McElhinney's is a 3-storey fifteen-department store located in

Ballybofey Ballybofey ( , ; ) is a town located on the south bank of the River Finn (County Donegal), River Finn, County Donegal, Ireland. Together with the smaller town of Stranorlar on the north side of the River Finn (County Donegal), River Finn, the ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

. It is the largest department store in Ireland outside Dublin. It has been named National Retail Store of the Year and Best Superstore at the Retail Excellence Ireland Awards, among other awards for Outstanding Customer Service, Occasionwear, Bridal and more. Alongside

Finn Park Finn Park () is a football stadium in Ballybofey, County Donegal in Ireland. The home ground of League of Ireland team Finn Harps, it has a 'safe capacity' of 4,200 with 351 seats. The first recorded Finn Harps game in Finn Park was in May 1954 ...

MacCumhaill Park MacCumhaill Park () is a GAA stadium in Ballybofey, County Donegal, Ireland. It is the home ground of the Seán MacCumhaills club and Donegal's Gaelic football and hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient ...

and a few hotels, McElhinney's is one of Ballybofey's more recognisable landmarks. There is another store with the same name in

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

but there is no connection between that and McElhinney's of Ballybofey.

History

McElhinney's was founded by John McElhinney in 1968. John McElhinney spent his time driving around Donegal selling his wares from the back of a van. In 1971, he established a small shop in Glenfin Street, Ballybofey, from which he operated for eight years before opening the current Department Store on Lower Main Street in 1979. The current business has faced adversity throughout the years, including surviving both a flood in 1985, and firebomb attack in 1987. In 1977, the store began to sell Wedding Dresses. The Bridal Rooms have been nominated and won multiple awards including; Best Bridal Retailer 2016 by Xposé Frockadvisor Awards, Bridalwear Supplier of the Year 2016 by Weddings Online Awards, and Wedding Boutique of the Year (Borders) at The Irish Wedding Awards 2017, among many others.

References

{{Reflist Ballybofey Department stores of Ireland