Paddy's Markets, Traditional marketplace in Haymarket and Flemington, Sydney, Australia.
Paddy's Markets is a marketplace with two main locations in Sydney, offering fresh produce, clothing, souvenirs, and everyday goods across large covered trading halls. Each location carries a different selection and operates on different days throughout the week.
The market began in 1834 when Governor Richard Bourke moved cattle and grain trading activities to this location. Over the decades it grew and became an important trading hub for the expanding city.
The name Paddy's is thought to come from Liverpool's original Paddy's Market in Banastre Street, a link to the poor Irish immigrants who shopped here. Opposite the Haymarket site stood a circus ground, and its sideshows gave the Saturday markets a carnival character. The Haymarket hall keeps a flea-market feel, with souvenir stalls that draw tourists beside Chinatown.
The two sites are far apart: Haymarket sits beside Chinatown in the city centre, while Flemington is west of the centre within the Sydney Markets complex. Haymarket opens every day; the Flemington Paddy's Markets open Friday to Sunday, with the Swap and Sell secondhand market in the same complex.
The name's origin is uncertain; it is thought to come from St Patrick's Bizarre in Banastre Street, Liverpool's original Paddy's Market. When Glasgow's market closed in 2009, its Paddy's Market name was reported to have been in use for almost 200 years. In Haymarket, a site opposite the markets that circuses favoured brought sideshow attractions and a carnival feel to Saturday trading.
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