Great bunch of lads to deal with here. They got me a bike at a good price and had it kitted out…read moreand ready to go on the day I needed to collect it. Great communication and good service.

This is about bicycles, not hardware, so I am only referring to the bicycle shop portion of the…read morebusiness. My wife's old road/utility bike had a wobbly rear wheel, and concurrent with that, the cassette had excessive end play. We dismounted the wheel and brought it in to the shop to see if they could help/adjust the end play or maybe re-lubricate and adjust the rear wheel bearings. A very helpful fellow who was working on a bicycle came out and inspected the wheel. "Oh, this is a very old one. Yes indeed. They don't make these anymore like this." Lots of head shaking and tongue clucking followed. "We'll have to replace the entire hub, because we can't get the parts for these anymore." I just let him run on to see where he was going with this. "What size is the wheel?" (28") "Oh, I see that is an old imperial measure wheel. We can't get those anymore. We can't get a hub for this wheel. We'll have to replace the entire wheel." How much will that cost? I asked. "Em, 38 for the hub and 20 for the rim. " You'll need a tire for it as well. "You'd better bring in the whole bike." Uh, yeah. Sure. I think this "gentleman" thought he'd shake us down, maybe even sell us a whole new bike. We thanked him and left and returned home. I took the wheel in hand and with no special tools, disassembled it, removed the bearings, cassette and axle, cleaned them in paint thinner, re-lubricated them with waterproof grease and re-assembled them in about an hour. Problem solved. End play gone. Bicycle is currently still in use on a daily basis. Would I bring a bike to this shop in the future? Did Cromwell like the pope?

Picked up a really sweet 1888 britanica penny in very decent condition for 2 euros, worth digging…read morein bins and bought like 6 other Irish coins in good condition. I would totally go back, prices are a bit for some coins but most are reasonable.

Ok, I confess. I…read morecollect coins. Or rather, let's say I gather coins. There's something about the smooth feel of a bit of metal between my fingers that has had many lives...maybe a child's bubblegum wish...maybe a busker's pint...maybe a desperate phone call made at the last minute to save a marriage...that fires my imagination. I like to have sets...but the rules are that I can't BUY them (except in some cases)...I have to FIND them...so I have all the US state Quarters, slid into their little blue books like children tucked into acid-free, archival quality beds, all found in my hot little hands after getting change for something. And now, thanks to Lir Coins, I have a home for my gotta-have-a-set-of-Euro-coins-from-every-country collection, as well as blank sheets for my "specials", like the Vatican City 50c piece I got in change at the airport in Venice, or the Irish 2 euro commemoratives I've gathered. It's a small shop, but the people that run it know what they're talking about and don't mind a gatherer like me poking around in the piles of old coinage to see if they have a 1970 Irish penny. Prices are reasonable, and if you're looking for something you don't see, be sure to ask-a lot of collector materials are put away in drawers and cupboards to give shelf space over to the shinies. Bottom Line: I'm still missing 1c, 2c, and 5c pieces from Slovakia...just sayin...

So I know that this is a chain but I was particularly impressed by this one in Tullamore. The two…read morepeople who looked after me were very kind and helpful-- but most importantly, I found Thunder Toffee Vodka here-- and I've literally been on the hunt for thid for almost 3 years. It's normally crazy expensive, but they had 5cl bottles which is perfect for me, and they were less than three euro! There's a cocktail with your name on it, little guy. Generally they have a really great selection, in particular cocktail ingredients. They also let me lean over the till and snoop around the back shelves for specialty spirits without giving me funny looks! Much appreciated.