Mary Mall

In my searches of Mary St., Dublin, and specifically 56 Mary St., I continue to
find some interesting (and sometimes surprising results). 56 Mary St. was
the site of both an apartment (upstairs I imagine) and bootmaking shop of
my Great Grandfather’s. My Grandfather grew up here and went to St. Mary’s Church
(down the street) as a little boy. This info comes before our trip to Dublin, so while the area has of course morphed over time, it is still a bit exciting to zero in on some Family History.

The sign out front might frighten you off with its painfully bright pink colour, but like the sign says they’ve somehow managed to cram 30 shops into this space.
Inside this mall you won’t find escalators and hordes of busy shoppers trolling through chain stores with little character. No instead you’ll enter another world maze of an indoor market area. The shops inside are each different and unique and exist like a little community inside the North side. Maybe I’ve been watching too much East Enders of late but I could imagine Mo and Whitney here, but with a bit more edge!

What a strange find. Bridget here gets it right, Mary Mall seems to come out of nowhere and the random mix of shops found inside makes you wonder if you should reach for the wallet or get the hell out.
I say stay. And spend some money if you can. Looks like the shops here could really use a boost in customers as the mall was almost empty when I had a look around on a Friday afternoon. There were also some empty spaces to rent. Hope it’s not because business is going down the drains.
It’s a total opposite to the large and characterless malls located only steps away. Instead of a music megastore you’ll find Fuzzy Logic, an independent shop specialising in old vinyls and rare CDs and where more upscale and expensive fashion stores would normally rule their kingdom stand quirky little clothing boutiques and accessory shops.
I sure hope they’ll manage to fill the empty spaces as I feel Dublin needs a place like this. Not a one-​stop mall for your day-​to-​day needs, but I funny place to have a wander around. There’s just something about Mary.

Sweet cuppin’ cakes, were did this place come from?
As a lover of kitsch and a sincere appreciator of all things strange and good, I was delighted to discover this Tardis-​like shopping centre while wandering the far end of Little Mary Street. In general I’ve always enjoyed excursions up this end of the street, it appeals to my sense of humour and love of community.
Tucked snugly between an Asian grocery and a fetish wear shop, the mall is a less-​evolved version of Moore Street’s grunting behemoth of an underground mall. On my visit, Mary Mall’s entrance looked more like a double-​width shop front who happened to specialise in haircuts for men and women’s track suits.
Inside, the narrow hall was empty and run with fresh phone lines and cabeling –a remaining effect from the mall’s recent overhaul.
At what I took to be the end of the mall, the building opened up into a massive double-​height space sectioned off in small avenues with plywood shops.
Here’s where it gets good, because there’s a lot of new and emerging shops here, some hawking the same old bulk-​order jewellery and beauty products, but others here show real potential: a Mauritian grocery; a small beauty spa offering the cheapest eyebrow threading I’ve seen yet; a delightful vintage record shop and a very odd internet café that’s little more than a few cafeteria tables with PCs whirring away.
Make a point to veer off course the next time you’re fighting upstream on Henry street and stop into Mary Mall, you may not find what you’re looking for, but you’ll certainly smile.