Shopping in Ireland
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Galway Market
Galway's festive market is filled with buskers and stalls selling farm-fresh produce, crafts, jewellery and hot food. At the time of writing, plans were underway for the markets to operate from Thursday to Sunday - check with the tourist office for updates. Saturday usually offers the widest choice of stalls and liveliest crowds.
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Francis Street
Some of the most interesting - and wackiest - shopping is done along Francis Street in the Liberties, the home of antiquarians and, in recent years, art dealers of every hue. Although you mightn't fancy transporting the hand luggage, you can have that original Edwardian fireplace you've always wanted, shipped to you by the shop.
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Avoca Handweavers
Avoca Handweavers is one hell of an operation, with seven branches nationwide and an even more widespread reputation for adding elegance and style to traditional rural handicrafts. Operational HQ is in a 19th-century arboretum, and its showroom will leave you in no doubt as to the company’s incredible success.
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Retrospect
All you children of the 1960s and ’70s can relive the era that taste forgot (or took off, depending on your viewpoint) at this vintage interiors shop. In here you’ll discover fantastic plastic objects of desire, Formica-top tables, original lava lamps and swinging egg seats, all of them in glorious technicolour.
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Original Print Gallery
The gallery’s back catalogue of work from 150 Irish and international printmakers is available for purchase, along with new, limited-edition work. It’s a great place to browse for pressies (yes, for yourself, too) – many starting at under €100 – among the diverse range of prints on display.
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Blarney Woollen Mills
This is the Dublin branch of the best-known Irish shop in the country – the actual mills are located in County Cork, within sight of the famous castle and its gab-bestowing rock. This branch shouldn't disappoint, with a particularly wide range of cut crystal, porcelain presents and its trademark woolly things.
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Rhinestones
Exceptionally fine antique and quirky costume jewellery from the 1920s to 1970s, with pieces priced from €25 to €2000. Victorian jet, 1950s enamel, art deco turquoise, 1930s mother-of-pearl, cut-glass and rhinestone necklaces, bracelets, brooches and rings are displayed by colour in old-fashioned cabinets.
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Irish Historical Picture Company
With a print collection that’s second only to the holdings at the National Library, this place has more than 12,000 pictures taken around Ireland at the turn of the 20th century. The prints cover all 32 counties and range from town streetscapes to images of bog cutters. Mounted prints can be framed within minutes.
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Weir & Son's
The largest jeweller in Ireland, this huge store on Grafton St first opened in 1869 and still has its original wooden cabinets and a workshop on the premises. There's new and antique Irish jewellery (including Celtic designs) and a huge selection of watches, Irish crystal, porcelain, leather and travel goods.
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Barry Doyle Design Jewellers
Goldsmith Barry Doyle's upstairs shop is one of the best of its kind in Dublin. The handmade jewellery – using white gold, silver, and some truly gorgeous precious and semiprecious stones – is exceptional in its beauty and simplicity. Most of the pieces have Afro-Celtic influences.
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Jenny Vander
More Breakfast at Tiffany's chic than the cast-offs from Hair, this secondhand store oozes elegance and sophistication. Discerning fashionistas and film stylists snap up the exquisite beaded handbags, fur-trimmed coats, richly patterned dresses and costume jewellery priced as if it were the real thing.
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House of Names
Impress your friends by serving them drinks on coasters emblazoned with your family's coat of arms, matching the sweatshirt you're wearing and, of course, the glasses or mugs your drinks are served in. All this and more can be yours from the House of Names, so long as you have a surname with Irish roots.
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Core Craft Centre
On your way to Clonmacnoise, it's worth stopping here in Ballinahown, to browse the range of contemporary craftwork, bog oak sculpture and pottery on offer. There's an excellent range of items on display and prices are more reasonable than in city craft shops. Ballinahown is on the N62, about 10km from Clonmacnoise.
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Decent Cigar Emporium
When the clamour of Grafton St gets too much, slip up this discreet staircase, recline in a plush leather armchair and run your nose along a sweet hand-rolled, long-filler cigar over a glass of decent red wine or a cup of Illy coffee. In a country that has a smoking ban, this is indeed a rare pleasure.
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Urban Outfitters
Funky street wear and labels are mixed with gadgets and home wares at this branch of the US chain. As the DJ spins tunes from the Carbon record outlet, boys browse through G-Star denims, Pringle knits and Fiorucci trousers, while girls have a choice between Claudie Pierlot, W< and Mandarina Duck.
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Causeway Speciality Market
On the second Saturday of each month the Causeway Speciality Market is held in the Diamond, selling a range of local crafts and organic produce, from hand-turned wooden bowls and homemade candles to farmhouse jam from Ballywalter, County Down, and sheep-milk cheese from County Derry.
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5 Scarlet Row
Beautiful, modern, exclusive, minimalist. If that’s what you’re after try the creations of Eley Kishimoto, Zero, Irish designer Sharon Wauchob or menswear label Unis. Owner Eileen Shields worked with Donna Karan in New York before founding her own gorgeous shoe label that retails here.
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St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre
A 1980s version of a 19th-century shopping arcade, the dramatic, balconied interior and central courtyard are a bit too grand for the nondescript chain stores within. There's a Boots, Benetton and large Dunnes Store with supermarket, though, as well as last-season designer warehouse TK Maxx.
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Kilkenny Shop
A large, long-running repository for contemporary, innovative Irish crafts, including multicoloured, modern Irish knits, designer clothing, Orla Kiely bags and some lovely silver jewellery. The glassware and pottery is beautiful and sourced from workshops around the country. A great source for presents.
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Coppinger Row Market
It’s small – only a handful of stalls – but it packs a proper organic punch, attracting punters with the waft of freshly baked breads, delicious hummus and other goodies.
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Cross Gallery
Nestled amid the top-end antique stores of the Liberties, Cross is an open-plan gallery in a terraced house designed to be unintimidating (in both design and price) to first-time buyers. Contemporary and abstract artists such as Clea Van der Grijn, Simon English and Laurent Mellet are represented.
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Tulle
International designers with attitude – Sass and Bide, Wheels & Doll Baby, plus Fornarina and Sonia Rykiel – are stocked in this small outlet for fashion-savvy young gals, tucked away in the arcade. Don’t be fooled by the plain frontage; this place is seriously cool.
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Cleo
Home-knits and hand-weaves from all over the country (including a fine selection of Aran sweaters) make up the bulk of this shop’s collection. The patterns are all very Irish – some more than others; there are sweaters with replicas of Celtic stones and other ancient patterns.
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Arnott’s
Occupying a huge block with entrances on Henry, Liffey and Abbey Sts, this is our favourite of Dublin’s department stores. It stocks virtually everything you could possibly want to buy, from garden furniture to high fashion, and it’s all relatively affordable.
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Summerhouse
If you want to create that ‘heritage’ look in your own home (with a stylised, contemporary twist), check out the unusual glassware, fabrics, ceramics and ironwork at this gallery-style shop. It also sells handmade jewellery, and has an aromatic cafe and bakery onsite (dishes €4.75 to €11).
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