In a puff of smoke, 107 years of history snuffed out

For years the smell of pipe tobacco acted as a kind of GPS that told you you were in the vicinity of M&P O’Sullivan, the cosy tobacco shop on Academy St in Cork City.

If the wind was southwesterly, it would often waft around the corner to Patrick Street and let you know you were heading in the right direction.

Even non-smokers would often venture into the shop located across from what were once the offices of the Irish Examiner just to get a whiff of nostalgia and to bask in the warm, pungent aroma that bespoke cloth caps, tweed jackets and fiery briar pipes.