Goodbye to Greene’s

Greene’s Bookstore in Dublin closes tomorrow after over 160 years on Clare St in Dublin 2, near to the back of Trinity College, beside the National Gallery. I passed through it this morning and took a few other photos (included after the jump).

Greene’s was one of the first bookshops I visited on a regular basis. As all who have made that journey know, the ‘Wicklow bus’ (technically the Bus Éireann Route 133 service, although I’ve never known anyone to refer to it as that!) stops outside Greene’s, before looping around and down by Westland Row towards Busáras. So coming to Dublin as a teenager – and indeed through my first year as a university student – I stopped by a lot, and even to this day I’d normally take a quick look through the ‘barrows’ of cheap books piled up outside. Greene’s contained a small post office, which was also useful.

The shop itself is odd – a lot of secondhand books and unusual titles, a bit of tourist tat, some schoolbooks, and strong Irish history collections. It’s finally giving up on the real world (online and bulk sales will continue, apparently). However, it is a pity to see another bookshop go – particularly an independent one as well-known as Greene’s.

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