Paddy's Market
Encyclopedia
Paddy's Markets is a commercial enterprise that has two large markets in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Paddy's Markets are located in Haymarket
Haymarket, New South Wales
Haymarket is a locality of Sydney's city centre, New South Wales, Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney....
and Flemington
Flemington, New South Wales
Flemington is an inner western suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Flemington is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield.-Commercial area:...
and specialise in the sale of fruit, vegetables, fish, clothes and giftware.
Flemington
Flemington, New South Wales
Flemington is an inner western suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Flemington is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield.-Commercial area:...
Paddy's is the larger site and specialises in fruit and vegetable sales. The market is the primary delivery service of these products for Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. The market has a wholesale sales section that caters to larger business and general sales to the public. The market is the central marketplace for Sydneys farmers to sell their products. Paddy's Flemington also has Sydney Central Fresh-Cut Flower Market, that is the central provider of flowers to Sydney's florists. On weekends, the markets also feature clothes, gifts and souvenirs. There is also a secondhand market, where vendors set up a sales stand selling a range of secondhand goods.
The Haymarket
Haymarket, New South Wales
Haymarket is a locality of Sydney's city centre, New South Wales, Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney....
Paddy's is located in the 'Market City' site, beside Chinatown
Chinatown, Sydney
Sydney's Chinatown is an urban locality in the southern part of the Sydney central business district, in New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Haymarket, between Central Station and Darling Harbour...
and is more like a traditional flea market
Flea market
A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...
, specialising in cheap imported clothes, giftware and also has a small section for fruit, vegetables and seafood. Paddy's Haymarket also sells souvenirs which makes it popular with tourists. Market City features these markets along with The Peak
The Peak Building
The Peak is a skyscraper in Sydney, Australia. Located at 2 Quay Street, Haymarket, the Peak is 166m in height and consists of 46 levels. It was constructed in 1996. The tower was built for residential use, with a 3-storey shopping centre called Market City occupying its base. There is also a...
apartment building and a modern shopping centre containing a food court, restaurants, boutiques, specialty shops and a cinema complex.
History
In 1834 Governor of New South Wales GeneralGeneral
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Richard Bourke
Richard Bourke
General Sir Richard Bourke, KCB was Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, Australia between 1831 and 1837.-Early life and career:...
moved the cattle, hay and grain markets to Campbell Street in the area now known as Haymarket
Haymarket, New South Wales
Haymarket is a locality of Sydney's city centre, New South Wales, Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney....
. A "fringe" market had been set up to serve the traders & some moved to the new markets in order to keep the business that they had built up over the years. Shortly after, the markets were allowed to stay open until 10:00pm on a Saturday night. Opposite the markets, a site that was a favourite with circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
es resulted in a carnival atmosphere emerging, complete with sideshow attractions.
The origin of the name is unknown, but is believed to have come from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In the 1870s, a similar operation had been set up in the back alleys of the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
area of Liverpool which was known as Paddy's Markets. A fruit market opened in the early 1890s on the former circus site and stallholders were asked to apply for space or leave the area. Stall holders were moved again in 1938 to the no.6 building, which was near the former site.
In the late 1960s it was decided to move the markets away from Haymarket to a new site at Flemington
Flemington, New South Wales
Flemington is an inner western suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Flemington is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield.-Commercial area:...
, further west. As by this stage Paddy's had become, as the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
opposition had put it, "a feature of Sydney life", It was decided to include a new Paddy's Market in the new complex, which opened in 1975. Shortly after, with the construction of the Sydney Entertainment Centre
Sydney Entertainment Centre
The Sydney Entertainment Centre is a multi-purpose venue, located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished to make way for a new railway. The centre is currently owned by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, which administers...
, the no.6 building in Haymarket was demolished with the markets moved into the no.1 & no.2 buildings.