The Leitrim Observer
Published April 04, 2008
Tributes paid to Mohill native Maureen Kenny
Having been described by no less a figure than Seamus Heaney as �The Madonna of the manuscripts�, Maureen Kenny who was born and reared in Mohill passed away last Tuesday, March 25 aged 89.
The eldest of three children, Maureen Canning was born in Glebe Street, Mohill on April 28, 1918 and her father died suddenly when she was only four years old.
Her mother, left with three young children to rear saved every penny she could in order to ensure that her children could have the best possible education.
Maureen went to school in Mohill before being awarded a scholarship to attend St Louis Convent, Monaghan before subsequently obtaining a scholarship to attend University College Galway in 1936.
On her first day at UCG Maureen met her future husband, Des who was often heard saying "And that was that." Upon graduating the couple married.
On November 29, 1940, Maureen and Des, having rented two rooms on High Street opened up a bookshop in one room while they lived in the other at the back. They had to be very innovative and adventurous in order to make a living.
Maureen and Des started a lending library while Des also went out on the road selling books to County Libraries.
Their eldest son, Tom was born in 1944 and soon after they moved to Salthill where the couple�s other five children Jane, Dessy, Gerry, Monica and Conor were born.
Given that the children were reared surrounded by books it was hardly surprising that five of the children eventually followed their parents into the business.
The business continued to expand in the sixties as Desmond started going to the UK where he began to buy extensively.
In 1965 Kenny�s opened an antique shop in Cross Street, just down the street from the Bookshop. While Desmond was busy buying libraries, he also purchased many valuable antiques which he sold in the new shop.
From the start, art had always played a very important role in the Kenny Bookshop. Exhibitions were hung among the books and, more often than not, on top of the books!
In 1968 it was decided that the art deserved an exhibition area of its own. Once again, Maureen and Desmond looked to their own home for the expansion of the business.
They converted their own living room into an art gallery and provided the West of Ireland with its first Art Gallery, opening their home to art lovers from all around the world.
The first exhibition was by artist Sean Keating and the gallery has hosted several hundred since.
In 1984, the Kenny Gallery moved back to the city centre to Middle Street, while export began to take on a new meaning with frequent sales trips to the US.
The United States Library of Congress appointed Kenny's as their Irish suppliers. This started a trend and the bookshop now supplies some three hundred libraries throughout North America.
Among the artists introduced to Galway via exhibitions in the eighties were Gertrude Degenhardt, John Coll, Peter Fitzgerald, Joseph Quilty, Susan Webb and Mick Flaherty.
A founder member of The Galway Leitrim People�s Association, Maureen was made an honorary ambassador for promoting Ireland by Bord Failte in 1990, while she along with her husband Des were the first honorary life members of the Galway Chamber of Commerce. Maureen was also awarded two honorary degrees, one from UCG and another from the NCEA.
Kenny's first computer, an Atari 286, was purchased in 1990 and their first website was launched in 1994, only the second bookshop in the world to do so.
Customers now have the option of being sent their weekly or monthly mailing lists by e-mail. The website is also used to promote the art exhibitions held regularly in Kenny's.
The book business has now re-located to the Liosbaun Industrial Estate and the original bookshop is now being used as an Art Gallery.
Maureen�s husband Des passed away in 1991 and she is survived by her four sons Gerry, Conor, Tom and Des and two daughters Monica and Jane.
With the kind permission of The Leitrim Observer