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DoChara's Ireland Blog
Random Writings about Ireland and the Irish
Wednesday
January 11 2006
The End of an Era in Galway
If you are looking for Irish books online - old or new - then the place to go is Kenny's Bookshop, a veritable treasure trove for any book lover. While the website is great it can never be a patch on the experience of browsing though the famous Kenny's bookstore on Shop St in Galway.
I worked in Galway for a couple of years in the 1980's, long before it became the modern and thriving city it is today, and my favourite Saturday entertainment was rooting around in Kenny's, often for hours on end. I almost always came out with a book I had never intended to buy, but I have all of them still and many are among my most treasured possessions.
I can see some of them right by me on the bookshelves - old issues of the Kilkenny Magazine from the 1960's; a tiny beautifully bound copy of Lalla Rookh by Thomas Moore, published in 1856; a 1969 anthology of animal poems with wonderful whimsical illustrations by Quentin Blake.
I remember buying each one of these, the smug feeling of having found a gem, the pleasure of newly owning something special. You don't get that feeling very much in an ordinary bookshop, but Kenny's was never ordinary.
This Friday Kenny's will close its doors for good. It's a sad, sad time.
Comments on "The End of an Era in Galway"
Posted by: Mocha
14 Jan 2006
Today's the day :(
Posted by: Stan
16 Jan 2006
Ahh, Kenny's. Best bookshop in the world bar none. Galway will be the poorer for its loss.
I haven't heard anyone mention Lalla Rookh for years! Did you ever hear this rhyme about it? Very clever, it always amuses me, even if the Victorian notion of a 'naughty book' is a bit different from ours.
"Lalla Rookh
is a naughty book
by Thomas Moore
who has written four
each warmer
than the former
so the most recent
is the least decent"
Who wrote it? I don't know. Anyone?
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