No shopping centre, no run of chain stores. Cahir has perhaps five shops a visitor would go out of their way for, and they are all independents.
For anything approaching a serious shop, Clonmel is twenty minutes east and has the scale Cahir does not.
The Craft Granary
The Craft Granary on Church Street is the one to go to first. It occupies a restored nineteenth century grain store, which you would go in to look at anyway, and it functions as a showcase for craft from the southeast of Ireland. Not a souvenir shop.
The makers are members of the Craft Council of Ireland, so the standard is real: pottery, glass, woodturning, small furniture, photography, jewellery, textiles, cards, children's toys and local food products. There is a gallery on the first floor showing work by local artists and sculptors, and it is free to go up. The Granary also runs classes through the year, from throwing pots to Irish lace making.
The boutiques
Klassy Lady on the Square and Rich Rags on Castle Street are the town's two women's fashion boutiques. Between them they cover occasion wear and everyday clothes, and they are the sort of shops where you are served rather than left alone, which some people want and others do not.
The Black Bee on Castle Street is the craft and gift shop, with locally made pieces and the kind of stock that solves a present rather than filling a suitcase.
The Saturday market
The best shopping in Cahir is not in a shop. Cahir Farmers Market runs on Saturday mornings beside the Craft Granary on Church Street, and everything on it except the fish is produced within twenty miles of the town. Vegetables, fruit, bread, cured pork, organic beef and lamb, juice. Go early, because it sells out.
Everyday shopping
The town has supermarkets and the usual practical shops for anyone staying in self catering and needing to fill a fridge. It is entirely adequate for a week and it will not entertain you for an afternoon.
Practical
Everything above is within a few minutes of the Square on foot, so park once and walk. Small independent shops keep their own hours and will close for a lunch hour or a half day in a way a chain will not. Ring first if you are making a special trip for something specific.
Things to do in Cahir covers the rest of the town, and cafes in Cahir covers where to stop when you are done.