Used for the sale of butter before the advent of creameries which were such an important element of the cooperative movement in Ireland.
Prior to the 1890’s farmers churned their own butter at home and it was this finished product that they sold to dealers at weekly butter markets. It is no accident that the butter market in Clones is situated close to the railway station. Buyers purchased this butter direct from the producer and then sent it on for distribution in cities like Belfast and Dublin or exported it further afield through those ports to Britain.
Before the advent of the railway to Clones in 1858, butter would have been transported by barge using the Ulster Canal. With the establishment of creameries and the industrial manufacture of butter this cottage industry faded away and small butteryards became obsolete or were used to retail other farm produce like poultry and eggs.