As you may have seen in the Kinsale Advertiser last week Cronins of Kinsale is undergoing a major construction job at the moment as the time has come to replace the entire floor in Kinsale's oldest and much-loved gift store. While the building has undergone other major repairs over the past 2 decades, getting a new roof and being completely re-wired, the floor has only been repaired sporadically in patches over the past 100 years!
Over 90 tonnes of sub-soil has been removed over the past two weeks and concrete has since been poured to prepare the building for a new wooden floor. While they would have loved to have relaid the old floor once the foundations were completed, this was not possible as only one third of the wood was salvageable. probably partly due to flooding over the years, a problem which was happily rectified with the Kinsale Main Drainage Scheme a number of years ago.
A new wooden floor will be laid but the store will retain its unique character and features that we all love. This work will future proof the building so that upcoming generations of Kinsale people can follow in the footsteps of their predecessors who shopped there.
We wish Mary, Anne and all the team at Cronins of Kinsale the best of luck when they reopen in February.