Find special gifts in these shops with soul this Christmas …
THE CLIFDEN BOOKSHOP, Main Street, Clifden, Co Galway
In Connemara on a rainy day? Head for the award-winning CLIFDEN BOOKSHOP, which has lots of titles of local interest and all the bestsellers to take back to your getaway cottage. www.clifdenbookshop.com / www.instagram.com/theclifdenbookshop/
FIRST EDITIONS BOOKS, 7 Pembroke Lane, Waterloo Road, Dublin 4
Literary scholar and long time collector of antiquarian and rare books, Allan Gregory, is the owner of First Editions a retailer of antiquarian and rare books. Customers can expect a warm welcome in this world of books where professional assistance is available to you in choosing the right book; and if they do not have the right book, they will get it for you. www.firsteditions.ie / www.instagram.com/first_editions/
THE COMPANY OF BOOKS, 96 Ranelagh, Dublin 6
Dublin Sixers swear by THE COMPANY OF BOOKS which is bright and inviting with a really strong selection of current literature and non-fiction. Excellent website too with free delivery anywhere in Ireland when you spend over €50. www.thecompanyofbooks.ie / www.instagram.com/thecompanyofbooks/
THE LILLIPUT PRESS, 62-63 Sitric Road, Arbour Hill, Stoneybatter, Dublin
Comfortable sofas and armchairs give THE LILLIPUT PRESS bookshop the air of a cosy sitting room – replete with full bookcases. The Lilliput Press, is one of Ireland’s smallest publishing houses established in 1984 by Antony Farrell. The bookshop moved to its current location in Stoneybatter from Westmeath in 1984. The original location being nearby to the townland of Lilliput, inspired Jonathan Swift as well Antony Farrell in the naming of his bookshop and publishing house. www.lilliputpress.ie Photography by Suzy Freeman.
BRIDGE STREET BOOKSHOP, Bridge Sreet, Wicklow, Books, Co Wicklow
In Wicklow town, the family-run BRIDGE STREET BOOKSHOP has been in business since 1999. Its beautiful storefront and busy interior has tourists flocking to it in the summer months and a steady local trade, with children especially catered to. www.bridgestreetbooks.ie / www.instagram.com/bridgestreetbooks/
BOOKS UPSTAIRS, 17 D’Olier Street, Dublin 2
Dublin’s oldest independent bookshop was founded in 1978. Two friends, Maurice Earls and Enda O’Doherty, opened the bookstore with a mission to support the positive role of books in society and particularly in Irish culture. They stocked the shop with books focused on literature, history and politics, and the underrepresented areas of philosophy, literary criticism, psychology, feminism, and gay literature. After several moves, today the bookshop occupies a beautiful Georgian building on Dublin’s D’Olier Street. It is now under the stewardship of Maurice’s daughter Louisa, and has expanded to include a secondhand book section. www.booksupstairs.ie / www.instagram.com/booksupstairs/
THE LIBRARY PROJECT, 4 Temple Bar Street, Dublin 2
A dedicated art and photography bookshop, this is the place to go to pick up gifts for the hard-to-buy-for creative on your list. Alongside collectible books, you’ll also find a strong selection of independent magazines on topics ranging from art and architecture to fashion, photography and more. The Temple Bar space regularly hosts exhibitions and events. www.instagram.com/tlp_says/
THE WINDING STAIR BOOKSHOP, 40 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin
Named after both a Yeats poem for its twisting staircase, THE WINDING STAIR opened in 1970 as a three-storey bookshop and café. Rescued from closure twice by Elaine Murphy, once in 2006 and then again in 2009, who opened a restaurant serving authentic Irish fare. The bookshop occupies the ground floor with the front area featuring new books and a smaller space at the rear for secondhand titles. www.winding-stair.com / www.instagram.com/thewindingstairdublin/
MARROWBONE BOOKS, 78 The Coombe, The Liberties, Dublin
A bright, yellow-painted shopfront is the eye-catching home to Dublin bookshop, MARROWBONE BOOKS. The bookstore established in 2017 by two Trinity College Dublin graduates, Brian Flanagan and Lily Power, specialises in second-hand books. The comfortable chairs, rugs and plenty of plants give this bookstore a cosy living room vibe. The paper-back books that line the shelves are mainly fiction from the last 70 years. www.marrowbone.ie / www.instagram.com/marrowbonebooks/
CHARLIE BYRNE’S BOOKSHOP, The Cornstore, Middle Street, Galway
Established in 1988 in Galway, CHARLIE BYRNE’S BOOKSHOP has expanded over the years to six rooms housing more than 100,000 new, bargain, secondhand and antiquarian books. The exterior walls that face into The Cornstore, a covered shopping mall, are lined with eye-catching fully stacked bookshelves. www.charliebyrne.ie / www.instagram.com/charliebyrnesbookshop/
TERTULIA, Unit 2, The Harbour Mill, The Quay, Westport, Co Mayo
With its sunny yellow exterior and reading nook under the stairs, TERTULIA in Westport, Co Mayo, is a great place to spend time in the company of books, old vinyl and coffee. Proprietors Neil Paul and Bríd Conroy named the shop from an old Spanish word meaning a social forum and have made it a popular spot for book club events, literary launches and book signings. www.tertulia.ie / www.instagram.com/tertuliabooks/
MOLI, The Museum of Literature Ireland, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2
The Museum of Literature Ireland has a lovely shop leading from a landscaped Courtyard and the Reader’s Garden that in turn connect to the Iveagh Gardens. The shop is stocked with a selection of Irish interest books, literary-inspired gifts, and bespoke items. www.moli.ie / www.instagram.com/moli_museum/ Photography by Zoe Brady
THE BOOK & COFFEE SHOP William Street, Kilkenny
Librarian and writer Stephen Buck and Marian O’Neill realised their dream when they opened their own bookshop in 2019. So much more than just a store, The Book & Coffee Shop has launched books and hosted plays and recitals, creative writing classes and exhibitions. It is a space for meetings, and, of course, a destination for a cup of coffee, a slice of cake and a secondhand book. www.bookcoffeeshop.com / www.instagram.com/thebookandcoffeeshop/
RAVEN BOOKS, 34 Main Street, Blackrock, Co Dublin
OK, so you have to shimmy around tightly packed bookshelves and step aside for fellow browsers at RAVEN BOOKS, Blackrock, but the selection is always interesting with some pre-owned books and a slight skew towards crime, and plentiful piles of bestsellers. www.ravenbooks.ie
THE LAST BOOKSHOP, 61 Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2
Secondhand bookstore THE LAST BOOKSHOP has been in its current location since 2017. The previous location on Sandford Road, Ranelagh was demolished to make way for a hotel. Behind the red façade, owner Alan Warnock has organised the incredible number of books in neat stacks, reserving the front of the shop for books on Irish interest. A narrow path through books leads to the back door and into a hidden garden that is home to the Cake Café. www.instagram.com/thelastbookshopdublin/
ULYSSES RARE BOOKS, 10 Duke Street, Dublin 2
Retired teacher, Enda Cunningham established ULYSSES RARE BOOKS in 1986. The original shop was in Market Arcade on George’s Street, moving to Duke Street in April 1988, when his son and daughter, David and Aisling, joined the family business. The bookshop specialises in 20th-century Irish literature, an unrivalled selection of rare and signed editions. There is also a collection of rare and collectible children’s and illustrated books and a variety of books on Irish history and topography from the 17th century period to the recent past. www.rarebooks.ie / www.instagram.com/ulyssesrarebooks_/
DINGLE BOOKSHOP, 2 Green Street, Dingle, Co Kerry
While away an hour or two in THE DINGLE BOOKSHOP, which includes more than 6,000 books, with a strong emphasis on Kerry, of course. www.dinglebookshop.com / www.instagram.com/dinglebookshop/
BOOKS PAPER SCISSORS, 15 Stranmillis Road, Belfast
An independent bookstore in leafy South Belfast offering a selection of new fiction, non-fiction, classics, Irish writing and poetry. BOOKS PAPER SCISSORS also features a children’s room, stationery, pens, artisan cards and gift wrap. There is a monthly book club and gift subscription service. www.bookspaperscissors.co.uk / www.instagram.com/bookspaperscissors/
LIBER, 35 O’Connell Street, Abbeyquarter North, Sligo
In Sligo, head for LIBER, an independent bookshop run by the Caliendo family who have owned the premises for almost 100 years. Find carefully curated new titles, a strong poetry selection, as one might expect in Yeats country, and lots of good books for children. www.liber.ie / www.instagram.com/libersligo/
INTERNATIONAL BOOKS, South Frederick Street, Dublin 2
An independent bookshop specialising in books in a vast variety of languages. INTERNATIONAL BOOKS offers books for young and old alike, from picture books to texts for university courses. www.internationalbooks.ie
BOOKS AT ONE, 46/47 Meath Street, Dublin 8; Bridge Street, Clooncarrabaun, Louisburgh, Co. Mayo; 5 Ellis Workshops, Letterfrack, Co. Galway
Established as a collective of locally managed community bookshops in areas of social disadvantage or rural isolation. The first BOOKS AT ONE opened in Mayo in 2016, followed by the Letterfrack bookshop in 2020, and The Liberties store in 2022. All three locations provide employment, work experience and volunteer opportunities as well as welcoming, comfortable spaces where people of all ages can come together through a shared love of reading. www.booksatone.ie / www.instagram.com/books_at_one/
KENNY’S BOOKSHOP, Liosban Business Park, Tuam Road, Galway City, Co Galway
Going strong since the 1940s, KENNY’S in Galway is just as relevant today with its huge stock of books on site and a busy online business too. www.kennys.ie / www.instagram.com/kennysbookshop/
While every effort has been made to ensure the information reflected in the list below is accurate, up to date and correct, please email digital@thegloss.ie with any issues, corrections or queries.