Wanted: Junk Shops

[gothwalk]

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

This is aimed mostly at Dubliners, but if you live anywhere that I might turn up, feel free to tell me about your local purveyors. I’m planning a series of collage-style projects, and I need stuff to go into them. I’m thinking of old postcards, newspaper clippings, doorknobs, hinges, toy soldiers, cogs, old hand tools, railway tickets and, well, similar junk. Does anyone know of “antique” shops, flea markets, car boot sales, or the like that sell this kind of stuff? Ideally, I’m thinking of rummage boxes marked “Any thing in this Box £1″, but that might not happen anymore.

Comments

[silja.livejournal.com]

The obvious choice is the market on Rathmines Road (Blackberry Flea market I think?). Also try the charity shops around Camden Street, they often sell "10 magazines for €1" and small toys/ nick-knacks.

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

Is Blackberry Fair still running? It had a very closed look about it the last few times I passed by.

[silja.livejournal.com]

Ah... to be honest, I hadn't gone since last summer, so it may well have closed down.

[giftederic.livejournal.com]

The Blackberry Fair is closed (and sold).

But along Richmond Street and South William street there are a few antique dealers. There used to be one out Dundrum way too, but I'm not sure of the fate of that now.

[mollydot.livejournal.com]

Freecycle is an obvious place to ask, or would you want to be able to say no easily?

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

I'm not altogether comfortable asking for random junk on Freecycle - while I'm sure I'd get some, I'd prefer to be able to pick and choose a bit more, and once someone makes an offer on Freecycle, it seems rather rude not to take it... I've asked there for picture frames, though, and got a few offers, which I'm following up on.

[mollydot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, saw that request.
I might have a poke round and see if I have anything to offer. You'll be quite free to say no or pick and choose. You're looking for oldish stuff, rather than any random junk, yes?

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

Generally, yes. But I'll consider almost anything that looks interesting.

[slovobooks.livejournal.com]

Charity shops are good for stuff, but not as good as they once were. Blackberry Fair is closed for some time now, I think, and not really missed, to be honest. You could try the Blackrock Market, especially the large building at the back of it, which still has a few people selling randon shite. Mostly, though, nobody can afford to run the kind of shop you're looking for with rents in Dublin. Mind you, I do know of one charity that has a warehouse hidden deep in the wilds of County Kildare, which gets all sorts of great stuff. Only myself and two other people in the second-hand books trade know where it is, though, and we've all sworn terrible dark oaths not to reveal its location.

Is there still a thing going on at Fairyhouse Racecourse on Sunday mornings? It was more or less exactly the kind of thing you're looking for. I always intended to go along, but the only time we actually got that far it was closed due to Foot & Mouth.

And I've just remembered: There was also the Cumberland Street market on Saturday mornings (off Parnell Street), when members of the 'travelling community' would sell all sorts of, frankly, junk (and probably more than a little stolen stuff, if truth be told). I'd occasionally make it along at 8AM, when it was very nearly over. Honestly. I'm sure it's still going, but it's been maybe ten years since I've been. There was one man who used to have a big mound of books spread out over the pavement, where you just had to wade in and dig around to see what you could find. Ah, the wonderful days of my past...

[wyvernfriend.livejournal.com]

Although some of the charity shops in town have gone a bit upmarket (particularly oxfam) there's a shop on Sth Gt Georges street a few doors up from the Oxfam that sometimes has a lot of, well, junk.
On Liffey Street there are two, a barnados and a gorta shop that seem to have a tonne of junk regularly.

Capel Street has a few as well, the Cancer Soc shop is one of the nicer ones but once you pass abbey street theres one on the same side as the cancer shop that goes back and back and even smells like one of those old-fashioned charity shops. Opposite it are two, one of which is much cleaner and bright but the other one has some interesting junk occasionally. Around the corner on Mary's street is another charity shop that occasionally has rumage bins.

For this info I deserve info if they're selling wool/needles dude!

[eng-monkey.livejournal.com]

Have you tried down around Cork Street and the Cork street end of Meath Street?
There used to be a couple of antique shops down around there a while back. Granted it has been 2 years since I've been on a bus that passes that way so you could be out of luck. But you never know.

Hope this helps.