Shopping

Generally stores in Dublin open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays from 10am-6pm. Thursday night is late night shopping with may shops remaining open until 8 or 9pm. Sunday is a very nice day to have a stroll through the city with opening times between 2 & 6pm. Shopping in Dublin focuses on the two main pedestrianised shopping streets of Grafton Street/Stephen's Green on the south side of the city and Henry Street on the north and their surrounding streets. The two streets are just either side of the river, a few minutes walk apart, but are somewhat different.

Southside
Grafton Street, located between Trinity College and St Stephen's Green is a smart shopping area with fashionable high street shops and high end stores such as Brown Thomas ( www.brownthomas.ie ) catering for many foreign and local designer showcases. There are many exclusive jewelers on the street including Dublin's leading Weirs Jeweler ( www.weirsandsons.ie ). Stephen's Green Shopping Centre is a large atrium style building overlooking Stephen's Green park and is home to a variety of fashion, home ware and gift ware shop (www.stephensgreen.com). Other principal shopping streets in the area include Wicklow Street, Dawson Street, South Great Georges Street and Nassau Street with its quality Irish goods stores that include Kilkenny Design ( www.kilkennyshop.com ). The nearby Powerscourt Towncentre is one of the nicer shopping centres in the city with cosy cafes, design studios and antiques ( www.powerscourtcentre.com ). Also close by is The Georges Street Arcade, an indoor market that is well worth a visit ( www.georgesstreetarcade.ie ).

Northside
The north side of Dublin provides as much variety as Dublin's south side and with a bit of searching is a good spot to find a bargain. The famous outdoor market of Moore Street is just off Henry Street. Henry Street is home to department stores such as the popular Arnotts ( www.arnotts.ie ) and Jervis Street shopping centre ( www.jervis.ie ) is close by too. O'Connell Street, Dublin's main thoroughfare, is home to the excellent Clery's Department Store (www.clerys.com).

Outside the City Centre
Farmer's markets have become a popular place for Dubliners to stock up on organic produce and stroll through a variety of quality food and gift wares. These markets are dotted throughout Dublin city as well as the northern and southern suburbs. The charming fishing village of Howth has a lovely weekend market and is easily accessible by train at Pearse Street DART station, located very close to three of the O'Callaghan Hotels in Dublin: O'Callaghan Alexander, Davenport & Mont Clare hotels. For more information on farmers markets through Dublin view www.irishfarmersmarkets.ie and www.dlrcoco.ie/markets/venues.htm. Dundrum shopping centre brought new standards of excellence to the shopping experience when it opened in 2006. Easily accessible from the closely located Luas tramway line by the O'Callaghan Stephen's Green Hotel, the centre offers a variety of outdoor restaurants and cafes, a state of the art cinema theatre and stores that stock any imaginable purchasable product (www.dundrum.ie).