Kennys In the Media
A pride in Irish writers and artists ran deep in both Maureen and Desmond Kenny when they began courting in the late 1930s. From that conviction grew a passion for preserving Irish culture that predates the recent explosion of interest - both in Ireland and abroad - in matters Hibernian. Today, beautiful hand-bound volumes and original paintings and prints line the walls of Kenny's Bookshop and Art Gallery in Galway City, where from a one-room store the Kennys built the internationally recognized business that is frequented by tourists and Galwegians, as well as by writers, artists, historians, and scholars.
by Pauline Dininny with Photography by Aengus McMahon
Cover story, July 1998
Conor Kenny conducts 24 hour trading,365 days a year using the internet.Come in to my parlour, said the spider to the fly. Thanks to the lnternet, Kenny's bookshop is marketing to the world. Exports now exceed retail sales, making Kenny's of Galway, the largest exporter of books in Ireland. Conor Kenny talks enticement, entrapment, and the lure of the Web, in an interview with MIRIAM O'CALLACHAN.While good bookshops will always have their customers, it is the really special ones that have clients.
by Miriam O'Callaghan
Published June 1998
ONE of the splendid advantages of having your own business is that nobody can give you a metallic handshake and your walking papers from work at the onset of a particular birthday. On April 28th, Maureen Kenny will celebrate her 80th birthday. Maureen can still be found holding court every day in Kennys Bookshop on Galway's High Street which she and her late husband, Des, opened more than half a century ago.If "bookshop" is inseparable from any mention of Maureen Kenny, so too is the word "grace".
If you've been having difficulty tracking down a particular book, Galway-based Kenny's Books is an excellent resource. Kenny's has an on-line catalog and will ship anywhere in the world. If you don't have a particular book in mind, you can register your e-mail address to receive periodic notices of recently published books of Irish interest. The store also has a vast quantity of out-of-print books. In addition to its book holdings, the store carries a large collection of maps and prints. There are current maps and guides, antiquarian maps, Irish family name prints and reproductions from Samuel Lewis's 1837 topographical atlas of Ireland. Did we mention that they ship anywhere?
The second Western award went to Simon J. Kelly and Partners for their inspired remodelling of Kenny's Bookshop in Galway, long a Mecca for bibliophiles. This involved the creation of a three-storey top-lit atrium, surrounded by timber galleries, in place of a single storey link between the Quay Street and Middle Street frontages. Described by the assessors as "the quintessential bookshop", its owners are delighted.Today we have a cascade of light in a new and stylish heart of the building, more selling space, accessibility and efficiency. And even more character.
Here in Ireland's west country, visitors may find a treasure that seems to have been especially designed for those seeking entertainment on one of the area's desolate, rainy days. No, it is not a guided tour of the prehistoric Ailwee Caves in Ballyvaughan, a peek 'round the small shops on the Aran Islands, or a pint of Guinness in one of County Clare or Galway's quaint pubs. The treasure we found on a typical soggy day one summer was lodged in the heart of Galway City: one of the most remarkable bookstores in the world.London may have Charing Cross Road, and Dublin, Fred Hanna's, but Galway has Kenny's Bookshop and Art Gallery. Located on High Street, Kenny's is far more than an old fashioned bookstore; it's an Irish literary shrine.