Abbeyleix Saturday Market

Every Saturday morning, stalls fill Market Square in Abbeyleix with fresh produce, meat, fish and home baking, one of the steady weekly fixtures of a heritage town that was laid out by the de Vesci family in the 18th century. It is a small, local market rather than a festival-scale event, run by a rotating mix of growers and food producers rather than a single management company. Shoppers come for produce they cannot get in a supermarket, and the market gives small producers direct access to customers without the overhead of a shop.

What to expect

Stalls typically include fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, meat and home baking, set up around Market Square from mid-morning and running for a few hours. It has none of the scale or programming of a festival market, no stage, no food trucks in numbers, just a straightforward weekly shop for local produce in one of Laois’s best-preserved Georgian streetscapes. Because Abbeyleix sits on the N77 south of Portlaoise, on a route many visitors already use to reach Kilkenny, the market picks up passing trade from people exploring the town as well as locals doing a weekly shop. Entry is free, you simply browse at your own pace and pay stallholders directly for whatever you buy.

Getting there

Abbeyleix is on the N77, about 12km south of Portlaoise and close to the M8 motorway. Market Square is at the centre of town on the main street, within easy walking distance of parking. Bus Eireann services running between Dublin, Portlaoise and Kilkenny stop in Abbeyleix.

While you’re in Abbeyleix

Abbeyleix’s wide Georgian main street, heritage bog gardens and long association with the de Vesci estate make it worth lingering in after the market packs up. There is more to see in Abbeyleix and across Co. Laois.

Good to know

• Date: every Saturday, next 8 August 2026
• Time: from around 10:00am
• Venue: Market Square, Abbeyleix, Co. Laois
• Price: free to browse
• Recurs weekly, year-round