The vibes are good as Joan’s shopfront gets the stamp of approval from An Post
A MACROOM born businesswoman has spoken of her delight after her shop was chosen by An Post as one of four shop fronts nationwide to be included on a new series of stamps to celebrate the great tradition of craftsmanship in Irish cities and towns.
Joan Lucey, originally from Sandy Hill in Macroom, first opened her bookshop, Vibes & Scribes, in South Square in Macroom in 1991 but she later moved the business to Bridge Street in Cork city, which was chosen as one of the four shop fronts to feature in the new range of stamps from An Post.
“It’s a great honour to be selected by An Post and it’s a tribute to our staff who do such a fine job in creating a such a vibrant window display with the craft materials and wools and other fabrics that we sell in the shop,” Ms Lucey told The Corkman.
Ms Lucey orginally opened Vibes & Scribes as a bookshop selling new and bargain books on Bridge Street but she converted the premises to a crafting supplies shop four years ago after moving her book business to a new premises located on Lavitt’s Quay also in Cork city centre.
The red brick four storey building on Bridge Street dates from around 1880, built some 20 years after the foundation stone was laid for the new St Patrick’s Bridge, and is part of Cork’s Victorian Quarter, which centres on Bridge Street and Mac Curtain Street, she revealed.
“It’s a fantastic building – it had been occupied by Burwood car accessories until the mid-1980s before I took it over and it boasts a wonderful handcrafted spiral staircase which was made in Cork and I’m just thrilled that An Post saw fit to include us in their new series of stamps,” she said.
According to An Post, shop fronts are an important element of Irish architectural history and the service commissioned designer Ger Garland to create four new photography based stamps which celebrate Ireland’s rich shop front heritage
“Irish shop fronts often feature classical design elements such as hand carved corbels, columns and cornicing, hand painted signage and carved block letters, etched glass and ornate exterior tiling - they are living legacy to the skilled tradesmen who created them,” said An Post.
According to An Post, Vibes & Scribes is notable for “the carved limestone arcade to the ground floor which was clearly executed by skilled craftsmen” and which has been well maintained over the decades and continues to provide a striking shop frontage for the business.
Vibes & Scribes was one of two Cork shop fronts to feature in the series of stamps with Clerke’s of Skibbereen, a small family-run traditional grocer shop dating back to 1959, also featuring along with The Winding Stair bookshop in Dublin and Thomas Moran’s Hardware Store in Westport, Co Mayo.