A Clonakilty favourite has been announced as Faber’s Independent Bookshop of the Month.

Kerr’s Bookshop on Ashe Street has been chosen as the publisher’s featured bookshop for February.

Every month, Faber highlights an independent bookshop in Ireland or the UK to feature on their website, allowing the owners to tell the business’s story in their own words.

Patricia Kerr, the shop’s owner and manager, spoke about the journey of running the store for over 30 years.

‘We’ve lived behind and above the shop while raising our three daughters, celebrating milestones big and small and sharing in the rhythm of town life,’ she said.

Patricia said that it’s the people that make Kerr’s Bookshop so special. ‘One of the great joys of being in Clonakilty for so long is seeing generations come through the door. At Christmas, it’s not unusual to have three generations of the same family choosing books together.’

Kerr’s coffee pot.

When asked about the strangest skill she has gained through bookselling, Patricia answered: ‘Supersleuthing. I’ve lost count of the number of times someone has asked for ‘that book that was in the window before Christmas’, with no author, no title and no plot description. Ninetynine times out of a hundred, I’ll still manage to track it down.’

It’s not the first time the store has been recognised for its achievements. In 2021, Kerr’s won the An Post Bookshop of the Year Award for the region of Munster.

The Kerr family have owned the building at 18 Ashe Street since 1992, however the family’s retail history goes back much further. Patricia often connects with her roots through an antique coffee grinder from her family’s grocery story in the 1900s

‘When I need a little pickmeup, I lift the lid and breathe in – the scent of the coffee is still as rich as the day it was ground.’