Ireland’s independent retailers are places to cherish, where we gather to shop, share, gossip, laugh and sometimes even cry. They are barometers of our rural and urban communities, weather vanes that champion wider community issues.
They support local football teams, know just how to serve your tea or coffee, invest in new ranges that you need to try, will keep your copy of The Irish Times for you while you're on holiday and will proudly tell you how Mary, the Saturday girl, did a run and raised thousands of euro for a cancer charity.
The shopkeepers themselves make you feel welcome whether you’re browsing, buying or just sheltering from a showery squall. Many of you praised shops that offered good value – but without sacrificing quality or choice.
They also know that you, the customer, can be a font of wisdom and value your opinion. They want you to sample their goods and give them honest feedback. It is a symbiotic relationship that breathes life into our high streets and rural outposts, one that should be celebrated and supported.
The shortlist for this year’s best shops in Ireland competition is testament to your love of local retailers.
Almost every town in Ireland is represented, with some categories inspiring hundreds of responses.
Locally sourced produce and Irish craft and design are really well represented in the shortlist, showing the appetite there is for investing in home grown talent.
Three of the 10 categories originally listed – cafe/teashop; artisan food and greengrocer and crafts, gifts and design – garnered thousands of comments, with hundreds of shopkeepers and owners namechecked by readers for their attentive service and eye for detail. Two categories – health and beauty (added this year) and hardware (a huge success last year) – elicited disappointing responses this time round.
In contrast there were hundreds of nominations for shopping experiences that offered a sense of a great day out, so we’ve changed two of the categories slightly, amalgamating health and beauty with the hairdresser category, adding a category for local butchers because of the number of carnivores who wrote novellas on the service and quality of the produce supplied.
We’ve also created a new category for shops that offer more, giving a sense of an outing for both parents and kids.
The best shop window will be selected from the top 10 of the 50 shortlisted, as will the best shopkeeper.
When The Irish Times asked you to nominate your favourites, the response was more than double that of last year with more than 3,400 of you submitting entries. Whittling these down to 50 was no mean feat. We hope you agree with the selection.
On September 7th, we'll share our 10 favourites. Thank you to everyone who took part. Alanna Gallagher
THE 50 FINALISTS
ARTISAN FOOD &
GREENGROCERS
Ecologic, 2 Windy Arbour, Dundrum, Dublin 14
Cracked Nut, 71 Camden Street, Dublin 8
Fallon & Byrne,
Exchequer Street, Dublin 2
Little Italy, 140 North King Street, Stoneybatter,
Dublin 7
BUTCHERS
Farrellys Butchers, Main St, Delgany, Co Wicklow
James Whelan Butchers, Oakville Shopping Centre, Clonmel and Avoca Foodmarket, Monkstown, Co Dublin
CAFE/TEASHOP
Primrose Cottage Cakes, 14a Lower Esmonde Street, Gorey, Co Wexford
Nelly's, 12 South Circular Road, Dublin 8
Brown Hound Bakery, 2, Bryanstown Centre, Dublin Road, Drogheda, Co Louth
The Wooden Spoon, Bridge Street, Killaloe, Co Clare
Quinn Tea Rooms, Quinn, Co Clare
CRAFT, GIFTS & DESIGN
Moss Cottage, Main Street, Dundrum, Dublin 14
My Shop... Granny Likes It, Upper Abbeygate St, Galway
Style 25, 20 Drawbridge Street, Cork
Bob and Kate's Gift and Home, 1 Abbeylands Centre, Clane, Kildare
Designist, 68 South Great George's Street, Dublin 2
Jam Art Factory, Patrick Street, Dublin 8 and Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Out of the Blue, Strand St, Malahide and Monkstown, Dublin
Stone Mad Gallery, Newman's Mall, Kinsale, Co Cork
Gallery Zozimus,
56 Francis Street, Dublin 8
Candlemania, Merchant's Quay Shopping Centre, Cork
Quaint, Blackrock, Co Louth
O'Reilly & Turpin, Bridge Street, Westport, Co Mayo
Buy Design, Crookstown Upper, Athy, Co Kildare
Time Pieces, Roscommon
BOUTIQUE, VINTAGE
Juniper, 19 Parnell Street, Ennis, Co Clare
Devilish Designs by Gina, Prince's Street, Cork
Om Diva, 27 Drury Street, Dublin 2
Siopaella, Crow Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Brocade and Lime, 4 Cornmarket Street, Cork
Red Ruby Rouge, 120 High Street, Holywood, Co Down
Tempted, Skillings House, Raheny Shopping Centre, Howth Road, Raheny, Dublin and Key West, Custom House Quay, Wexford
Patrick Sheary Menswear, 33 Clarendon Street, Dublin 2
BOOKSHOPS
Charlie Byrne's, Cornstore Mall, Middle Street, Galway
Clifden Bookshop, Main Street, Clifden, Co Galway
An Siopa Leabhar,
6 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2
Rathfarnham Book Shop, Rathfarnham Shopping Centre, Dublin 14
BEST SHOP FOR A DAY OUT
Kildare Farm Foods, Rathmuck, Co Kildare
Tinahely Farm Shop, Coolruss, Tinahely,
Co Wicklow
SPECIALIST SHOPS
The Rage, Fade Street, Dublin 2
Susan Hunter Lingerie, Westbury Mall, Dublin 2
Stitch Shop, 63 Lower Beechwood Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6
This Is Knit, Powerscourt Townhouse, Dublin 2
Wreckless Skate Shop, 78 Main Street, Gorey
Mr Middleton Garden Shop, Mary Street, Dublin 1
Lamber de Bie, Ormonde Street, Kilkenny; Superquinn Centre, Tramore Road, Waterford and Ardkeen Foodstore, Dunmore Road, Waterford
HAIRDRESSER & BEAUTY
Jim Hatton Hair Salon, 40 Dunville Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6
Lloyds Xpress, Patrick Street, Waterford
Vanilla Hairdressing, Wynnefield Road,
Rathmines, Dublin 6
Fuschia Make-up, Scotch Hall, Drogheda, Co Louth and The Pavilions, Swords, Co Dublin
