40 years later: Pro musica owner on keeping Cork music shop alive against the odds

Eileen Madden outlines how Pro Musica has adapted to survive through the decades, and recalls a customer list that has included the likes of Cillian Murphy, Gay Byrne, and Jerry Lee Lewis 

Eileen Madden behind the counter at Pro Musica on Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork. Picture: Chani Anderson

Though she’s “passed retirement age”, Eileen Madden, owner of music shop Pro Musica on Oliver Plunkett Street shows no signs of slowing down. She’s run the popular music shop since 1982, when she first rented the ground floor of the shop from McCullough Piggot, itself a music store where Madden used to work.

“Things were quiet in Cork at the time and McCullough Piggot pulled out in March 1982. I said to them I’d rent the ground floor. I offered them £12,000 a year, which was a lot of money back then.”