The shop, which was founded by the late Kathleen Grant on June 1, 1951, is renowned for its large stock of newspapers, including regional titles from across the country, magazines, cards, sweets and minerables as well as its popular deli counter.
As one of the first Lotto outlets in town, it has sold its fair share of lucky tickets and scratchcards down the years.
Now, the business is closing as Kathleen Dunne has decided to retire, having spent most of her working life behind the counter.
“My mother opened the shop after my father’s death,” she recalled. “She wanted to be able to stay at home, look after her children.”
Katheen and her brother Michael were born in the shop and she jokes that they thought that they’d be carried out of there but that won’t happen now as life has moved on.
“It was a small shop in the front room at first and then we moved out until we were able to buy the property next door and built a beautiful big living area,” says Katheen. “We moved back in 1983 and lived there for twenty years.”
Kathlyn began working in the shop when she was just seventeen years of age.
“I had a good job Clarks Shoes but my mother persuaded me to come and help her in the shop and my brother Michael also worked in it when he came back from England. He retired during the COVID-19 pandemic as the over 70s were told to cocoon and he never showed up again! “ she laughs.
Looking back at her years in the shop, Kathleen says that they got to know all their customers, although as the town’s populatation has grown, that’s not always the case now.
“We’d have a lot of regulars coming in and when new people moved to town, we’d order their local paper for them.
We also stock a lot of specialist magazines and order in any that people wanted.”
She recalls people queuing outside the shop when The Argus came out on a Tuesday evening.
Kathleen Dunne, whose family have run Grants Newsagents for over 75 years
News in 90 seconds – March 19
“We were one of the first to have to Lotto in town and had a lot of big wins. One of our first winners was a lady from the Dublin Road area. She had been out playing bingo and rang my mother around midnight when she’d checked her numbers as she couldn’t believe it. She won something like €280,000 and was able to buy five houses for her children, which just shows what money was worth back then in the early 80s.”
While her son Patrick has worked in the shop, with daughter Irene helping out in the deli more recently, Kathleen says that the family have decided it’s time to close the business as they have other careers.
The family is closely connected with the town’s thriving music scene. Kathleen and her late husband Dessie who had the Clarks’ shoe shop in Dundalk Shopping Centre for many years, were well known singers around town.
Patrick is a well known musician and is musical director of the S.O.N.G music theatre group, while Irene is a voice coach and her other daughter Catherine teaches just around the corner in the Friary school.
“I’m sorry the shop is closing, but that’s just life, things have moved on,” said Kathleen, adding that she intends putting her feet up and enjoying a well-deserved retirement.
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