I'm just amazed it's still open. Sort of Grace Brothers meets Macy's Irish style. The staff are…read moreutterly charming and they stuff they sell has class. It is a labyrinth with stairs up and down leading to small interconnected rooms full of delights. They serve good food and wonderful coffee. Now I usually dislike shopping (outside food and drink) but when I'm in a place as wonderful as this it's a different story. It's one of the few places that sells Chanel No 5 perfume - Chanel are careful as to who can trade their merchandise - 100ml £100. It had the remnants of a Black eye Friday sale that included men's shoes. I am fussy about shoes. I like proper soft leather, the touch and the smell - including leather on the soles and heels. Shoes that are strong and clench your feet - shoes that demand enthusiastic brushing and polish or as I was growing up spit and polish. Proper nails in the heels and great stitching are vital too. If it's made in China footwear or India it's not going on my feet. Period. I found a pair that were perfect. Fitted like they were especially made just for me. £200 down to £75 and wonderful and now mine. They will mould to the shape of my feet over time and will be so much better when they do. Old shoes are like old friends - comfortable to be with. These places are from another time and we must support them for as long as we can as to lose them means it feels like we lose a piece of ourselves.

I am a scone snob and I have to say these are some of the best scones I've ever had! They are made…read morefresh daily on the premises and are usually available by 9:40am. Definitely worth trying either to grab & go or sitting down and enjoying with one of their lattes!

This place had really good prices and stylish funky shoes for the younger crowd. Once again I was…read moreaccompanying my friend on her quest for a pair of boots which she didn't find, but came close to. Once again they didn't have her size in the style she wanted, but she found more shoes she was interested in buying. I found some too, but I have too many pairs of shoes - for now. X-D They don't allow returns unless the merchandise is obviously defective. Otherwise keep the receipt and the boxes and you can make an exchange.

I walked back 60 years of memory as I walked in the wooden door onto a wooden floor that just gives…read morea little underfoot, with the warm smell of leather and cardboard. I was gently greeted by the soft spoken mom and pop owners and, as they first opened their doors in 1903, these good people, who looked a tad world weary, but not footsore, are likely 3rd or 4th generation people of footwear purveyors. In 1903 there were lots of tanneries and local skills to make boots and shoes yet these days there's a leather shortage as a lot of leather comes into Western Europe from Ukraine, or now not so much, courtesy of a madman. In 1903 my great hero John Steinbeck was just entering his first year of life, my grandparents hadn't married. Peter Pan was springing from the imagination of JM Barrie, who is accredited with making Wendy a girl's name. The world as ever was in flux. So the O Donnell's of Westport sold all sorts of shoes and boots from their corner shop beside the bridge for 119 years before I walked in to spend a few hundred euro. I got exactly what I wanted, British Loake leather, laced hand - made shoes. Strong, sturdy, beautiful, foot - friendly, forgiving soft leather that eventually moulds to accommodate the shape of each foot. As I left the shoe shop the world was still in flux. I doubt I'll ever return as I'm just passing trade but we need to support and preserve these local independents around us.