I'm indebted to Aidan O'loan for his comprehensive update and reviews of the Belfast bookshops. Aidan also sent us "Tales from the Belfast Bookshops", which gives a flavour of what has been lost.

Arcade Books (Harry Hall's Bookshop)
39 Gresham Street
BELFAST  BT1 1JN
tel: 028 9043 8474  map
Open: 9.30 - 5.00 Monday - Saturday.
Good general stock and Irish interest.
    "Arcade Books" is NOT in an arcade (although it is fairly close to one), and has a completely different name painted over the shop! It is certainly well worth a visit, although not all that easy to find. Gresham Street is at the rear of the Castle Court Shopping Centre and I have always found it easiest to get to the shop from Royal Avenue. - Geoffrey Warner.
    Harry Hall's was a famous shop of the old Smithfield Market. The shop is now run by Bernard Hope who bought it over when Eric "Harry" Hall retired. Very strong Irish section and some unusual items. - Aidan O'loan.
    Long established, this remains Northern Ireland's most famous second hand bookshop, forever known to locals as Harry Hall's. A medium sized shop near Belfast city centre, it is located in an area that has changed from being known for pet stores to being known for sex shops, and to a certain extent it has followed the trend. Not really suitable for taking your children to, it has quantity of stock but not quality. Yet it continues to survive, unlike so many other second hand bookshops in Belfast. - Jeremy Briggs.

Barnacle Books
Letterboy
KESH  County Fermanagh  Northern Ireland  BT93 0DF
tel: 07816 610875.  e-mail  website  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 9.00 - 5.00, or by appointment.
Barnacle Books, specialising in out-of-print and secondhand books relating to Ireland, modern first editions and early Angling titles. Fine books on these subjects always wanted. Whilst most of our business is by mail order visitors are always welcome to come and browse in the Bookroom.

Bookends Secondhand Bookshop
Railway Terrace  Dufferin Avenue
BANGOR  County Down  BT20 3AB
tel: 02891 471919  e-mail  website  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 5.00.
General secondhand stock with some antiquarian and collectable books.
    On the hill down from the railway station, this medium sized bookshop is clean, bright and well laid out with an interesting selection of general books. Along with Stacks and Green's, it is one of the best bookshops in Northern Ireland and could teach many of the central Belfast shops a thing or two about layout, presentation and what is suitable for a family audience. - Jeremy Briggs.

Bookease
Unit 3  High Street Shopping Centre  Lurgan
CRAIGAVON  County Armagh  BT66 8AB
tel: 028 3832 1661  map
Open: Moday - Saturday 9.00 - 5.00, closed Wednesday.
General secondhand books and particularly Irish history.

Bookfinders
47 University Road
BELFAST  BT7 1ND
tel: 02890 328269  map
Open: 10.00 - 5.00 Monday - Saturday.
Modern first editions, poetry, literature and history.
    As its address suggests, this is close to the campus of Queen's University, Belfast, and is much frequented by students. As well as a small, but interesting, selection of secondhand books, it boasts a cafe which sells much better food than your run-of-the-mill Waterstone's/Border's, etc. and at a much lower cost! - Geoffrey Warner.
    Very civilised combination of a bookshop with a coffee shop. Haunt of well fed aesthetes! Good for academic texts and course books. Mary Denvir also keeps a good Irish section and excellent literary books. - Aidan O'loan.

The Bookstore
21 Lower North Street.
BELFAST  County Antrim  BT1 1LA
tel: Mobile 07939315434  map
Open Monday to Saturday 11.00 - 5.00
    The stock is well organised, with some unusual items and good on local subjects. The prices are very fair. William and Lisa say they will still keep their book stall at the St. Georges covered Market which opens on Fridays 8.00 am to 1.00 pm. - Aidan O'loan.
    A long narrow, medium sized shop in a busy location in Belfast city centre. On entering the shop looks quite chaotic with bookshelves to the ceiling, in which books are often double shelved, in addition to several layers of books on the floor in places but, once you are used to the layout, The Bookstore can prove to be somewhat of a treasure trove at times with its wide selection of subjects. - Jeremy Briggs. 15.01.08

Causeway Books
110 Main Street
BUSHMILLS  County Antrim  BT57 8QD
tel: 028 2073 2596  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 5.00.
General secondhand bookshop

Chapters Bookshop
7 St Patrick's Drive
DOWNPATRICK  County Down  BT30 6NE
tel: 028 4461 6410  e-mail  website  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 5.00.
A wide range of stock from general fiction to the classics, modern to rare and out-of-print, academic to the arts, Irish fiction, non-fiction and history, serious literature to the bizarre - with everything in between, and then some! We have access to literally thousands of good quality books not listed on the website, including many rare and sought after titles, so just ask.
    Barely a minutes walk from Downpatrick's bus station down a back street, Chapters is a small bright shop with a surprising number of mainly paperback fiction books. Unfortunately the majority of stock is shelved in vertical piles, often three deep, with little chance of reaching the backmost books. Not really a shop for the collector. - Jeremy Briggs. 15.01.08

Chapter One Bookshop (Student's Union)
82 University Road
BELFAST  County Antrim
tel: ?
Open: ? term time only.
    Shop is inside the drab 1960's Queen's University Students Union Building and sells used academic textbooks on behalf of those students who wish to pass on their books to the next year group. Small "Miscellaneous" section that reflects the other interests of 18-25 year old students. - Aidan O'loan.

Coleraine Bookshop
5 Stone Row
COLERAINE  County Londonderry  BT52 1EP
tel: 028 7035 2557  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 5.00 (closed Wednesday and for lunch).
General secondhand and new books.

Foyle Books
12 Magazine Street
LONDONDERRY  County Londonderry  BT48 6HH
tel: 028 7137 2530  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 11.00 - 5.00.
Large general stock including Irish & French literature, theology and local history.

No Alibis Bookstore
83 Botanic Avenue
BELFAST  County Antrim  BT7 1JL
tel: 028 9020 1261  map
Open: Monday -Saturday 10.00 - 5.00.
    This is a specialist Bookshop selling, as the name implies, new crime fiction. Small section of collectors' items and books of local interest. - Aidan O'loan.

The Old Abbey Bookshop
118 High Street
HOLYWOOD  County Down  BT18 9HW
tel: 028 9042 5472  map
Open: Saturday only 9.30 - 5.30.
    A small shop opposite the Police Station and only a minutes walk from the free car park. Only open on a Saturday and looking almost like an antiques shop inside, this is very much a shop for the book collector rather than the casual browser with little in the way of modern paperbacks. This is one of the nicest shops in the greater Belfast area and if you want something less modern it is well worth going out of your way to visit. - Jeremy Briggs. 15.01.08

Oxfam Ireland Bookshop
33 Botanic Avenue
BELFAST  County Antrim  BT7 1JG
tel: 028 9033 3040  map
     Virtually opposite Botanic Railway station and just over the road from the War On Want bookshop, the books that used to share a shop with furniture on the Dublin Road have broken free and now have their own smart shop. Fitted out to the same high standard as the central Belfast Oxfam bookshop the shop, it has a medium sized selection of books covering a variety of subjects. The smartness of the shop means that it lacks something of the character of the War On Want bookshop opposite but the pairing of them makes the 10 minute walk from the city centre worthwhile. - Jeremy Briggs. 30.09.08

Oxfam Bookshop
16 Rosemary Street
BELFAST  County Antrim  BT1 1QD
tel: 028 9024 7168  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 4.30.
    Oxfam's first separate bookshop in Belfast, this small shop is just around the corner from the bus and taxi ranks of Bridge Street. Slickly laid out and very well organised, you would be forgiven for mistaking it for a normal bookshop with a range of excellent condition second hand books to appeal to the general public. Jeremy Briggs 27.03.08.

Saintfield Antiques & Fine Books
Vestry Hall  Vestry Road
BALLYGOWN  County Down  BT23 6HQ
Tel: 028 9752 8428  map
Open: Thursday - Saturday 11.30 - 5.00.
Small stock including Ireland, travel, exploration, literature and illustrated books.

Stacks Secondhand Bookshop
67 Comber Road
DUNDONALD County Antrim  BT16 2AE
tel: 028 9048 6880  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 6.00.
Very large general secondhand stock including academic and scholarly books.
    Jim Tollerton really knows his extensive stock and if he does not have it in stock he will look out for a desired item and keep it by for you when it turns up. He is dedicated to shifting stock and prices accordingly. If something is not moving the price will come down. Good bargains to be had. Special offers and a table outside, in good weather, laden with very cheap and sometimes very spectacular bargains. - Aidan O'loan.
    Near the Ulster Hospital, Stacks is a bright, busy, medium sized bookshop with some second hand CDs, videos and DVDs. A friendly shop with a good general selection and an interesting military section, it is worth taking the children along to let them have a rummage through the boxes of cheap kids books. - Jeremy Briggs.

War on Want NI
24 Botanic Avenue
BELFAST  County Antrim  BT7 1JQ
tel: 028 9024 7773 fax 028 9032 8019  e-mail  website  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 4.30.
Secondhand charity bookshop specialising in antiquarian and irish books. Also stocks books on religion, biographies, hobbies, travel, geography, history, horror and sci-fi as well as paperback novels and childrens books.
     Run by large team of very friendly volunteers who each work on different days. Very wide selection of second hand books including unusual items. Prices are very, very cheap, some spectacular bargains. - Aidan O'loan.
    Beside Botanic Railway station this small to medium sized charity bookshop looks for all the world like a normal secondhand bookshop. Set in the university area of Belfast it has a higher than usual percentage of reference books, but retains the variety of other book types. Busy yet welcoming, it is worth the walk from the city centre. Jeremy Briggs 27.03.08.

War on Want NI
370-374 Upper Newtownards Road
BELFAST  County Antrim  BT4 3DY
tel: 028 9067 3350 fax: 028 9032 8019  e-mail  website  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 4.30.
Secondhand charity bookshop specialising in antiquarian and irish books. Also stocks books on religion, biographies, hobbies, travel, geography, history, horror and sci-fi as well as paperback novels and childrens books.
    A small charity bookshop but with a good selection of books and a large children's section. There are several normal charity shops within a few minutes walk. - Jeremy Briggs.

War on Want NI
13 Campsie Road
OMAGH  County Tyrone  BT79 0AE
tel: 028 8225 9986 fax: 028 9032 8019  e-mail  website  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 5.00.
Secondhand charity bookshop specialising in antiquarian and irish books. Also stocks books on religion, biographies, hobbies, travel, geography, history, horror and sci-fi as well as paperback novels and childrens books.

War on Want NI
1B Carlisle Road
LONDONDERRY  County Londonderry  BT48 6JJ
tel: 028 7137 1520 fax: 028 9032 8019  e-mail  website  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 5.00.
Secondhand charity bookshop specialising in antiquarian and irish books. Also stocks books on religion, biographies, art, travel, geography, hobbies, sci-fi, horror and westerns as well as paperback novels and childrens books.

World of Books
329 Woodstock Road
BELFAST  County Antrim  BT6 8PT
tel: 028 9045 4272  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 5.00.
    Can usually be depended on to find what you are after. General mix of popular fiction and more specialised books all in good to excellent condition. Some remaindered coffee table books. Lot of paperback fiction with all popular genres represented. Prices are very reasonable. - Aidan O'loan.
    With books on the floor and others shelved horizontally, this is a somewhat chaotic looking shop with a smallish room at the front and a very small room at the back. A good selection of general titles with some CDs and DVDs mixed in, its longevity shows that it serves its community but it offers little to draw the collector back to it. Jeremy Briggs 27.03.08.