Siopa Doireglinne

In the 1880 there was a shop in Derryglen. It was owned by Brian O Toole and the late Dermot Joyce’s grandfather.  A site was rented from my great, great granddad Michael O Toole to build the shop. It had a thatched roof. Tommy O Toole worked in the shop. He slept upstairs and ate in the kitchen downstairs attached to the shop. He kept all of his supplies in a storeroom. Tommy got his supplies in Galway and they were delivered by train to Oughterard and transported from  Oughterard by horse and cart to Derryglen.

Tommy sold flour, bran, meal, biscuits, sweets, vegetables, clothes, shoes, food for animals, spades, forks pikes and many other items. The shop closed down when Tommy left the shop and they didn’t bother to get anyone else to work there because they shop wasn’t profitable. The shop was given to my great granddad around the year 1900. Tom O Toole (not the person who left the shop) and he constructed a house out of the shop. Then it was given to my granddad. It was later knocked and a house was built on the site. John Joe O Toole now lives in the house..

 Sinéad O Toole, Scoil Muire, Doireglinne   1988