A visit to The Crescent was a daily ritual for students at a Tipperary secondary school
Tipperary Museum of Hidden History - CBS High School Clonmel
An exhibition charting the story of the CBS High School Clonmel was held at the Tipperary Museum of Hidden History in Clonmel.
This year the High School is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the foundation of the school. The following article was included in the exhibition.
The escape to the shop has always been a daily ritual for High School pupils with present-day students still availing of The Crescent for the break and opportunity to chat with friends.
Over the years High School boys have relied on shops other than The Crescent. Students have fond memories of Drohans across the road from the school.
The shop had a stone floor and Nelly Drohan would sell students a single cigarette and one match at a time.
There was also Darrigans shop during the 50s on the corner of King Street and Dillon Street and on the same side of the road as the High School there was a shop run by Mrs Fox that was located between the original High School and the Brother’s house, which is now part of the grounds of the school itself.
Pykes shop was located where the green amenity space is now opposite the school.
The Crescent was built on the site of Mrs Coffey’s farmhouse which was demolished in the late 40s and early 50s.
Kitty O’Keeffe bought the site and built a shop in 1954/55 and called it The Crescent, a name suggested to her by Fr Meehan because of the unusual shape of the building.
Her nephew, Frank, and his wife Shelia bought the shop in 1986 and they ran the business up until December 2014.
Keith Matthews took on the business at that point and The Crescent name is still proudly displayed on the facade of the shop.
“The shop was known as just ‘Kitty’s for generations.
Back in those days there was a passbook and people would come in and get milk butter and sugar and every week people would come in and pay it off,” said Frank O’Keeffe.