The latest incarnation of a 131-year-old Mullingar institution returned this week, with the re-opening of Days Bazaar on Oliver Plunkett Street.
Businessman Adrian Murphy, who took over from Jim O’Donnell four years ago and had been running an art gallery on the first floor, has decided to expand the book store here to compensate for the loss of floor space after the successful opening of the Chocolate Brown coffee shop on the premises earlier this year. The rest of the ground floor will see an expansion in the magazine, cards, and stationery section. The first floor will see the installation of an increased children’s section and a new‘body and spirit’ section, and when fully stocked the premises will have more than 100,000 titles on its shelves. “We can order any title in the world if it’s still in print,” said Mr Murphy, who expects to add two more jobs to his workforce.
According to Adrian, the premises was originally opened by Charles Day in 1881, a date he has incorporated in the store’s mast head, only to have it contradicted by local historian Ruth Illingworth who informed him the premises is actually two years older, and started trading in 1879.
Adrian, who is originally from Tyrone, is married to Ballagh, Mullingar native Deidre Killian, and they live in Castletown Geoghegan. His sister-in-law, Joanne, is proprietor of the Pit Stop cafe on Dominick Street.
