At the height of the sale season, and in time for Bastille Day, Catherine Condelltook herself to Kildare Village to hunt for bargains.
It has been a long time coming, our first large designer outlet, but when Kildare Village had its official opening last month, it finally looked finished, polished and here to stay. It now has 38 retail outlets, including L'Officina, the first Dunne & Crescenzi restaurant outside Dublin, and there is a generous playground for little folk as well as a landscaped promenade, with a boardwalk leading to the centre of Kildare. It definitely qualifies now as "a destination", and it's so meticulously clean, you might be forgiven for thinking you've landed in Disneyland, although the 13th-century abbey ruins are the real deal.
The selection of labels - and the reductions - keep getting better, too. Polo, Ted Baker and Wolford will all be opening before September, so it's worth keeping an eye on the latest additions if you are passing that way.
Labels include LK Bennett, Karen Millen, TSE Cashmere, Reiss, Regine and Coast. There is a lot of denim, too, with Calvin Klein, Levi's and Pepe Jeans. Nike, Reebok and Quiksilver are there, but our teenagers didn't have as much luck in the shoe department as we had hoped. Mothers fared better in Monsoon, where there were leather summer sandals for €8.
We love the Descamps shop with its snazzy French towels, and there are good bargains in the homewares shops, such as Villeroy & Boch and Le Creuset.
The Cornerstone Lounge, where many of these photographs were taken, out of the rain, was designed by Michael Black as a temporary space for the grand opening, but has proven so popular, it might become a fixture. He used natural materials from the Irish landscape - granite, moss, wood and peat - to make zany furnishings and decorations. Very green and great fun, too.
For more information, visit www.kildarevillage.com. The centre has a genuinely helpful information centre, with guides to all the other amenities - cultural, historical and commercial - in Co Kildare, including great hotels and restaurants. Check it out, next time you are barrelling down the M7 (trains also leave half-hourly from Dublin's Heuston Station).