Meet the woman who runs one of the oldest stalls at Cork's English Market

Noonan’s Pork and Bacon stall is unique among the bevy of English Market traders specialising in pig meat, most notably with its pig offal and traditional Cork favourites of bodice, skirt, kidneys, pig’s tails, hocks and crubeens.

The glass display counter is a curiosity cabinet, hosting the continual stop-and-stare of visitors to the market, young children, or older people who seem suddenly struck by a long-ago memory of freshly hot and gelatinous crubeens or the weekend treat of corned beef ribs – bodice – one of the quintessential tastes of Cork.

But of most note is the steady stream of trade, with people young and old alike, from around the corner or with roots in further away places. To them, Noonan’s is a beacon where these odd bits of the pig are transformed into dishes redolent of home – wherever in the world that may once have been.

Kathleen Noonan opened the stall in 1955. she came from trading in the open-air markets of the Coal Quay to seize the opportunity to take a vacant stall in The English Market.

Although the market is 235 years old overall, at almost two score years and ten, Noonan’s is one of the oldest stalls in the market.

“The old stock,” as her daughter, Pauline Mulcahy, who now runs the stall, says.

Today, Pauline is the welcoming face of Noonan’s; always smiling with a sunny “morning” for those who pass by. I meet her as she’s enjoying a quick tea break, bedecked in a red and white striped apron synonymous with butchers’ regalia.

In the cabinet today are tails and feet, skirts and bodice, black pudding, enormous ham hocks, bacon, fresh pork ribs, and the polished deep burgundy of kidneys.

“We sell everything from the head to the tail, I’m one of the very last now to sell the whole pig product in Cork,” says Pauline.

My mother sold everything but the squeal, and if she could sell that she would have!

Pauline is one of eight children, all of whom were practically raised in The English Market. Four daughters apprenticed under their mother at various times, but it was Pauline who eventually took over the reins when Kathleen retired.

“She came here in 1955 and opened this stall. I came along in 1963, the last of eight children. She used to go to Murphy’s Evergreen Bacon Factory on Evergreen Road every morning, and she’d always have one of the older siblings in the pram. She’d put her meat under the pram - what she needed to get her through the first few hours until the van driver came.

“At the time, in 1955, there were maybe five or six other women traders in the market. My mother was a very quiet women; she never spoke about why she came into the market or how it came about. Before she did this, she used to clean houses.”

The sale of pig offal is connected to the city’s history as a centre for meat provisioning. The offal was, as Pauline says, often regarded as “poor man’s meat”, but over time became regarded as a symbolic taste of the city, along with tripe, drisheen and salt fish.

Poor man’s food or otherwise, there is pride in what is sold from Noonan’s that Kathleen instilled in her daughters.

She always told us before we put our overall on, when any of us came in here, treat the customer like you’d want to be treated yourself, and don’t put out on the counter what you wouldn’t put into your own mouth.

Pauline and her older sisters, Vicky, Deirdre and Teresa, all worked together with Kathleen for many years, and there was no question that one of her daughters would come into the business after her.

“I was always told that it was going to happen. Out of the eight of us, four of us did a stint in here. Then, when my mother went blind, she couldn’t come in anymore, so my sister Deirdre came in with me, but I’m doing it now myself.”

Seventy years of trade and two generations, yet Noonan’s stall hasn’t changed at all. The city and its people have, but demand for those odd bits hasn’t waned; rather, it has found new audiences.

“For a while, people went off this meat, but it’s become very popular again. Now we have all nationalities, and they all have their own product: some always go for neck bones, others love the tails, but the Irish taste is still for bodice, skirts, kidneys and crubeens.”

For those who may not be familiar with these things, bodice is corned pork ribs, skirt is diaphragm, and crubeens are pigs’ feet.

“I cure the bodice myself. The recipe came from my mum. We’ve a barrel in the fridge; we make the pickle every two and a half weeks and every evening I throw fresh pork ribs into the pickle and they’re bodice by next morning!

“Some people like them in the barrel for a few days, but my mother always put them in as an over-nighter and people say they are just right – they don’t have to be soaking them or throwing water off them as they’re boiling. But others will ask, could we leave them in there for three days because they’re not salty enough!”

I sold a fortune of bodice for the All Ireland. I heard it was brought to Croke Park and that there were bodice bones all over Dublin!

When we think about the intergenerational aspect of the market, thoughts immediately turn to the traders, but of course this also includes those who continue a family tradition of shopping in the market, as well as new people to the city.

“All this is becoming very popular again; I find younger couples all love cooking. It’s since Covid – there was nothing else for young couples to do so they were all queuing to come into the market, and we kept a lot of them as customers today.”

But what of a third generation of Noonan’s?

“My mother always wanted [the stall] to be kept going. My daughter wants to be a teacher, so I don’t think she’ll have any interest in it, but I don’t think she’d let it go.

“I think its bred into you. There’s no day the same in here, and you have to love it to come in here - and I do love it. I work six days a week.”

The next generation of Noonan’s may be less clear cut, but Pauline is certain such longevity is a defining hallmark in what makes the market special to all who buy and sell there.

Customers like to come to a family business and like to know who they’re dealing with. They get to know you down through the years – they become your friends, really. Most of my customers would call me by my name and I would call them by their name, too.

“My mother would say someone will always come to the counter with a worse problem than you have yourself. She was a brilliant woman; very quiet – too quiet for this world. She was great in here, but if you brought her into a restaurant or a pub she couldn’t converse with people, she was shy that way.

“But behind the counter, people would pass by and say hello to her, and she’d always say: Good morning and good luck to ya!”

The market holds many memories for Pauline of her mother.

They were the best years of my life, really. I never left my mother when I got married, my husband moved into the family home and we’re still there. I was with her all my life. I have great memories in here with her; we had some laughs and some funny characters coming through here.

“The other traders are like second family. Everyone is affected if somebody dies; there’d be a lull around the market; and if someone was in hospital, you’d get a text. All those things make this place special.”

True to her mother’s guiding words, Pauline says she prefers the meat she sells from her counter to any others.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t eat off the counter. I prefer my own meat to other butchers’ meat. I’d rather have bodice than a steak. I like food with a taste, flavour – with salt.”

Cook with Noonan’s

Try these three recipes handed down from mother to daughter for a taste of Cork’s piggy delicacies!

Traditional Cork Bodice

Put the bodice in a pot, cover with cold water, bring to the boil, then simmer for an hour and a half. Add cabbage and turnip to the water and boil until tender. Serve with creamy mash potatoes.

Crubeens and Parsnips

Kathleen Noonan’s favourite way to eat crubeens was boiled in water with parsnips: “My mother thought they were the nicest thing out of crubeen water,” says Pauline.

Stuffed Fresh Pork Ribs

Another Kathleen Noonan favourite shared with many customers over the years is to stuff a rack of fresh pork ribs with mashed potato, thyme and onion.

“Cut a rib in half, put the potato stuffing mix on one half and place the other half on top. Wrap it in tin foil and roast in the oven. It’s a lovely, tasty dish!”