The Toy Collectors: How quitting smoking gave birth to a 3,525-strong porcelain doll collection

A trip to a car boot sale in West Cork as a distraction from cigarettes and the impulse purchase of five porcelain dolls proved a fateful day for Schull couple Mary and Billy O’Keeffe

Billy O’Keeffe with one of the bridal dolls on display in the collection at his home near Schull. Pictures: Chani Anderson

AN elderly couple have transformed part of their home into a mini museum as they open their pride and joy — Ireland’s largest private porcelain doll collection — to the public.

Mary and Billy O’Keeffe, who live in Schull, never imagined their now 3,525-strong display would multiply to the extent that it has. Starting a doll collection had never been part of their plans until a quirk of fate changed everything.