Ireland’s elegant little capital may be an obvious stop on any trip to the country, but it’s not an obvious place to shop. Until, that is, you arrive and it begins to register exactly what is in the windows of the independent specialist stores that dot the city’s narrow, Georgian streets. Antique silver here, hard-to-find cigars there, along with the traditional Irish offerings of Waterford crystal, Donegal tweeds, and occasionally, the fine linen and handmade lace that was once synonymous with the country. You soon realise it’s possible to find Dolce, Gucci, Pucci and all the top fashion brands, while still exclaiming over some particularly good, home-grown fashion labels. As the sun shines and a breeze blows in off the river, you realise how pleasant it is to be able to browse your way around an 18th- and 19th-century city that hasn’t had its architectural heart ripped out by developers. And then the truth of the matter hits you: as a shopping destination, Dublin is a complete delight.
It helps that the city is so compact. Strung along the banks of the River Liffey and close to the Irish Sea, the entire city has a population of no more than about 1.5 million – out of a total of about 4.5m in the whole of this mostly rural country. The centre itself is small and the best shops are packed into the network of narrow old streets around Grafton Street, the main shopping thoroughfare. Located on the genteel South Side, it is neatly separated from the rougher North Side by the Liffey. To walk from one side of the area to the other takes about 20 minutes.
As well as shopping, many of the hotels are located in the centre, allowing visitors to simply wander back at the end of the day, never having to bother with taxis – unless you’re weighed down by shopping bags. As Ireland is part of the eurozone, don’t expect any “you are kidding me, in that case I’ll take six” type bargains. You will, however, finish a day spent dipping in and out of shops feeling relaxed, rather than exhausted. You’ll be surprisingly in the mood, as well, to hit a restaurant or local music gathering, because the Irish are endlessly entertaining conversationalists, inclined to the witty bon mot even when handing over the credit-card scanner.
Antique and jewellery shopping
Exquisite silverware, paintings, Persian carpets, grand furniture, leather saddles, beautiful old luggage; it's no exaggeration to say there are treasure troves to be explored in Dublin's auction houses and antique shops. This is largely thanks to Ireland's history. With wealth from the 16th to the early 20th centuries held almost exclusively in the hands of the Anglo-Irish Protestant minority, who kept their feet firmly on the necks of the Roman Catholic majority, they poured their riches into building – and filling – some of the most splendid country houses in Europe. The contents of these houses have been appearing in Dublin's auction houses and antique shops ever since the Anglo-Irish started selling up, following Irish independence in 1923. Amazingly, these spectacular house sales still continue and anyone interested in antiques might want to check the calendar of sales at the city's leading auction houses – Whyte's, Adam's, De Vere's, O'Reilly's – and plan their visit accordingly. Meanwhile, for the everyday browser, Francis Street, a five-minute walk from Grafton Street, is the place to find antique stores including Brian Behan Antiques, Euricka Antiques, O'Sullivan's, Patrick Howard, Michael Mortell and Yeats Country. Interspersed among them are somewhat iffy galleries, among which the best is probably Zozimus (galleryzozimus.ie), an odd mixture of the really interesting – excellent contemporary ceramics – and horribly kitsch – lurid portraits of Irish rock stars. Artsandantiquesquarter.ie is a useful guide to the Francis Street area.
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Department stores and malls
Department stores in Dublin usually mean Brown Thomas (brownthomas.com). Located on Grafton Street, it's now owned by the same Weston family behind Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason in London, and bears the same hallmark of Alannah Weston in its sure-footed buying. Personal shopping and stylists are all the rage here, and offer a more personalised experience. The store's airy women's fashion floor is the only place to find Irish designer Louise Kennedy's sleek, sophisticated, yet practical collections, and after years of remaining rather staid, the menswear department is particularly strong. The new beauty and accessory section, modelled on Selfridges' enviable Wonder Room, seems to magnetically draw credit cards out of wallets. Brown Thomas also has the best selection of Irish linen that you'll find in the country – once a leading export, it is now produced in very limited quantities.
A few minutes away are the city's two smartest shopping malls. The Powerscourt Townhouse Centre (powerscourtcentre.ie) – the larger of the two malls – is housed in a magnificent 18th-century town house between Clarendon Street and South William Street, and is lined with restaurants, cafes and luxury boutiques. Among the best for fashion are Marion Cuddy, Dawn Fitzgerald Atelier, Lya Solis and Jennifer Rothwell – a serendipitous spot for big-occasion dresses, including heart-meltingly frothy wedding dresses (from €250 [Dh990]). For menswear, have a look at Kennedy & McSharry, which offers handsome traditional hats and caps (from €120 [Dh473]) and handwoven Irish tweed caps (from €35 [Dh138]). The oldest "gentlemen's outfitter" in Dublin and set up in 1890, it is now run by the third generation of the McSharry family, Neil and Tony. Nearby, the chic little Westbury Mall – located next to the Westbury Hotel and opposite the statue of Thin Lizzie Star Philip Lynott – offers a number of stylish little shops, like Susan Hunter Lingerie. Just outside of town, the Dundrum Town Centre (www.dundrum.ie), which opened in 2005, is smart and self-contained. It boasts Ireland's only Harvey Nichols, a House of Fraser that features local designers like Orla Kiely, and a few stores that offer personal shoppers. Alternatively, Visitor Shopping Ireland (www.luxuryireland.ie) offers guided shopping tours in Dublin and elsewhere in the country, connecting visitors to authentic Irish designers, crafts and services. Added services of advice on and facilitating VAT refunds, and discount card offers are also available.
Serendipity: homewares, wigs, knits and cigars
It is quite a novelty to discover shops you haven't seen anywhere else. Avoca (avoca.ie), for instance, is an Irish family-run business with a shabby-chic vibe. Its flagship store on Suffolk Street (conveniently near the visitor information centre) vies with Brown Thomas for the title of the single best shop in the city. Best known for its vibrant cashmere and mohair blankets and throws (€120 [Dh476]),enticing tea sets, gold-rimmed mugs (€10 [Dh40]) and cake stands (€35 [Dh139]), all in sugar-almond pinks, blues and lemon, it also sells drifty womenswear with pink mohair coats (€210 [Dh834]), and the bits and pieces you buy with the intention of gifting, but always end up keeping for yourself. With 10 stores strung across Ireland, Avoca also offers online shopping with a significant amount of its business coming from the UAE. Hairspray (hairspray.ie) has three branches in Dublin and stocks a mix of wigs, hairpieces and extensions, accompanied by jauntily persuasive saleswomen. On Francis Street The Constant Knitter (theconstantknitter.ie), packed with yarns and patterns, offers regular classes and has become a place of pilgrimage for knitters worldwide, especially those from Japan, Canada and the United States. Cleo on Kildare Street (cleo-ltd.com) is the best spot for robust Irish handknits made from baby alpaca in heathery colours and the inevitable Aran cream (from €210 [Dh834]). For the most interesting local designers – of clothes, oddities and arty items for home – there's the very cool Irish Design Shop on Drury Street (irishdesignshop.com), with a pared down, almost Japanese aesthetic.
Anyone who enjoys cigars, and the chance to order an espresso while mulling over what to buy, will be delighted by the range and expert advice they encounter when they climb the stairs to The Decent Cigar Emporium on Grafton Street (decent-cigar.com).
And beyond the luxury shopping areas are the cobbled streets of Temple Bar, which run down to the Liffey. Lined with numerous quirky little design, clothing and gallery shops as well as bars and restaurants, this area is fun to browse as you wander down to the river on a summer’s evening. The weekly Saturday gourmet food market here delivers all sorts of treats, with the Corleggy cheese stall, for raw cow, sheep and goat-milk cheeses. Once you’ve roamed beyond Dublin and seen the lush green fields the Irish cattle, sheep and goats graze in, you realise why Irish cheeses, butter and milk taste so pure and intense. The Temple Oyster Bar and Bean & Goose chocolate stalls also come highly recommended.
Where to stop for coffee and cake
For years a red velvet banquette at the rear of the exotic, and now slightly scruffy, 19th-century Bewley's Oriental Cafes (bewleys.com) was one of the few places to park yourself for a coffee. It's still worth a visit, and its lunchtime theatre can be great fun. There are, however, plenty of other appealing spots to stop now. The three-storey Art Nouveau Cafe en Seine (cafeenseine.ie), for instance, offers an elaborate Victorian fantasy atmosphere, while the new chic, white-on-white cafe in the Brown Thomas department store is also a must. Among the new generation of cafes, where the prevailing look is a bare wood floor, a large antique mirror or two, and an old wood counter laden with celestial cakes, the cafe in the enticingly aroma'd Fallon & Byrne Food Hall (fallonandbyrne.com) on Exchequer Street is especially appealing. But none is more enticing than the big second-floor affair at Avoca. Try a pot of perfect tea (Barry's Tea, Ireland's favourite) and a thickly iced slice of carrot cake, fruit, or chocolate fudge cake (from €10 [Dh40]). The cafe also does delectable lunches, served on slates and wooden boards.
Where to stay
You could consider staying at the 19th-century Shelbourne, located in the heart of Dublin on St Stephen's Green; The Clarence Hotel, owned by rock star Bono and located on the bank of the Liffey; or the newish The Marker Hotel, situated in the restored Docklands area. Ask anyone which is Dublin's best five-star hotel, however, and the answer is always the same: The Merrion. A two-minute walk from St Stephen's Green on Upper Merrion Street, opposite the fabulously old-fashioned Natural History Museum (a must with its cabinets of crocodiles and orangutans), the 142-room, family-run hotel opened in 1997, and is created out of three Grade 1 listed 18th-century Georgian town houses. Walk in and you are instantly struck by three things: the scent of peat or wood from the open log fires that burn year round; the extraordinary art collection that hangs in its large, square, pale-palette drawing rooms; and the cheerful demeanour of the almost all-Irish staff. Home to Dublin's only two-Michelin-starred restaurant – the chef-eponymous Patrick Guilbaud – the Merrion has exceptionally comfortable, large suites (the nicest overlooking the gardens) and a spa that is scheduled to double in size by next year. Its elderly, top-hatted and great-coated Irish doormen are also a delight. The drawbacks are minor and few: the too-small and thus cluttered breakfast tables and, in the rooms, a loo that's integral to, rather than separate from, the bathroom. Double rooms start from €275 (Dh1,110), including taxes. A full Irish breakfast is also available for Dh115, per person (00353 1603 0600, merrionhotel.com).
City guides
A guide who knows all the local antique dealers and designers, and can tell you local gossip as well as the tumultuous history of the city, adds a lot to a visit. Witty know-all Josephine O'Keeffe (00353 87 677 3057) comes recommended, and is bookable via the Discover Ireland Visitor Centre (discoverireland.ie) on Suffolk Street. A Dublin Pass (dublinpass.com) gives free entry to various museums and attractions at €70 (Dh278) per day. Get the maximum use from the pass by utilising the hop-on, hop-off bus, €19 (Dh75) per day (dublinsightseeing.com).
Getting there
Etihad (etihad.com) and Emirates (emirates.com) fly direct to Dublin in seven hours, with returns from Dh3,100, including taxes.