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markets · Saturday 4 July 2026 · 10:00am 
Mountrath Cottage Market
At The Macra Hall · Main Street, Mountrath, Co. Laois
At The Macra Hall · Main Street, Mountrath, Co. Laois
Every first Saturday of the month, the Macra Hall on Main Street in Mountrath fills with the kind of stalls you don’t find in a shopping centre. The Mountrath Cottage Market brings together local makers, bakers and growers under one roof - and entry costs nothing. It’s a genuinely community-run affair, organised by Mountrath Community Forum since it first opened in June 2017, and every euro raised goes back into projects for the town. If you’re passing through Laois on a Saturday morning, it’s the sort of stop that makes the day feel well spent.
Around 14 stalls set up inside The Macra Hall each month, with a marquee spilling out to accommodate the spread. Everything on sale is homemade, home-grown or hand-crafted - that’s a firm rule here, not just a tagline. You’ll find home baking alongside handmade soaps, woodturning, knitted goods, art, pottery, jams, needlework, upcycled pieces and organic vegetables. The Mountrath Camera Club exhibits photography at each market, adding a local arts thread to the whole event.
There’s also a rotating charity stall each month, allocated to a local group or club. A well-stocked second-hand book bank sits alongside it, with proceeds going directly to whichever group is featured that day. It’s a small detail that says a lot about how the market is run.
If you want to set up a stall yourself, the organisers welcome applications - contact Anne or Lucy on (089) 2048089.
Mountrath sits on the N7 Dublin-to-Limerick road, roughly midway across Laois. From Dublin it’s under 90 minutes; from Limerick city, just over an hour. The town is well signposted off the main road and parking is available on and around Main Street. Bus Eireann services on the Dublin-Limerick route stop in the area, though you’d want to check current timetables for Saturday schedules and the precise stop.
The town has a quiet, unhurried pace that suits a Saturday morning wander. The River Nore flows nearby and there’s good walking in the Slieve Bloom Mountains to the east, which form the natural backdrop to much of this part of Laois. There is more to see in Mountrath and across Co. Laois.
Heading to The Macra Hall in Mountrath? Laois has plenty more to see. Read the Mountrath area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.