Galway Advertiser 2008/GA_2008_03_27/GA_2703_E1_012.pdf 

Extracted text

12 N E W S

www.galwayadvertiser.ie

March 27 2008

Maureen Kenny - the doyenne of Galway booksellers passes away
BY KERNAN ANDREWS Maureen Kenny, "the doyenne of the bookselling tradition in Galway", has died, but the legacy of what she and her husband created will live on in The Kenny Gallery, Kenny's Bookshop and Art Galleries Ltd, and Kennys.ie. Maureen Kenny (nee Canning) passed away on Tuesday March 25 in Pointe Boise, Salthill. For many years - decades she was an essential part of Kenny's Bookshop, sitting behind her desk and dealing
The late Maureen Kenny

with the customers, always eager to talk about books with anyone who came by. I remember going into Kenny's to buy John O'Donoghue's first collection of poems Echoes Of Memory in 1994. I went to the counter and as soon as Mrs Kenny saw it she exclaimed "A treat in store! A treat in store!" I told her he happened to be my local priest and she could not say enough good things about his sermons. Kenny's Bookshop was a Galway institution, but one with an international reputation, not only among

book buyers, but also among authors - as the photographs of everyone from Allan Ginsberg to Thomas Kinsella testify. It is a testament to the work of Desmond Kenny and his wife Maureen who founded the shop and gallery and made it such a centre and lauchpad for, as well as icon of, Galway business and culture. Galway Advertiser chairman Ronnie O'Gorman this week paid tribute to Mrs Kenny. "I used to love to see her sitting in her chair in the shop," he said, "she was part of the old tradition of

bookselling in Galway and was the doyenne of that tradition. She and her husband Des opened the first art gallery in the West of Ireland and made every art exhibition an occasion and they would serve tea, coffee, and sandwiches. "Maureen Kenny's death marks the end of a more genteel style of business which Galway was famous for - when buying a book was a chance for social interaction and chat, when shopping was more than just shopping."

A life among pages -- Mrs kenny surrounded by the books she made her life

Teen disco postponed
The Ultra Violet Teen Disco to be held tomorrow in City Limits has been postponed. City Limits Entertainment Centre in conjunction with Groove Yard Entertainment made the announcement yesterday evening. Groove Yard Entertainment and City Limits would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. For more information contact 091 - 388100 or go to www.citylimits.ie