Longford Farmer's Market: Shirley O’Halleran and Lorna Matthews

With an increase in the number of people being mindful of the direct effect on their health as a result of the quality of food they eat, coupled with the enormous push back against ingredients like palm oil, as well as talk of the Mercosur Deal inviting hormone-laden beef into the Irish market, it’s no surprise to learn that farmer's markets are now growing in popularity.

This popularity is expected to surge in the near future. In the latest issue of the Longford Leader, we chat with the stall holders of the farmers market in Longford Town, which runs every Friday morning in Market Square.

Fresh eggs from Shirley O’Halleran of the O'Halleran Family Farm, and homemade jams, baked breads and treats from Lorna Matthews of LM Baking

Shirley O’Halleran of the O'Halleran Family Farm began selling at the market back in May 2004, while Lorna Matthews of LM Baking began in November of that same year. Together they have a stall at the town market where they sell a mix of wares.

The eggs come from Shirley’s farm while Lorna supplies the baking and the jams. The jars of honey on their stall are locally produced in Newtownforbes. 

Explaining the appeal of buying food from a farmer’s market, Lorna explains, “Taste is a big thing. The food tastes fresh. Eggs taste so much better. It's the same with bread and baked goods. I’m nearly sold out and the market isn’t finished yet which is a good complaint."

"All my brown bread is gone and most of the scones are gone at this stage. People also like knowing where their food has come from. ” 

Her most popular item, Lorna says, are the old favourites. “I’d say the most popular would be the jam buns but do you know what has also taken off quite suddenly? Plain Madeira buns! The bakewells and lemon sponge always do well and sure scones will always be popular."

"Of the jams, the homemade raspberry jam is the favourite among customers. There aren’t many shops that would have rhubarb jam, blackcurrant jam or gooseberry jam so they would be popular too.” 

Explaining how she became involved in the market, Lorna says she enjoyed baking for her family, and decided to do it for the market after a previous baker left.  

“I started by making scones and buns but it snowballed from there” she explains. “People began making requests, and it really went from there. I always made jam as my children would only eat homemade jam. I began bringing that into the market as well and that took off.” 

Shirley O’Halleran of the O'Halleran Family Farm in Kenagh produces and sells free range eggs which have proven to be very popular among visitors to the farmer's market. 

“Myself and my husband Derek O’Halleran were taking over the farm at home but both of us were working full-time. We were looking for some kind of intensive enterprise and we just came across the free range egg production. We went to look at a few units and said this could really be it. We both wanted to be working at home and eventually we did."

"I gave up my job as soon as we started poultry and my husband gave up his job two years later because the poultry grew and the family grew at the same time."

"Our children Rebecca and Keith are 24 and 26 and they're both very heavily involved in the farm now as well. We’ve progressed and now have dairy at home as well. The farm has become bigger so it's very hands on." 

Shirley adds, “To really make a living from a farm, you do need to have entrepreneurial creativity. I do think people are becoming more and more conscious of what they're eating and more conscious of where their food is coming from."

"You see eggs from Argentina and it's outrageous! They're bringing them in here and selling them cheaper than eggs can be produced here which is very unfair. The standards in those countries are so low compared to the standards here that we have to meet.” 

For anyone who wants to get involved in trading at the Longford Farmer's Market: 

New traders are always welcome to apply for a stall, so if you’re considering joining the farmer's market, here Shirley O'Halleran explains what’s involved:

“We’re getting busier so we would absolutely welcome  new traders. We have an application form process."

"It's also a stipulation with our licence that it's food traders only and as we want to keep each stall different, new stalls would have to have something different to what’s already here."

"If anyone wants to speak with us, we're here at the market every Friday morning, from 9am until 2pm, and are happy to help in whatever way we can.”

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