Carroll’s

Holy kitsch, Batman! Seriously, this place is a tourist store on steroids. You walk in greeted by loud Irish folk music, which repeats quite a bit during your visit alone.
Although this shop is cheesy to the extreme and coasts on a series of stereotypes (Leprechauns! Guinness!), the variety here is immense, making souvenir selection easy. Someone wants a shot glass? Someone else wants chocolate, or a dish towel, or a Guinness plaque, or a leprechaun hat (yeah, that last one, maybe not so much…)? Really great variety here, despite it being super cheesy.
This place has all things Oirish and is tacky and silly. If you live here, going here might make you roll your eyes so much that you get a migraine, but if you are a tourist, it’s worthwhile to stop here if you need to get a diverse variety of souvenirs and don’t have time to go to more specialized shops. Decently priced too!
Minus one because no leprechaun clutching a pint o’Guinness leaped out and said «TOP O THE MARNING TO YEHH» — I was pretty much expecting it by that point, you know?

Definitely the best place in Belfast for souvenirs! A large shop in the city centre completely bulging at the seams with gifts of all kinds and price ranges from postcards, pens and fridge magnets to expensive ornaments and jewellery. You can also buy kitchenware, perfumes, chocolate, glassware, CDs and DVDs, toys, calendars and so much more. There’s a particularly huge range of Irish-​themed T-​shirts and other clothing.
The only off-​putting thing (for me) was that the background Irish music was far too loud when browsing for gifts.

Carrolls is one of the tackiest shops in the world. I must admit, I do enjoy occasionally having a wonder around it but as I’m not a tourist, wanting to buy something with a shamrock on it as some form of cheesy evidence that I’ve been to the emerald isle, there’s little point in me ever being in here. It plays music really loudly on the outside which I think gives the street a little bit of a carnival feelings, especially on a sunny day. If your a tourist and want someone silly for quite a lot of money, then look no further!

Whoooo Hoooooo! Carolls I love you! There are two reasons why:
1. I’m Irish and proud and when I walk past Carrolls and see the Belfast t-​shirts and the tourists mulling around I get a great sense of pride. I am proud that if a Spanish/​French/​Ethiopian wanted to purchase something, nay anything with a shamrock on it they could get it here. I’m proud that pencils and pencil cases, hairbands, rubbers, sweets, aprons and the like with sheep/​shamrocks/​leprahauns on them can all be purchased here!
2. The Irish tunes that are being pumped outta this place from opening until closing fill me with happiness and make me want to sing along as I am walking past in the pissy rain on dull and gray winters afternoon — sure you couldn’t beat it.
For all things Irish Caroll is yer man/​woman?

This is the Ireland tourists see in their minds eye, it combines everything I’m not particularly fond of.
Carroll’s is really a kitsch tourism mega-​store, selling a combination of t-​shirts, leprechauns and Guinness related items.
I called in here one day after meeting a friend for a couple of cheeky lunchtime pints, I do regret heading into this heady mix of Irish twee and random Belfast oddities.
I’m not sure who would wear a t-​shirt that says ‘What’s the craic?’ but there must be a market out there somewhere.
It’s kitsch, it’s silly but if you’re a tourist and you need the usual garb then give it a try.

Ah Cead mile Failte, this oh so Norn/​Irish gift shop on Castle Place is perfect for mementoes and gifts, either for the eager beaver tourist or for a local upping sticks and leaving to travel. It must be something about friends going to Oz ’cause I did exactly the same thing as Lyra, ended up buying said friend a ‘Bout Ye’ t-​shirt to remind her of good old Belfast. Any time I’ve been within earshot of the shop they’re always playing ‘feedle de dee’ tunes over ear splitting loudspeakers but I guess this is in an attempt to rope the unsuspecting tourists in for a snoop around. They stock a range of, well everything, including clothing, home ware, jewellery, basically every souvenir under the sun. There are also a number of branches in Dublin. If you’re after a tpical Irish prezzie then you’re bound to find it in here.

My dear friend was leaving to go back to Australia for a while, so amidst all the tears, we hit Carroll’s. I mean, we paid it a visit. Not actually smacked it.
For us, it really was a case of «Hello, Carol (ls) — I’m depending on you», because there really aren’t too many places in Belfast that you can purchase every form of souvenir ever invented, and I had informed my friend that this was the place to go.
Fortunately for me, (and the Gladiatiors), my friend managed to pick up a couple of t-​shirts, one which referred to the diabolical Irish weather, and another which consisted of a list of words from ‘Norn Iron’ (that’s Northern Ireland for non-​natives), such as ’bout ye’, ‘dead on’, ‘catch yerself on’ and the like. Apparently it went down a storm with her Aussie friends.
Carroll’s is far bigger than you first think. It really has such a huge array of various souvenirs that you’ll be hard pushed trying to find something that you *don’t* like. Dependable it is… thank you to the Gladiators for that nugget.

If you’re a tourist, you should definitely visit this store! Stocked with Irish gifts and souvenirs, it’s perfect for picking up small tokens and gifts for the folks back home. You’ll find everything from aprons with leprechauns on them to Shillelagh’s and jumpers with the words ‘I love Belfast’ emblazoned across the chest.

Irritating. Tacky. Expensive.
Any of these would have been a suitable name for this shop. I suppose when you live in Belfast, the «I LOVE BELFAST» t-​shirts look funny once and a «KISS ME I’M IRISH» was funny about 30 years ago. I don’t find these shops of any interest to me. I’m not the target audience and nor will I ever return. Very expensive but in a way its not aimed at me. Tourists love it. Locals hate it.