Popular Macroom gift shop to become Cork’s newest gallery

WHAT was an empty garage on Macroom’s New St, and was subsequently transformed into a popular art and gift shop, is shortly to undergo another massive reincarnation as Cork’s newest art gallery.

John P and Brigín Quinlan have been running Quinlan’s Gift Shop since 1990, when John converted the former garage — owned by his father — into a quality gift shop.

John P has form in transforming buildings into highly attractive premises, as he had previously converted a premises on his hometown’s Castle St into a pub — also called Quinlan’s.

That premises would go on, just four years later, to win Pub of the Year in Munster and narrowly miss out on the All-Ireland title in 1989.

“In 1988, we renovated an old building next to the pub and we were going after the tourist market,” John P said.

“We called it Cúchulainn Crafts and we got in a lot of Celtic jewellery, but we found that it was local people who were our best customers.

“We couldn’t sell the jewellery as there were no tourists coming into us, so we moved over into pottery which was big at the time.

“Two years later, where we’re standing now, was a garage belonging to my father, Jack.

“He was a licensed haulier who used to work with the county council.

“Myself and Colm Burgoyne spent a few months here renovating it and we changed the name to Quinlan’s Pottery Shop, and then we moved on to craft and design and now we’re known as Quinlan’s Gift Shop.”

At that time, John P also had a gallery at the other end of town but, as it was getting very little footfall, he moved it to the upstairs of the New St premises.

He wanted the gallery, which was enjoying tremendous success, to be a national gallery.

John P moved into a premises in Cork city, on Carey’s Lane, where it was known as Vangard Gallery.

“That was around [the year] 2000 and I ran that there for around nine years, but then the crash hit so I moved back to the stronghold in Macroom.”

There was an increase in the footfall through the shop and the gallery, and the two seemed to work hand in hand.

“A lot of the people that were into the type of product that Brigín was sourcing would also appreciate art as well.”

This week will mark a new departure for the shop.

Last Friday, it closed its doors and will now become an online business with click-and-collect two days a week.

However, it’s not so much an end as a change of approach.

“We’ve got three grown sons living abroad, we’re at retirement age, and we’re going to change tack again,” John P said.

“Because we’re closing the front doors, we’re holding on to the premises, we’ll be able to run the online [business] from the store room.

“So what I’m going to actually do is gut the shop and convert it into an art gallery.

“I’m already working on a major exhibition next November, with 33 of Ireland’s leading artists, and we’re excited about the whole change.”

The one thing that John P and Brigín are determined to do is to maintain the building and not allow it “go dark” or become derelict, as so many other buildings have done in towns around the county.

“We will keep the building looking nice, because so many buildings have become so derelict and horrible,” Brigín said.

The couple is confident about taking their business in a new direction.

“No, we’re not sad about closing the shop. We’re looking forward, it’s a new venture. It’s the business, but we’re running it in a different way,” Brigín added.

“The one thing we’ll miss is our customers — we have developed a nice connection with our customers over the years but, on the other hand, we’ll still be doing click and collect on a Tuesday and Thursday, so we’ll keep that too.”