Step back in time with old village shop

GUEST’S shop with its central cast iron stove was a focal point in the village of Shinrone, Co Offaly, for over a 100 years.

The advent of the supermarket put paid to the old-style grocer’s shop and Guest’s closed their doors in 1981, locking up a store that had remained unchanged since it was first built.

But it’s all still there today: the stove with its central flue, the pitch pine counter and rows of hand-made shelves, the office snug and the hand written sign atop the split-pane shop window.

“The shop traded as a grocery, drapery, butcher and hardware store until the early 1980s - not unlike ‘Ike’s’ village shop in The Waltons,” says Anne-Louise Mitchell of Victor Mitchell and Co, who is now handling the sale.

This almost, museum piece could be utilised for a number of commercial enterprises such as a crèche, hair dressing salon, solicitor, or accountancy office, says Ms Mitchell, and, as the village is expanding, the commercial opportunities have increased.

A new development of 26 houses in the village will see numbers swell, she adds.

The residence hasn’t been occupied for almost as long as the shop and will need some investment, says Ms Mitchell.

Also, a store at the back of the shop is included in the sale.

The house has a sitting room, dining room, kitchen, scullery and four bedrooms.

Both residence and shop are offered for sale at €275,000.

Details: Mitchells 0505 21396.