Dublin shop closes after 57 years: ‘It got a makeover in 1972 and hasn’t been touched since’

Fergus O’Brien says he has been “astonished by the reaction” to the recent closure of his trophy, snooker and darts shop on Capel Street in Dublin after almost 60 years.“I still have people knocking on the door and telling me: ‘Well done,’” says O’Brien as he takes a break from packing up the remaining stock and personal artefacts in Brenfer Bullseye.Many of them relate to his son Fergal, the professional snooker player. “I had a lovely card from a woman in Meath who said I’d be a loss to the street,” he said.READ MOREFuture tourists wandering that corner of the city will certainly miss out. The shop was something of a time capsule with its wall-to-wall glass-fronted wooden cabinets.The shop’s name, Brenfer, comes from the partnership O’Brien formed with Brendan Whelan when they opened it in 1969.“It got a makeover in 1972 and hasn’t been touched since,” he says with a laugh. “There would be a steady stream of visitors in to have a look. I’d tell them it’s like the Guinness hop store, except that was manufactured and this is real.”O’Brien started out in 1966, aged 19, carrying out repairs on watches for Whelan, who had a jewellery shop across the river on Clanbrassil Street.Fergus O’Brien moved from jewellery into selling and engraving trophies. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times “Between then and 1969 when we opened here, I married the lovely, lovely Joan,” he says. “We had two great children, Lisa and Fergal, and we have four lovely grandchildren.”Whelan emigrated to Australia with his family in 1986. Joan worked alongside O’Brien for many years, while he describes his daughter Lisa as his “rock” in the business during her time there. Though the business continued to do a good trade, some of it online, he says “there was always going to be a right time to close and this is that time”. “There would have been 10 of us here at one stage, taking into account the sales staff and those involved in the watch and jewellery repairs,” he says.“But like all of that, it changed like over the years. People now don’t place the same sentimental value on a watch or something they got for their 21st birthday.”[ After 53 years on Talbot Street, Dublin city’s last wallpaper shop prepares to closeOpens in new window ]Selling and engraving trophies was a natural enough evolution from jewellery, he says.The snooker side of the business grew from his own interest in the sport, while the darts trade came from the closure of a neighbouring specialist shop.“After he closed, we’d have people coming in and so we started dabbling in it and ended up with the biggest selection in Ireland,” he says.It was always work, he says, but it kept him busy and enjoyed it. O’Brien sounds philosophical about time moving on and the changes on a street that had two-way traffic and a very different mix of shops when Brenfer first opened its doors. Fergus O’Brien (80) cycled from Howth Junction to his shop in Capel Street every working day. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times Still, he is a little overcome with emotion as he contemplates finishing the clear out and moving on for good.He has other plans, he says. “I’m still young,” says the 80-year-old, “and I like cycling.”His bicycle is propped up against the wall across the room.“I’ve cycled in from Howth Junction every day for 55 years,” he says.[ ‘End of an era’: Dublin Castle cafe owner harbours no bad feelings over closureOpens in new window ]“Sometimes down the seafront there would be a breeze that would stop a tank, but you would look up at the sun coming over Howth Head or across at the Dublin mountains and it would be gorgeous. And the thing was you’d always arrive in fresh and alert.“So I’ll be doing that, and walking and gardening ... and having holidays with Joan and the family.”“But locking the door behind me for that last time,” he says, before pausing and adding: “That’s going to be difficult.”