{"id":591359,"date":"2026-08-12T22:06:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T22:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/591359\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T22:06:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T22:06:22","slug":"cork-bookshop-owner-theres-nothing-worse-than-a-shop-not-packed-with-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/591359\/","title":{"rendered":"Cork bookshop owner: \u2018There\u2019s nothing worse than a shop not packed with books\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the little mall beside the town square in Macroom, there is a gem of a book store that is an Aladdin\u2019s cave of intrigue.<\/p>\n

First editions line the walls of Cooney’s Bookshop, alongside signed memorabilia from famous authors.<\/p>\n

For 45 years, Jim Cooney has been running the shop.<\/p>\n

Even when he was a full-time teacher at De La Salle college in Macroom, he kept the shop open two days per week and that has remained the same ever since.<\/p>\n

The number of books in Jim\u2019s collection comes to an astounding 35,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can easily forget where my car is, but I know everything about my books!\u201d he jokes.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe book shop in the mall in Macroom, run by former teacher Jim Cooney<\/p>\n

Jim has two rooms in the mall that hold a variety of literary zones – a children\u2019s section; Irish books; books on Cork city and county; Irish language books; non-fiction; biographies; autobiographies; history; sport; art and photography; religious; Shakespeare collections and many coveted collectors\u2019 items. He also has an area for CDs and LPs.<\/p>\n

At one stage, Jim also had 330 banana boxes full of books, as his collection was ever-growing.<\/p>\n

So, where does this love of books come from?<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since I was a child growing up in Kilnamartyra, I loved reading,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAs an only child, I spent a lot of time with my books. I collected and traded comics with school friends.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cI started selling the World Books door to door in the 1980s and made enough money to start my own collection and open the shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to a book auction in Bandon and bought two car-loads. I started upstairs in the mall when the landlord let me use a room for free for a while.<\/p>\n

\u201cI then spent 20 years above a shop in Middle Square and came back here to the mall 22 years ago. It took three weeks to draw all the books down here!\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim went to auctions all over the country to stock his shelves, but back then it was hard to acquire good books as people weren\u2019t parting with them. Over the years, that changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people have a minimalistic approach to their homes now, and when a person dies, they are happy to get rid of collections and libraries and that\u2019s where I get most of my stock now, from house clearances,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Where do you hear about these house clearances?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s by word of mouth,\u201d says Jim. \u201cI give a good price for the books and the word is spread that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the shop is overstocked, Jim adds, \u201cbut for me there is nothing worse than a book shop that isn\u2019t packed with books.<\/p>\n

\u201cReaders love to browse, there something for everyone, and half of the pleasure lies in finding it.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople always come back because there is always another book to be discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, what are the more popular books that he stocks?<\/p>\n

\u201cIrish history and local history, out of print history, and early books on subjects like golf techniques and golf clubs and books about fishing flies,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re very popular and in demand.<\/p>\n

\"JimJim Cooney with one of his rare books in his bookshop in Macroom<\/p>\n

Among Jim\u2019s extraordinary collection, I spotted signed copies from authors like Edna O\u2019Brien, John B Keane, Jennifer Johnston, Brian Noble, William Trevor, and Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Faol\u00e1in.<\/p>\n

Jim says a little-known fact is that Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Faol\u00e1in and his wife Eileen\u2019s ashes were scattered in nearby Gougane Barra.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was young and brave in 1976,\u201d Jim says, \u201cso one day in Dublin I rang Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Faol\u00e1in\u2019s house and didn\u2019t he answer and was happy to have me call out and have books signed! He was a very nice man.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe asked me how the old Macroom Castle was, which was a reference to him being with the anti-treaty republicans who burnt the castle before going west to Ballingeary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim must have grown attached to many of his books down the years. Is it hard for him to downsize his collection?<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn some ways, yes, there are books that I will find it hard to part with, mostly hardback non-fiction, but I have too many and need to be ruthless with myself.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cSome books have gone past their sell by date, books on travel or gardening for example as people use Google for quick answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among Jim\u2019s hugely impressive collection are pieces that are kept in a secure location as they are worth quite a lot, including a signed presentation copy of a book by Ben Hogan from 1957 on the modern fundamentals of golf.<\/p>\n

According to some, Ben Hogan would be the greatest golfer or all time.<\/p>\n

Another treasure that Jim holds dear is American Big Game Fishing by Mrs Oliver C Grinnell, and others, which includes a chapter written by Ernest Hemingway and hand-drawn illustrations.<\/p>\n

Written in 1935, there were only 56 deluxe copies made so this is quiet the treasure.<\/p>\n

Is the number of readers dropping, in Jim\u2019s opinion?<\/p>\n

\u201cReading was always a minority hobby,\u201d he says, \u201cand many people don\u2019t read as much as it eats into their time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what would be lovely to see would be people going back to reading to their children. Bedtime stories and sitting on the knee for a tale.<\/p>\n

\u201cReading encourages children to use their imaginations. Encouraging teenagers to read good non-fiction would be good to see too.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is his own favourite book to read?<\/p>\n

\u201c Animal Farm,\u201d Jim replies, \u201cit\u2019s the best social commentary for every era.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooney\u2019s Bookshop is open on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10.30am to 1pm and from 2pm to 6pm. He lives nearby and is happy to meet by appointment.<\/p>\n

Contact him on 087 9621342 or email cooneysbooks@gmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the little mall beside the town square in Macroom, there is a gem of a book store…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[288,72,61,60],"class_list":["post-591359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-books","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}