Killruddery launches weekly food and craft market

A farmers’ market with a difference. Pack your best straw basket and head for Killruddery House on Easter Sunday, when the first of a series of weekly food and craft markets launches in the stable yard

Downton Abbey? No, it's our very own Killruddery House just outside Bray, Co Wicklow, where the first of a series of weekly food and craft markets in the stable yard kicks off next weekend (March 31st).

Once a month the market will have a special theme, with an Easter bunny’s children’s treasure trail drawing the little ones in next Sunday. After that the market will run every Saturday (10am-4pm), with the next themed event a Poultry Fair on May 4th.

Wicklow is a happy hunting ground for artisan food enthusiasts, and there will be 30 stalls, both indoor and outdoor, to browse each week. With olive oil in short supply this year due to drought in the main producing regions, this will be the place to buy a bottle of organic extra virgin oil from family company Méleon, which brings it in from family sources in Crete.

Pork butcher Ed Hicks will be in attendance and you might be lucky enough to score a jar of his famous Bacon Jam. Killruddery Farm's own produce for sale will include a seasonal treat - wild garlic pesto. Downton fans will wonder if it is made by the estate's very own Mrs Patmore? For more, see killruddery.com.

Marie Claire Digby

Marie Claire Digby

Marie Claire Digby is the former Senior Food Writer at The Irish Times