George's Arcade: History on Display at Indoor Market

You won’t hear Muzak in George’s Arcade or ride escalators through level after level of chain stores. There’s no real food court or anchor stores in Dublin’s oldest purpose-built shopping center, but for all the modern elements shoppers won’t find in this open-air shopping hall, Goerge's Arcade makes up for in character, atmosphere and interesting bargains.

Since 1881, Dubliners have flocked to George’s Arcade in search of the special, the interesting and hard-to-find.

A stroll through today’s market reveals 50 or so stalls and shops offering everything from fish-nibbled pedicures to exotic flower arrangements; rockabilly skirts and crinolines to fortune tellers; coffee, cupcakes, and a revolving cast of the new, the odd and the wonderful.

Much like its early days, the modern market is a haven for Dubliners with a taste for something different, and is an ideal city centre meeting spot; in-house café, Simon’s Place, offers hot grub and a glimpse of local scenesters, students and artists; Urban Picnic’s single-slab table serves up a €20 early bird menu to late-afternoon diners, while snackers rejoice in the sweet treats and meat pies at Lolly & Cooks cupcake stand.

For those who have to eat and run, stall vendors M&D Tea and Coffee, Nutri or The Sweet Life are ideal stops. Rare-book hunters might uncover a treasure or two in Stokes Books, while music lovers march to their own drummers with second-hand tapes, vinyl, CDs and more at the Trout Records stand, or Spindizzy’s Records small shop. For clothes, shoes, and costumes of all kinds, shoppers shake the racks of Maharani and Retro. For crystals, amber, silver and more, New Moon holds court with a surprisingly large shop at the market’s side-street entrance. For piercings to put those baubles through, Dublin’s body modifiers hit Body Station’s central stall-shop.

While the modern mall might offer more parking, George’s Arcade continues to provide one of the most unique shopping experiences in town.

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