Going to Xtra Vision of a Friday night used to be the highlight of the week… calling into the local sweet shop after mass a close second.
Physical video shops are now nothing more than a long-forgotten part of our past though. The dawn of the digital age has wiped the need for them clean out and younger generations will never know the absolute stress of having to narrow your choices down to just two movies. Both of which had to be family-friendly and have the full support of all family members. A rare occurrence if you come from a big family as I do.
While most of us probably saw the death of VHS and DVDs coming a mile off, very few of us ever really anticipated how much we’d miss the weekly tradition of heading into our local Xtra Vision branch. Do we look back on the memory with rose-tinted glasses? Probably, but this video made us all kinds of nostalgic.
I’m glad someone recorded this video of a walkthrough in Xtra Vision for posterity. A Friday night ritual for most of Ireland that future generations will struggle to understand. pic.twitter.com/Eolk5AnSms
— Martyn Rosney (@rosney) October 6, 2020
First posted on TikTok by Chris Keogan, the video was later shared online by Twitter user Martyn Rosnay. Bringing viewers on a walkthrough of the Xtra Vision shop in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, the clip has evoked a huge response online – reminding onlookers of simpler times with many commenting that they can somehow ‘smell’ the place just through the video.
Amazing how a video can bring back an intense smell memory! https://t.co/obRGEOyurJ
— Ali (@Alicatie) October 6, 2020
https://twitter.com/scottygib/status/1313479527650267138
It did have quite a characteristic smell in fairness.
https://twitter.com/KenBrennan15/status/1313480084397985792
Admit it though, there was nothing worse than arriving home only to find that the DVD was scratched and wouldn’t play.
Xtra-Vision in Ballinasloe was an institution. https://t.co/Hf8W6HcTEa
— Caity Mc-Cait-Face (@raptureponies) October 6, 2020
An institution is right.
