Santa Claus came early this year to Sligo, the north-western town on the river Garavogue which is still synonymous with Ben Bulben and one Willie Yeats. About five months ago a shop opened its doors in Market Street with an unusual offer for those customers in the family way.
The Bar Bazaar offer still stands - a 10 per cent discount on books for pregnant women. "You don't even have to prove it; we are very enlightened," laughs the proprietor, Tamsin Cavaliero. She also offers a breastfeeding room for nursing mothers seeking some private feeding space.
Tamsin's Bar Bazaar sells a mixed bag of delights: any number of "wee things" to fill stockings, such as glow stars for £2.45, crystals from £3.95 to £4.95 and starsign bracelets in leather for £1.95. There are candles, little tin boxes, hats, secondhand books, dream catchers and mobiles to choose from. Dazzled? Thankfully, you can buy a cup of coffee here while making up your mind.
The Bar Bazaar is one of several craft shops in a town revived by considerable urban development, as reflected in new premises along the river and on High Street and Market Street. The long-established Tir na nOg now has two branches - the health-food store on Grattan Street and a separate card shop in Castle Street. It's a Pandora's box of clocks and soft toys and the selection of cards, wrapping paper, notepaper and stationery includes a range by the Designers' Guild .
In the Tir na nOg health-food shop there are delicious cheeses. It also stocks gift sets from Neal's Yard Apothecary, such as a ceramic oil burner with two essential oils, a base oil and flannel for £39.50; a baby pack (sponge and oil) for £17.30 and a simple soap and oil box for £4.29. The shop is also the agent for German-imported Econappies from Ecobaby which are only a penny dearer than the bleach-filled and indestructible "disposable" kind.
The Cat and the Moon in Castle Street has crafts in the higher price range. How about a ceramic sundial for £140 or a cast-iron, hanging, wine-bottle holder - unusual, practical and priced at £85. For those most-difficult-to-please teenagers, The Record Room in Grattan Street stocks Vatican flags for £19.98 and a pocket laser light that shines for up to half-a-mile at £23.98. (This shop obviously likes lots of two-penny bits in its till!) The music selection includes some home-produced releases by the likes of the Indian and the Swallow's Tail Ceili Band. Compact discs and tapes can be packaged in Christmas gift-boxes for 99 pence each.
A hand-made Christmas cake can be ordered from Roberts's Bakery in Grattan Street from £14 up to £60, depending on size and design; all are iced. The Winding Stair bookshop and cafe on Hyde Bridge is modelled on its Dublin original at the Ha'penny Bridge and the collection of second-hand covers here includes some interesting children's editions. Upstairs in the cafe the choice could be wider - salads, puddings and coffees are the main fare.
The town has always been well served by bookshops, the best-known being Keohane's, the Waterstone's of the west. There are few titles you won't find here. Naturally it has a veritable library on Yeats and is also particularly good on local history and archaeology.
Lyons's in Wine Street is a Sligo institution and still retains its marvellous shopfront. Inside, Attic Crafts has a fine variety of reasonably priced gifts for all types, such as Ben Bulben Pottery with the striking dark blue and grey glaze. Candle pots are £6.75, casserole dishes £37 and you can buy a wooden painted skipping rope for £4.99 or a pair of fossil ear-rings by Angela Kelly (325,000 years old! The ear-rings, not the jeweller) for £11.95. Sligo Pottery is available here and in most craft shops; an ashtray is £7.30, a teapot £45.
Mullaney's of O'Connell Street is the place to go for clothes that will last to the grave. Men's leather jackets and coats range from £160 to £375. Magic gloves are available here - one size fits all at £1.95. Savoury foods are well served in Sligo's High Street. Cosgrave's was a delicatessen long before many of us knew the meaning of the word. It has some of the world's finest dried fruit and the eggs are "beyond free range". Further up the street Kate's Kitchen does hampers and all sorts of foody gifts.
If you are out on Friday or Saturday The Market is the place for bits and pieces. A fruit tree for £9 or crystals from £2 to £6. One can never go wrong with candles, from 65 pence to £6.
Parking was always a problem in Sligo but never more so than now with a construction boom. Wine Street car-park is full to overflowing, invariably, from 10 a.m. onwards. But this is a compact town where everything is within easy reach, so best to find a spot on the outskirts and walk.
Lunchstop: Getting thirsty? Head for Grattan Street for a swift one in Shoot The Crows. Hargadon's in O'Connell Street does good lunch fare, while the Cafe Cairo on Rockwood Parade has a mighty soup. The Book Nest also does snacks for those browsers of the printed word.
Hinterland Hint: This is great terrain for glass. Sligo Crystal's factory 10 miles north of the town at Grange also has a shop on site while Inisfree Crystal is available at its outlet outside the town of Collooney.
