Ha'Penny Bridge Imports of Ireland

Look at how quaint!

I first heard of this place via the Small Business Beanstalk website. Since I'm a sucker for anything Irish and was looking for a gift for my grandmother who is too, I decided to check it out.

It's located in Historic Dublin and just as quaint as you'd expect. As soon as I walked in I was greeted by the friendly woman behind the desk (so bummed I didn't get her name!), then I wandered toward the back to begin browsing.

There are three or four rooms all open to each other stocked with everything Irish you could possibly want. Belleek china, glassware, throw blankets and pillows, tapestries, wool sweaters, Celtic crosses, gold and silver jewelry, Christmas ornaments and decorations, wedding gifts and more. They also had your typical assortment of cheesy shotglasses and t-shirts if you're just looking for something fun for St. Patrick's Day. The prices were all very reasonable, too. Obviously a lot of these items are imported and can get pretty pricey but that would be true for anywhere you were going to buy them. The two Belleek pieces I purchased were the same price as anywhere I'd found them online, plus no shipping, and with my SBB 17% off... quite a steal.

The thing that impressed me the most, though, was how absolutely wonderful the woman running things was. I was staring blankly at a jewelry case for a few minutes, trying to figure out what in the world my grandmother would like, when she asked if I needed to see anything in the case. I explained the trouble I was having, and she came over to suggest some things and helped me look through the jewelry. When I couldn't decide on that she suggested other things they had that might work, and after shooting her down several times (my grandmother is pretty difficult to shop for) we ended up back at the Belleek china. We chatted a little and she made some more suggestions, then left me to browse. It only took me a few minutes after that to decide on what I wanted, then we chatted some more while she boxed them up for me and then rang everything up. She was absolutely wonderful and a huge help, and again, I'm really sad I didn't catch her name. xD

I was very impressed by the selection of items and the wonderful help I received, and I'll definitely be back!