured that we had the best value of all the markets in Southern Ireland (can’t comment on UK / NI as we have not visited them in some time). The good news is that things are on the way up again and we are working hard on attracting more artisan items which you are looking for.

You could have a large number of artisan stalls/traders next sunday, but IMHO the reason they are not there is because you are a home to the few stalls/traders that bring the whole reputation of the market down - therefore the serious traders wont attend. I not saying i think fairyhouse market should go the way of Donnybrook Fare or the likes with fancy expensive cheese or overpriced olives and deli meats, but it needs something more then one single bakery stand. Clean up the market, look for and only allow quality and not quantity in the amount of your stalls. Allow more room for car boot sellers.

I would and im quite sure a lot of others would prefer the market to be half the size and have quality stands instead of the market being huge with no particular vetting of stalls - again for instance, i have read in the papers/heard from people that gardai and customs have visited fairyhouse to bust fake dvd/cd retailers on many occasions, but somehow ye still allow/dont check for this going on in your own market.

Have a walk around your own market one sunday - become a mystery shopper or nominate an unknown in your team to do so. Have a customer head on you when you go around the stalls and see what you think is family friendly, what looks like a rip off and ask yourself how others perceive this seller/stall.

The comment about being a love / hate extra made us laugh a little bit but we are an equal opportunity market. We do not discriminate from race, gender, social class or anything else. As they say you should not judge a book by its cover. It’s unfortunate that you didn't get to interact with the food stall holder as they are all very friendly and you probably would have had a bit of banter with them.

Point taken and im sure he was a nice fellow, but again, put a customer head on you when viewing this stall - My whole point is that you only had two hot food stalls of this nature (im excluding the crepes stalls and the like), now he is turning/handling/serving hotdogs from the heater with his bare hands wearing and presenting himself in a tracksuit, baseball cap and wearing socks over the bottoms just like the fashion style made popular by love/hate (as i commented)
Now ask yourself would i buy hot food from this guy the way he presents himself as a hot food stall holder (not discriminating on race, gender or anything else as you previously mentioned by you), or would i buy one from a person who presents themselves as a aproned, gloved, professional looking server? - im just calling it as it is in real life just like anyone else would.

One of the best stalls i saw in the place was the lego model stall run by the young boy and his mum. It was great to see such a entrepreneurial spirit from such a young lad running his own small business. Ye need to promote more student ideas and start ups like that kid.

So, maybe take the comments on board of this thread and the older one here in the Meath forum.

Try doing a quick customer questionnaire at the entrance one sunday or just stand back and view the place as a customer one sunday and see what you honestly think. It is a good market and there is value to be had at it and it deserves to go from strength to strength, but its just those few issues that are holding it back.

Best of luck with it either way.

Dublinhurler

Fairhouse has gone down in recent years but I still enjoy going to this market. This is one of y first markets I choose when heading to a market on a sunday. The market is not for everyone but I actually enjoy it. Once the weather is good I enjoy going to fairyhouse.