Mayo project relives golden age of retail

A Mayo project is keeping the stories alive of local shops and the vital role they played in communities.

The Village Shops project was set up to focus on the significance and extent of the small shops, artisan workshops, bartering trade and Meitheal practices in Irish rural communities circa 1900-1990, with specific reference to the Louisburgh area.

It demonstrates the significant role of village shops and shopping locally in preserving community resilience and food security and identify ways that aspects of these systems might be reintroduced into modern society in order for communities to live more sustainably.

Collecting oral history and material from these shops has brought the initiative to life and illuminated the meaningful way in which these businesses brought vibrancy and life to the area.

The project is funded by the Sunflower Charitable Foundation and coordinated by Killeen Community Council in collaboration with Louisburgh Killeen Heritage, Louisburgh Community Futures, Louisburgh Tidy Towns and Climate Action Louisburgh Locality (CALL).

“We are collecting oral histories from community members about the shops that were in Louisburgh. It’s about social lives and shops being social places and people making connections in towns and villages,” explained Project Officer, Deirdre McGuirk.

There has been a tremendous local response with almost 20 interviews conducted so far with all the information available on the project’s website when it draws to a close. A booklet will also be published containing some of the oral history.

During National Heritage Week in August there will be a talk held in Louisburgh about the gems of information that have been uncovered. It is also planned to establish a trail in the parish of Kilgeever which will map out the shops and their history.

Some of the businesses which feature still operate today while others are sadly closed.

“Staunton’s Pharmacy on the Square in Louisburgh, that’s been there since 1956," says Deirdre. "We still have McNamara’s pub which is now into the third generation of McNamara’s. There is Gaffney’s which is in the third generation as well. It’s now a restaurant but was previously a shop."

Louisburgh still boasts some beautiful shop fronts which show the businesses that once thrived.

“Phase two of the project will concentrate on what we can do for the future. How can we keep the town alive and how can we encourage people to shop local,” said Deirdre.

Between the 90-year timescale of the project, Louisburgh boasted 185 different shops.

“Which is absolutely staggering,” said Deirdre.

From the research conducted, it appears that the 1950s and 1960s was when local businesses were at the peak in Louisburgh.

“There would have been 30 to 40 shops at that stage. Nearly every house on Bridge Street had a shop in it,” said Deirdre.

It meant the local community never had to leave the area to shop with every possible item on their doorstep. A travelling shop run by Austin Francis O’Malley operated in the 1970s. Credit was part and parcel of commerce within the community, the research has found.

“The shopping experience was such that people would be invited into the kitchen to sit beside the range and have a cup of tea and some brown bread,” said Deirdre.

Durkan’s grocery shop (now a Gala store) was a magical place at Christmas with the store’s festive window display.

“Durkan’s had a Christmas window every year. The children loved to go and look at the toys and be in awe of what they wanted to wish for from Santa,” said Deirdre.

If you would like to contribute to this project, please contact thevillageshops25@gmail.com