IT MAY have been close to seven below zero outside, but 70 authors participated in a mass signing in Galway at the weekend to mark seven decades of the Kenny bookshop.
It was during the early stages of the second World War when Des and Maureen Kenny started the business in a room in Galway’s High Street in 1940.
If that date put current events in some perspective, the occasion was, as one participant noted, “a precious respite from chill winds from several quarters”.
Musician Johnny Duhan sang, and fairytale gatherer Eddie Lenihan told a story, while other guests, such as poets Gerry Hanberry, Eva Bourke and Fred Johnston mingled with fellow authors. They included Labour Party president Michael D Higgins, Mary Mullen, historian Peadar O'Dowd and commentator Eamonn Sweeney – whose new paperback, Down Down Deeper and Down on Irelandthe 1970s and 1980s, is a sober reminder of bleak times not so long past.
There was much talk and some work, with gallery director Tom Kenny taking photographs, and ushering the visitors over to autograph a large frame.
Artist and writer John A Blakey displayed the skills of a calligrapher as he personalised copies of his Tale of Lundravar the Dragon– advising younger purchasers, in case they had any lingering doubts about same, that dragons really do exist.
Bookman Des Kenny was in his element. "It's such a singular and often very lonely occupation that it's not often people and writers get to share this type of space," he said. His own work, 101 Irish Books You MUST Read, was published two years ago to mark the 20th anniversary of his international book club. "It was only then that I fully appreciated what writers go through," he said.
Communities were also represented, with Mary Lane Heneghan bearing copies of Razzle Dazzle 2010, the latest publication from the Loughrea Creative Writing Group, edited by former broadcaster Liam Nolan. Weather did prevent some promised participants from travelling – including one of Des Kenny's long time treasures, George Ryan, author of No Time for Work.