Every Saturday they come together on Dominick Street. More than 50 different artisans sharing one goal; to get their products out to the masses.
And the diversity is staggering.
It is the brainchild of Paul David Murphy who felt it was time for a new platform for Galway’s artisans.
“Galway is a growing city and we do have one farmer’s market but we needed a new venue to give more people access and this is just the right platform. It’s centrally located, friendly, full of food and music, a great place to meet up with friends and it offers so many crafters what they need here in Galway.”
There’s fresh produce, freshly baked goods hand made jewelry and soaps and made-to-order meals ranging from Spanish omelets to one stall that sells avocado based offerings. (It’s called Avo Good Day, you gotta love that!)
There’s freshly brewed coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice and fresh oysters opened while you wait.
It’s a different mix than the Farmer’s Market on Shop Street, which has a bigger focus on produce.
This has more of a stroll-through-and-stop-and-have-a-drink-and-listen-to-live-music kind of focus. And founder Paul David Murphy says that was always the plan.
“We see this as a village of traders within the village of Galway. It’s just another platform for the artisans in the area. It’s Galway artisans at their best.”
It originally opened in September, then weather forced a three month break for another opening in the spring. But it has really caught on with both the vendors but the public who comes to see, eat, meet up and take part.
For Carlos Garcia Pando, who was manning a stall serving up fresh Spanish omelets and baked goods his wife makes weekly for the market, this is a lucrative hobby. There are empanadas and gazpacho and bollos preñaos (kind of a Spanish version of chocolate chip cookies rolled into bite-size balls.)
“My wife is a good cook and this is an experiment for her,” Pando says. “We want to share the food and the culture but we don’t want to run a restaurant. That would be work, this is fun. We can meet lots of people and it’s a fun escape from work. By Monday, it feels like I’ve been far away from the regular week’s work. It’s all good.”
During the week Pando is a medical device developer.
Every one of the crafters here has a story to tell, and you can find them all at the Tiny Trader’s Village at 45 Dominick Street in Galway, Saturdays 10-6.
