Sligo

The Cat and The Moon
4 Castle Street
(071) 914 3686
M-Sa: 9AM-6PM
From GPO, turn left. After 40 m (44 yd), turn right onto Rockwood Parade alongside river, take second right onto Water lane, then left into Castle Street. Shop is 50 m (55 yd) on left (total distance of 320 m (350 yd)).

stocks a wide range of hand-made gold and silver jewellery from their own workshop, both for retail sale and specially commissioned articles. The Irish Craft Boutique also features a huge selection of other Irish-made jewellery, glass, ceramics, textiles, furniture and handcrafts. The Art Gallery upstairs hosts regular exhibitions, usually promoting young local and other Irish Artists.

Kate's Kitchen
3 Castle Street
m-Sa: 9AM-6PM
From GPO, turn left. After 40 m (44 yd), turn right onto Rockwood Parade alongside river, take second right onto Water Lane, then left onto Castle Street. Shop is 40 m on left (total distance of 310 m (340 yd)).

Fabulous Delicatessen, with all types of food catered for, from home-baked hams to some of the finest chutneys, preserves known to man. Also contains a separate toiletries area Hopper and Pettit, specialising in Crabtree & Evelyn and other fine ranges.

Most of the shops in Sligo are concentrated in a small area, based around O'Connell Street, Wine Street and Grattan Street. It also has a two new shopping centres, Johnston Court (http://www.johnstoncourt.ie) and The Quayside (http://www.quayside.ie). The town has a huge range of the normal High Street shops, including most of the Irish and British chains. These include clothing, grocery, electronics, books, music, sports, fotwear, Etc., Etc. Apart from all of those, there are a number of one-off shops in Sligo, which make it well worth the visit. Just a small selection of these is outlined below.

Michael Kennedy Ceramics
Market Cross
(071) 914 8844
M-Sa: 9AM-6PM
From GPO, turn left. After 40 m (44 yd), turn right onto Rockwood Parade alongside river, take second right onto Water lane, then up the hill to shop on left (total distance of 300 m (328 yd)).

Unusual and quirky pieces of ceramic art sit alongside beautiful but usable dinner services in this shop of Sligo-based ceramic artist and potter, all hand-thrown here or in the artist's studio in Gort, County Galway