The Milk Market, Limerick

Limerick Market places can be traced back to the 13th century with King Henry III permitted a weekly market in the city circa 1216. The Limerick Market Trustees were established by act of Parliament in 1852 to run and administer Markets in the borough of Limerick with the Milk Market its flagship venue.

The Milk Market courtyard originally constructed in 1830 with the western and southern sides of the walls of ancient Limerick incorporated into the courtyard to maintain the historic link. The Milk Market has experienced extensive renovation beginning in 1994 with rebuilding of the roofline, market house, courtyard and archway renovation winning a European Heritage Award in 1995.

The second major rejuvenation commenced in 2010 with the instillation of the largest tensile canopy roof in Ireland and building of central pavilion building along with more authentic cobblestone paths combined projects signifying a multi-million investment in Limericks heritage by the Trust. The venue won the RIAI Architecture Award in 2011. The Milk Market is open three days a week Friday to Sunday for markets until 3pm with Saturday showcasing over 60 local artisan food, street food and handmade craft producers with over 690,000 visitors annually.

The Milk Market hosts on average eight large concerts each year featuring both national and international artists separate to over a dozen community, corporate and private market events each year. The venue is available for hire for a host of events from corporate to family events including movie nights, private BBQ dining, gala dinners, receptions, outdoor games, music, weddings, themed events, product launches and parties.

Would You Like to Organise an Event at The Limerick Milk Market?

The Milk Market as a Venue

The Milk Market, in the heart of Limerick City, is an historic market and has been a market venue for over 150 years. The Market was originally constructed within a corner of the Limerick City wall and the remains of some of these foundations lie beneath the surface of the market courtyard.

The market has evolved in response to consumer needs and the most recent development works, completed in June 2010, has seen the market be transformed into an all-weather, all-week market space – with major markets taking place during the daytime on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays. At other times the space can be made available for ad-hoc or recurring markets or for special events.

What events is the Milk Market best suited to?

The Milk Market is best suited to the following types of events:

Markets:

The Milk Market is built for this very purpose and is probably Ireland’s finest all-weather market space. The market is in use on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Holiday Mondays, but can be available at other times for once-off or recurring market events e.g. antique markets; craft markets; gift markets; book markets; ethnic markets; speciality markets and more.

Showcases/Small Exhibitions:

The Milk Market is ideal as a venue for small exhibitions and ‘showcases’. It can be used to showcase virtually any products to any trade, consumer, or special interest group. For example, it would be ideal for small business ‘expos’; for mini ‘travel fair’s’ and for ethnic and other exhibitions.

Daytime, Lunchtime and Evening performances:

The market is ideal space for all types of musical, dance and artistic performances — right in the heart of the City. While it is covered by a tensile canopy, it is not fully enclosed. It therefore has the feel and the atmosphere of an open air venue.

Barbecues, Tastings, Cookery Demonstrations, Gourmet and ‘Taste’ Events and ‘On-the-Spot’ dine-arounds:
The market space is just perfect for anything to do with food and you are only limited by imagination. So, whether it’s a barbecue event; a Taste of the Caribbean or ’a Taste of the World’ – the Milk Market can accommodate it.

Community & Charity Events:

The market is an ideal venue for community and charity events – whatever they might be from themed markets and fashion shows to food tastings.

Product Launches:

It’s a very different venue to the normal ‘product launch’ venues. It’s like launching your product outdoors… indoor!