O’Mahony’s Bookshop

120 O’Connell St, LimerickGoogle Maps

Established in 1902, O’Mahony’s is a family-run bookshop that has been trading books for 120 years.
The founder, J.P. O’Mahony, was good friends with Allen Lane of Penguin books, and was the first person in Ireland to buy paperbacks from him after the war.
Censorship was prevalent in Ireland until the 1970s. Later, as book covers and contents became bolder, the staff at O’Mahony’s would often find books turned face-in on the shelves.
The exterior and interior of the building has been modernised, renovated and expanded numerous times over the years, notably winning an RIAI Architectural Award in 1997 for work done by architect Eamon Matthews.
O’Mahony’s was one of 26 listed venues for the 22nd edition of EVA in 1998, titled Cirucuszz and curated by Paul M. O’Reilly (b. 1934, USA).
The 1998 edition of EVA was the most expansive edition in its history in terms of the number of venues and artists.
Artist Jonathan Horowitz (b. 1966, USA) presented Interracial Buddies, a five-part video series that was also exhibited across the River House and Michael Healy Architects venues.