We are now selling our beautiful bookshop shelving in various sections. Please share to anyone you think might be interested. Details in the link below. Please use DoneDeal messaging for enquiries or email us on crannogbookshop@eircom.net. Thanks. .https://www.donedeal.ie/shopfittings-for-sale/top-quality-bookshop-shelving/14796488

Top Quality Bookshop Shelving for sale in Cavan on DoneDeal

We are selling our beautiful bookshop shelving. Please share to anyone who might be interested. Details in the link below. Please use DoneDeal messaging for enquiries.

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Thank you everyone.

Photos from Crannog Bookshop's post

If you are in Cavan today pop in for a cuppa and a biscuit. Last day today!

Cavan County Library Service

Pom Pom bear has happily moved to his new home in Cavan Library today and looks forward to meeting all his Storytime friends there. Make sure to ask for him by name when you are next in our wonderful library! With #CavanCountyLibrary

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For our last few days there is 50% off all remaining stock. Closing this Saturday.

Photos from Crannog Bookshop's post

Mixed feelings ahead of our last Storytime at Crannóg this morning! However, Pom Pom bear cheered us up with his news that he will be moving to live in #CavanLibrary and looks forward to meeting all his Crannóg friends there. A big thank you to all the boys and girls for making our Storytimes extra special and lots of fun. With Cavan County Library Service

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Thank you Kevin Patrick Poetry @scriobh2016 for your poem posted on Twitter

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Pom Pom Bear would like to invite all his friends to the last 'Storytime at Crannóg' party this Saturday, February 11th, from 11.30am until 12noon. Pom Pom is looking forward to seeing you all before he moves to his new home. All young children welcome!

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SALE - now 30% off all remaining stock!

Photos from Crannog Bookshop's post

Some thoughts on closing a bookshop .... The Undoing And now the undoing begins. The process of unravelling 20 years of a way of working, a way of living, a way of being, has begun. In a few weeks, all will be undone, all will be stripped away to the empty shell that we started out with. All that will remain are memories – of all those who worked there over the years and of the thousands of customers who came in through our door since 2nd December 1996. On the 4th January we announced (via social media of course) that the Crannóg Bookshop will be closing its doors for the final time on 18th February. Why are we closing? The simple answer is that it is no longer viable for a variety of reasons that have as much to do with the changing nature of retail, of what it means to be part of a community and how we socialise and interact, as it has to do with commerce or business. Shops close every day of the week, businesses come and go. What’s so special about a bookshop, what’s so special about this particular bookshop? Does it really matter that another bookshop is closing? Yes, books and reading are important, most people would agree with that, but it’s not that there will be no more books. Tens of thousands are still being published every month, they can be bought online or in other non-traditional outlets - and often cheaper than in specialist high street bricks-and-mortar stores. And of course, there is the ease of e-books and all the benefits that entails. I’m not immune to online shopping and the ease and convenience of click and collect or click and have delivered. I have read books and newspapers electronically and have listened to audio books on my ipad. To be honest I’m not sure that the closing of a physical bookshop on a high street is such a seismic event that is sometimes seen as symptomatic of all that is wrong about the changing nature of retail. And I’m not really sure that the closing of our particular bookshop is all that important in the grand scheme of things despite the fact many people have said that it will be hugely missed and that it will be a major loss to the social fabric of the town. Maybe that is how it feels at the moment and that, if not in a few short months, within a few years we will be remembered by some, but mostly forgotten. Life goes on. But what matters more is the impact beyond the physical selling of books. The void that is left by something, anything, that has been present in a town for twenty years can be keenly felt by many, often in a way that others, including those working in the shop every day, have little appreciation of. I still don’t know that the closing of this ‘haven’, ‘refuge’, ‘oasis’, ‘home from home’ (as variably referred to in the many Facebook comments) really does matter. All I know is that there are many things that will disappear – things that we ourselves took for granted, forgetting that even simple everyday tasks we carried out and the causal greeting or chat about books or the state of the universe, can mean something important to others. Some other business or venture may take up the mantle over time, but until they do the void left behind will be keenly felt by many. Without claiming to be at the vanguard of some forthcoming cultural revolution in Cavan it is worth putting the 20 years in context. When we first opened the doors, it was not possible to buy an expresso or a cappuccino in the town, the library was a warren of rooms in an old townhouse on Farnham Street, the Town Hall hosted plays and the Drama Festival but shared its space with bingo nights and the Town Council, there was no cinema and the only museum was run privately and housed in a former pig house. Now Cavan boasts a fabulous, purpose built library, an excellent theatre in Virginia, an award winning museum in Ballyjamesduff, a five screen cinema and the Town Hall is now a dedicated arts space. There is a very vibrant arts, theatre, music and cultural vibe in Cavan of which the town and county is rightly proud. And undoubtedly, ‘The Crannóg’, as the shop is referred to by young and old alike, played its part in the development and promotion of literature and the arts in general. Over the years, we became, as much as a private business can, an important cultural hub within the town often working in collaboration with other cultural outlets such as the library, the museum, the Arts Office and various drama groups and festivals, in planning and hosting events. We had book launches, readings and book signings by authors and celebrities such as Nuala O’Faolain, Dervla Murphy, Francis Brennan, Eamon Dunphy, Michael Harding, Dermot Healy, Tom Mac Intyre, Charlie Bird, John Giles, David McWilliams, Dave Rudden, Siobhan Parkinson, Neven Maguire, Katie Taylor, Jimmy Magee, Mary O’Rourke, Micky Harte, Michael O’Muircheartaigh and many, many more. We had poetry readings and music. We hosted talks on: remarkable trees; stone walls and buildings; learning a language in three months; gluten free cooking; Joey Dunlop; Phil Lynott; trips to the Antarctic; Cavan history; 1916; and an eclectic variety of other topics. We had theatrical performances and art installations (we even had a small art gallery for a while), storytelling mornings, art workshops and magic shows for children. And of course the midnight Harry Potter launches. I recall a Ford Anglia parked outside the door (‘That’s not the real one’ complained one young customer, ‘it’s the wrong colour’!), sorting hats, broomsticks, a magic wand and lots of dry ice. And was there really a live unicorn one year? But all these events would mean little without the customers who came in every day. They themselves very often provided a sense of theatre that will resonate with us long after we have forgotten who won the Booker Prize or Orange Prize a few years ago. Customers reading or reciting poetry on the spot, spontaneously breaking into song, or solemnly offering to pray for us, aloud, as we worked at the counter! As anyone who works in a bookshop will attest, the presence of books attracts all walks of life – and we were no different. But, though they might have tested our patience at times, all provided a level of fun and entertainment - if sometimes only in retrospect. We heard stories that were hilarious and heart-breaking and stories that were indeed stranger than fiction. We had customers who complained about some of the books we stocked which they deemed blasphemous, anti-church or even promoting black magic (the latter was the Harry Potter books!). We had customers who talked loudly to themselves and customers who quietly sat reading and choosing. And we had many for whom the shop was a quiet space to spend a few minutes or even hours where they could forget about the world outside for a short time and allow their imaginations roam across time, continents, and a variety of real and imaginary worlds. But maybe most importantly we provided a route and access to books before online became a viable alternative. Although we were proud of the wide range of books we stocked, the variety of books that we were asked to order, very often educated, enlightened, entertained and on a few occasions even embarrassed us. Believe me, there are books on every topic imaginable, and some! But now, for many, when they know what they want it is often easier and more convenient to go online. But online algorithms still struggle to find books for the person who ‘reads everything’ or ‘doesn’t read at all’ or to identify the ‘book with the mouse on the cover which was on TV yesterday – or was it on the radio?’ and there is nothing like meeting a favourite author in person, particularly for children. Everything has it’s time. Like many other important local cultural outlets such as Cavan’s Café Music Sessions, and The Flat Lake Festival a few miles across the border in Monaghan, The Crannóg Bookshop’s time has come to an end. No more events are planned, no more books are being ordered, the shelves are emptying and we are increasingly saying no to customers more often than we are comfortable with. Everything we prided ourselves on: a wide and varied stock range; great customer service; a relaxed, comfortable environment; are being eroded as we frantically try to get everything sorted while still taking time to chat to those who call to say goodbye, recall memories and tell us in such a heartfelt way that they will miss us and the place itself. Towns originally developed as places to trade and barter and from that starting point all manner of other services and functions came into being. Over time, towns became central not just to the exchange of goods but also to how we communicate and relate to each other. Now as our retail environment goes through a metamorphosis it is crucial that town planners, government officials and other decision makers acknowledge and understand this change and take steps to protect and cultivate the townscape as a space, if not so much for trade, then as a community hub where people can meet, entertain, exchange ideas and generally engage with each other in a manner suitable with our changing world. But this requires vision, planning, commitment, and most importantly imagination. Over to you.