Irish Bookshops Review!

As you might know, I recently went to Ireland and of course my first priority was to go into every Irish bookshop I came across! I'm just going to become a travel blogger for five seconds to review them.

 

The Last Bookshop (Dublin)

Ironically, the first bookshop I went into was called "The Last Bookshop." This was a used/antiquarian bookstore with a large collection of books about Ireland. It was quite an experience just to walk into this small, narrow shop--which was made narrower by the ceiling-high bookshelves and teetering stacks of used books arranged on the floor. I didn't find anything to buy in here--they didn't have a middle grade/YA section (which makes sense, since most of the books looked like they'd been around since before the middle grade genre was a thing)--but it was still a really fun place to stop. They had some shelves of centuries-old leather-bound books, which were very cool. (And also really random...there was an enormous volume about ancient Catholic monuments in Scotland?) 

 

Hodges Figgis (Dublin)

A pretty big chain bookstore, but not a Barnes and Noble-y situation where it seems like they just exist to sell toys. They had a really good selection; their children's/middle grade/YA section alone was the size of some small bookstores I've been in! I bought More Arabel and Mortimer by Joan Aiken (a British writer who is severely underrated in the U.S., in my opinion), A Girl Called Owl by Amy Wilson, and Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll. And I took pictures of a dozen other books that I want to get eventually 😅. My favorite part was that there were so many British and Irish authors that I had never heard of, and I got to discover all kinds of new books. The only American titles were really famous things like Rick Riordan, which made it kind of more exciting... (but I was happy that they had some of Kelly Yang's books!). 

 

Trinity College Library Long Room (Dublin) 

Okay, this isn't a bookstore, but I had to mention it because it's basically the epitome of bookishness in Ireland. The Long Room at Trinity College's Old Library is, according to Atlas Obscura, around 300 years old and contains the college's 200,000 oldest books. As you can see from the picture, it has two floors which are both just open to the main corridor. Each floor is divided up into small cubby/rooms with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves stuffed with ancient leather-bound books. It was probably the most books I had ever seen in one place...and the architecture alone was amazing! If you are ever in Ireland, I definitely recommend this spot. At Trinity College we also saw the Book of Kells, which is one of the oldest books in the world. It is (of course) a biblical text, and it's illuminated with beautiful medieval Irish letterings and illustrations. 

The Ennis Bookshop (Ennis)

This was a pretty normal, large-ish bookshop in the town of Ennis in County Clare. I didn't buy anything, but they had a pretty good selection. Again, a lot of new Irish and British authors who I'd never seen before. Another fun thing in these bookstores is seeing the British editions of books that I had read or seen before (Hodges Figgis had a really pretty copy of Inkheart by Cornelia Funke), so I got to look at some of those.

 

                     Scéal Eile Books (Ennis)

This bookshop was also mostly used and classic books, though they did have some new titles. Their middle grade section was pretty small, but I found a book called I, Coriander by Sally Gardner that looked interesting. They had a small upstairs with some cute little rooms filled with dusty romance titles (and this pretty and very realistic painting of a bookshelf), and a fun (but not patron-accessible) spiral staircase downstairs. 

 

Eason (Ennis)

This large bookstore in Ennis was probably my least favorite because of its modernity (I came here looking for old fashioned tiny bookstores, okay 😂) and because it seemed more commercial and reminded me of Barnes and Nobles (apparently this post is exposing my dislike of Barnes and Nobles). It did have an entire shelf of Heartstopper graphic novels and some of Alice Oseman's other books...so that was fun.

                               Woulfe's Bookshop (Listowel)

This was probably my favorite bookshop, tied with Hodges Figgis.  It was actually right next door to another Eason bookstore. It had a very good middle grade selection, with a lot of books that I hadn't seen before, even in the other Irish bookstores. I purchased Sisters of the Lost Marsh by Lucy Strange (an author I later realized I'd read before. I read The Secret of Nightingale Wood a few years ago and then completely forgot it existed, even though I remember thinking it was good). The bookshop also had a very small antiquarian section, which I took a picture of because it was very green and Irish looking:

The Crystal Cave & Bookshop (Killorglin) 

The final bookshop! I just barely popped into this bookshop for about three minutes, but it was pretty small so I was able to get a good look around. For such a tiny bookstore, they seemed to have quite a good selection! Besides books, they had a collection of crystals and fairy garden accessories. 

If you ever have a chance to visit Ireland, check out a few of these places! I highly recommend Hodges Figgis and the Trinity College Library in Dublin, and Woulfe's Bookshop in Listowel. I acquired a lot of bookmarks from the various places where I bought books, which is always very satisfying.

Image sources:

• https://reinventingferna.com/2018/02/24/the-last-bookshop-on-camden-street/
• https://www.ennisbookshop.ie/c/about-us/14?gtagrefurl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.google.com%2f 
• https://twitter.com/crystalbookshop
  
• My phone