Lucinda O'Sullivan's Ireland

Tuesday 13 September 2011

People not living in Dublin tend generally to think of the City as one big urban sprawl whereas, in fact, the heart and soul of our Fair City are the various villages which comprise Dublin and Co. Dublin. I think of places like Glasnevin, Finglas, Howth, Raheny, Blackrock, Sandymount, Lucan, Dalkey, Cabinteely, and Monkstown, where indeed I live and which is the subject of my spake today. The reason for this is that Monkstown village has been enjoying a revival of its very pretty array of shops on The Crescent. The village is a very attractive spot with at its heart a wonderful Church of Ireland which creates a dramatic backdrop and always reminds me of 19th century Arabian watercolour scenes. With its Saracen style corner towers, cupola and turrets, it never fails to impress at any time of year as you approach from Monkstown Road.

During the 1980’s it was the place for restaurants which died off a bit in the late 90s but was greatly revived by the opening of the far seeing Shane Kenny’s chic urban neighbourhood style restaurant with lovely food by Nick Clapham. Seapoint is always reliable, buzzy, with an interesting clientele, and with good prices. Sarah Gill’s lifestyle and clothing store Seagreen also added to this new verve on The Crescent three or four years ago but, there is now fresh excitement and anticipation afoot, for Seagreen, having moved their ladies clothing range to a smaller shop on The Crescent, have made way for Avoca to open a new Café, Deli & Foodhall, in their old premises at the end of October. It was originally due to open around now but I guess it takes time to get these things perfected. From what I can glean about the new Avoca we are set to have a mini Harrods Food Hall on our doorstep, celebrating the best of artisan food from producers around the country. Clonmel based butcher, Pat Whelan, of James Whelan Butchers, who is a big noise on Twitter, Chairman of Tipperary Food Producers, and who wrote his own book ‘An Irish Butcher Shop’, will be instore “putting the butchers block back into butchering but in a funky modern way” and also bringing Wagyu beef, of which he is a great proponent, to the denizens of Monkstown. There will also be a Cheese Room, a French style rotisserie chicken area, Seafood, and of course much much more. This of course will bring many many more customers to the area to browse the local shops.

It looks then like Peter and Eileen Kelly were right on the nose when they decided to set up a Dublin branch of their Naas based operation The Blue Door. It is a gorgeous shop filled with bright light giving fabrics, gifts, furniture, throws, from Scandanavia, principally Sweden. Eileen is originally from Galway. She was raising her family for many years but always had an interest in interiors with a particular fondness for fabrics. When they started out in Naas eight years ago it was the height of the Celtic Tiger and they are still very optimistic about the future. “We have been recessed now for three years, we would have felt it in retail before anyone was talking about it.” Says Eileen. Peter says he is absolutely certain about the future “people are now making decisions and the country is being run and that’s a forward move.” “We did everything during those years to make it work”, says Eileen, “we were lucky because a lot of people who also worked very hard didn’t survive.” “We used to sell a lot of high end Swedish furniture but that dried up, however people are now spending their money carefully, they want to do improvements in their houses. You can change the look of a room with cushions and throws, and that’s what fabric does for you, change them seasonally and people are buying into that now. People love throws.” They say. Five years ago people would never have made their own curtains or soft furnishings, now they are seeing a great increase in people willing to have a go at doing it themselves – however they provide all of this service too. Their fabrics are all by Linum - a beautiful illuminating range– the colours work wonderfully in our Irish light. Look out for their wonderful environmently treated lightly coated fabric table fabric which at €32 per metre can just be wiped down and will completely change and revitalise your kitchen. They also have brilliant animal ceramic wine breathers by Jane Maddison at €24.50, really cute, and candle holders with varying colour tops for whatever colour scheme you are using on your dinner table. They also have super Susanna Hepp Swedish twist silk scarves at €40 and fantastic Bengt & Lotta trays – what I loved about these is you can have them either coffee table size with legs or a really cute little wipeable sandwich ‘trayplate’ size which holds your sandwich and coffee – they cost €23 – really clever – they will just sit on a cushion and not tip over. www.thebluedoordirect.ie

Dee Connolly took the plunge in October 2010 with her Crimson Boutique and in that time her clever sourcing of stock, which is very wearable with a good price point, has seen her building up a bank of local customers. Dee is from Killiney, Co. Dublin, and has two children, Kim and Lauren, aged 10 and 7. Dee credits her husband, Kevin, with inspiring her new business. He found the premises and, being a builder, fitted out the new shop. Dee had originally been in the interior design business some years ago but then worked in administration in Kevin’s business. “Even when I was doing the administration, I used to do jewellery parties just to keep my sanity and keep my foot in the door of the fashion world.” She then worked in a boutique in Foxrock and she absolutely loved it. Dee did the Marathon in June 2010 for St. John’s Cancer Unit in Crumlin Hospital and that was the day her husband brought her to see what would be her new shop. The recession did not deter Dee and Kevin from opening and neither did the Bank who were not co-operative. They did it all themselves. “I was as much as told that I didn’t have the experience to run my own business, front of house, and that I wasn’t a candidate – so I proved them wrong” she laughs. “The glass is always half full for me and I would be doing something I always loved. I put my heart and my passion into it, it felt right, even in recessionary times people want to be able to shop and they want to be able to afford it. I try to keep it that shopping is something you can still go out and enjoy, that the pieces will be versatile, that you can add to your wardrobe during the day, or dress them up in the evening, and that is something that I seem to be getting across to people. I buy in season, freshen up my stock every three weeks, so people are interested in what is coming in. I am always looking for something different.” Two of Dee’s main labels are Danish – Oxmo and Peppercorn, and Sel by Peppercorn. She also has Gant and Maruti boots. Crimson Boutique Tel: 086 271-5240. <ep>

Another newbie on the block is Café du Journal beside the Sports Outlet Store which sells Canterbury and Helly Hansen, outdoor and sailing gear, at reduced prices. Veronique Piales’ Vintage Shop ‘Lulu’ is another great place for designer bargains with a particular emphasis on high end French labels such as Christian Dior, YSL, Chanel, Balmain, and many more. Veronique buys in France so Lulu’s is a real destination for fashionistas. Next door is another new shop by the long established costume jewellery designer Vivien Walsh. Vivien’s jewellery is divine yet not unreasonably priced. This season’s range includes dark chains with vermeil discs and taupe coloured pearls which start at €45. www.vivienwalsh.com Monkstown Village also has a brace of excellent florists, Greene’s and Blooms and Bows, a similar brace of wine merchants, the long standing Searson’s and the newer Enowine, and yet another brace of Indian Restaurants, the ever popular and excellent Bistro Spice where you can bring your own wine and pay no corkage, and Radhuni. If you fancy Chinese food there is the Victoria Chinese Restaurant on The Crescent and Amerta upstairs over the Bath House. Goggins Pub is very much part of Monkstown life and it has Valparaiso Restaurant upstairs, whilst The Pub at FXB’s is also very popular with popular casual food downstairs and a restaurant upstairs. A few doors down is Chantelle Boutique who are also in Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath. Atoria looks after the beauty end of our daily lives whilst Cosgrove’s pharmacy looks after our medical problems from one of the most beautiful buildings in the village.

Monsktown is a real eating, drinking and shopping destination.

THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2011.