Bandon publicans find €1,000 in arm of charity shop sofa

A BANDON couple got more than they bargained for after finding over €1,000 in a charity shop in Skibbereen.

Evelyn McCarthy said she and her husband Ger of The Kilmichael Bar had been examining a two-seater at Lisheens House when they spotted a wad of money in the armrest. ‘We don’t know how it got there but we are guessing that it must have fallen out of someone’s pocket after trying the chair out for size,’ she told The Southern Star.

‘A woman would have kept her cash in her handbag, so we think it was a man, but we don’t know yet!’

‘We thought it was some poor devil’s money so we reported it straight away,’ she added.

Mick Kearns, who runs Lisheens House, counted it out, put the notes in an envelope, and handed it back to the couple for safe keeping.

‘We then put it in the bank,’ said Evelyn, ‘so it’s there for the owner to collect.’ All they have to do is claim it via Lisheens House. ‘I always believe that if you are honest you will get the luck back,’ said Evelyn, who is hoping for a brighter future post-Covid.

The couple’s business has been closed since March 2020, but they are hoping to be able to open again on July 5th.

‘We are 24 years in the pub business, 19 of which were in Oliver Plunkett Street, so we are really looking forward to welcoming our friends and customers back,’ said Evelyn.

In the end, the couple didn’t buy the black two-seater they saw in Skibbereen.

They opted instead for a beige sofa from the Lisheen store in Clonakilty. But, Evelyn confirmed, ‘there was no money to be found in that!’