Shopping in Ranelagh isn’t great – apart from banks, pharmacies, the odd specialist or charity shop and useful services like newsagents, it’s mostly restaurants and cafes, and the small villages of Rathgar or Harold’s Cross have very little either, although you will see some exclusive little boutiques dotted about Rathgar. Rathmines has a shopping centre (the Swan Centre) with a large Dunnes Stores and some other assorted shops, but fashion shopping in Rathmines is of the low budget or discount variety and you’ll find lots of charity and discount shops. However there’s everything else useful from supermarkets (Dunnes, Tesco and Aldi) and shoe repairs to laundrettes and hairdressers, so you won’t have to go into the city and you won’t break the bank. There’s also a large public library in Rathmines.