Sandy Row was once a thriving community, best known and loved for its vibrant shops. As long-time resident Anna McAvoy remembers, ‘You could have got anything in Sandy Row.. people came from far and wide.’

Nowadays the area has been losing many of these shops, with the long-established ‘Gilpins’ being the latest to close. Residents talk about their memories and the ‘craic’ on Saturday nights. Having lived in Sandy Row for 78 years, Dorothy Allen explains how the area came to be known as ‘the village within the city.’