Limerick shop owner looks forward to watching his beloved Garryowen when business closes

THE CO-OWNER of JC Daly’s hardware shop, closing after almost 70 years, says he’s looking forward to enjoying more rugby matches on a Saturday.

Tony Daly, who, alongside his brother Roger runs the DIY shop on William Street, says that due to the nature of retail, he’s never been able to get time off over the weekend.

“I am looking forward to going and seeing my favourite Garryowen club playing rugby. I’ve never been able to go to a Saturday game. I’ll go to some Munster games. And I’ve never been in the new Lansdowne Road. So maybe I’ll go up there,” said Tony, who began working full time at JC Daly’s in the 1980s.

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Since Limerick Live revealed the store is to close, Tony says the family have been contacted from as far afield as Barcelona with people expressing their good wishes.

“It’s wonderful, it really is. We come in here and do our day’s work. We feel small in our way. But it doesn’t feel like that any more! You think you’re just doing your thing day in, day out. Then you realise - Woah, there is a spread here,” he smiled.

Tony would love to see more life on William Street.

He recalled when he started, the street was full.

“Everybody knew everybody. All strata of society lived on the street. There was a house owned privately. A grand house, with a professional couple and family living there. Then, two or three doors up, you would have a house sub-divided into five or six different units. Everyone lived together - it was harmonious. It’s the way society should be run,” said the businessman.

There is no closure date for JC Daly’s Hardware - it will be when the stock in the retirement sale runs down.

It will be the people of Limerick that Tony and Roger will miss the most.

“Limerick people are great. They are so natural and down-to-earth. No airs and graces,” Tony said, adding while the shop’s closure is on their terms, it is tinged with sadness.