Located in a former Quaker workshop in the village of Letterfrack, on the edge of Connemara National Park, Books At One Letterfrack is part of a growing network of local community-based bookshops supported by The One Foundation - a private philanthropic trust that was founded in 2004 by Dr Dec Ryan and is commitmed to building a vibrant, welcoming society grounded in justice and equality.
The workshop was built in 1850 and still in use as a forge when the Christian Brothers operated the Letterfrack Industrial School in those buildings, until 1973. The former discredited Industrial School has since been transformed into a vibrant community-owned space which now houses the highly regarded GMIT Furniture College and numerous community organisations.
The space is shared with specialist publishing company Artisan House, which husband and wife team, Vincent Murphy and Mary Ruddy, have run since 2013 and whose many inspiring titles include Michael Viney's Natural World, Walter Pfeiffer's evocative photographic collections on Connemara and surrounding areas, Michael O'Meara's Sea Gastronomy and Connemara native Máirín Uí Chomáin's cookery books celebrating the region's most famous produce - oysters, salmon, mussels...
There is a special atmosphere in a bookshop where people are also deeply involved with the vision and practicalities of publishing, and having the bookshop on site gives Vincent and Mary the opportunity to see their books, and those of other publishers, in the hands of appreciative readers.
And, giving those appreciate readers every opportunity to linger in the comfortable seating areas dotted around the charming little shop and back garden, they offer a small but irresistible range of refreshments including delicious home-baked cakes and biscuits, very good coffee, teas and wine.
What better place to while away a few hours in Connemara - and, of course, to pick out some cards from their unusual ranges, along with one or two titles to read later, or to take home as gifts...
