The following piece was written by Ciara Boyle due to the news that the Fish Shop in Killybegs is to close down - but this is more than a story about one shop in one town - the heartfelt tone of this echos the feelings in every coastal town and every rural area in Ireland as we slowly see traditional way life as we know it coming to an end
***************************************
The Shop on the Corner
Atop the street there sits a shop
It’s been for too few years
Just at the turn a place to stop
For fish fresh from the pier.
The shop it has a beating heart
It’s run the whole week long
By a gentle man who each morn starts
With a cheery smile and playful song.
For those who do not know him
Yous are surely missing out
For the man brings life back to the shop
He’s healed it, there’s no doubt.
For before the man there was another
Who sold not fish but meat
That had the corner shop for years
And livened up the street.
A street that lost the spirit
That it had some time ago
When Killybegs was a booming town
Before work had gotten slow.
Where boats they landed all year round
With fish and fish go leor
So ordinary men and women could work
In a town they can no more.
I’ve heard the stories of such a place
That thrived and brewed such fun
Where young could stay and work the space
And join the old when jobs were done.
Of course it’s not for everyone,
Sure plenty went away
But loneliness was not as strong
When young could choose to stay.
But now our men can catch no fish
And so the town downturns
But the folk in Dublin don’t seem to care
If rural Ireland burns.
And now the shop is set to close
For fish is scarce and dear
And all year long you’d hardly see
A soul upon the pier.
And young ones now must go away
And live at home no more
And we’ll watch the Fish Shop we longed to have
Too soon will close it’s door.
Thank you to those two men who waved
And smiled while we did pass
Let’s hope some day the town we’ll save
And the Fish Stop will be back