End of an era

A beloved part of Virginia’s identity for more than 100 years, Fitzsimons has closed its doors for the last time. There are few residents who do not have a memory tied to the newsagents on Main Street Virginia. A place to meet, 'Going to Gerry’s' was a phrase still used 30 years since the popular shop owner passed away, and his eldest daughter Patricia took over.

“I’ve basically spent all my life here,” Patricia reflects the day before closing. Born in the house, from a very young age she and her two younger siblings Dolores and Bernie were part of the interior. Initially, in a makeshift pen. “Daddy got a delivery of cigarettes in a big box and must’ve thought that will do rightly as a pen for us,” Dolores smiles, marking out the area where “baby Bernie” was looked after in the 1960s while parents Kathleen and Gerry minded customers, selling groceries, delftware, furniture, cards and of course the newspaper.

“In those days there weren’t any big shops in town. People came here and would order a bed and daddy would collect it from the big store in Kells and deliver it to their house.”

Big rolls of linoleum would be hauled out on to the pavement and after Gerry swept it clean, “whoever was around had to stand on the one end so he cut the right size and it wouldn’t roll back up”.

Besides the variety of items only found in local village shops, customers have valued Fitzsimons for the warmth and engagement offered. Like many others on the final days of closing, a grey haired woman walks in to wish the three “good luck”. She has fond memories and has brought memorabilia to show for it: a notebook with the monthly tea order and payments made by her mother Mary Morgan in the 1960s – even though the bill is made out to her husband as head of the household.

“Those were the days,” she remarks laughing. Another customer brought a padded birthday card he bought 50 years ago. “Those were expensive at the time,” Patricia remembers. Since then, Johnny Johnston has added a new line to cherish his wife every year.

The legacy of the newsagents started long before Gerry bought the current premises in 1946 and the pitter-patter from the nursery above was heard through the ceiling of the store. Born on the Ballyjamesduff Road, Patrick Fitzsimons opened a small shop next door to the present store in the 1920s. He sold sweets, cigarettes and newspapers, but also worked as a postman and barber; careers generally associated with having intricate knowledge of the community and lending an ear to people’s thoughts and cares.

Two well-worn chairs in the back of the shop are testament to the long chats and laughter shared over the years. Customers came in and out, electric streetlights were installed, more and more cars were seen on the road, horses and bikes disappeared, recessions hit, Covid came and all the while the bell on the shop door continued tingling.

Whether intentional or not, providing people not only with a service, but also with a place to confide and casually meet up, was always what defined the experience of “going to Gerry’s”.

“They will be sadly missed,” says Rosemary Kelly from O’Donoghue’s Pharmacy across the road. “They are part of the community, part of the family.”

The staff always loved going over for gifts, cards and the chats.

“It is sad to see such an integral part of the community disappear,” says Sinead McArdle, manager of the library. “They made a huge difference to us when we started as a new service in town. They were so supportive of the library.”

As an institution that doesn’t only sell the news, but also shares it, they were invaluable, she explains. Bernie in particular had always shown an interest in collecting photographs of the locals. Together with Dolores over time they gathered information on people’s history and genealogy.

“They are the point of contact if anyone wants to know anything about their ancestors,” said Sinead.

For the opening of the library which marked the 400 year celebration of Virginia, the sisters had prepared posters with 'The Faces of the Past' to be exhibited in the library. It drew great attention from the community. Black and white pictures of a child on a tricycle, a handball tournament in 1930, a soldier in uniform, a smiling bride and groom.

“You can learn so much about people from their photographs. What they did in life, how they socialised,” says Bernie. All the photos have been digitised and she hopes with the support of the Cavan County Museum, these memories will be preserved, because they are treasured by so many. Dolores left Virginia in the early '80s, but she still calls the shop home.

“Very few are left on the main street,” she notes of the changes and economic strains small town shops face.

After 56 years of first working in, and then ultimately running the shop, Patricia has decided to call it a day, even though letting go “is the biggest hurdle for me”. She is aware of the importance of the shop as a small community hub. She doesn’t know where the people who came here daily to pick up a paper and have a chat will meet now – including herself. A sad thought mixed with the uplifting thought of spending more time with her grandchildren.

For now, the store will add to the row of empty shells of store fronts on Virginia Main Street. But she is sure it will “reemerge as something different”.

Time will tell, if it will be as significant a place for people as Fitzsimons Newsagents was for many generations of Virginia residents.