Couple’s love of collectibles becomes antique load show

A husband and wife team who turned their home into a makeshift antique shop in Trim have opened a unit in the heritage town and can count a member of the famous Kennedy family as one of their customers.

Bernie and Lawrence Eivers are celebrating almost one year in business in ‘Bernie’s Treasures Just For You’, an Aladdin’s cave brimming with antiques, vintage, upcycled, and restored treasures. The couple even opened their home up to the public as a way of turning their passion into a living.

“We opened the front of our house to the public six days a week as an antique shop,” says Lawrence, adding: “There was a local crafter stand in the upstairs of our house. when I look back it was crazy but we loved it.”

When a shop unit became available to let in Trim, Bernie and Lawrence saw the opportunity to take their business to the next level. As well as stocking their own carefully curated pieces they also support local artists.

Laurence with a famine soup pot 

“We have sublet shelf and wall space for artists and crafters so they have a platform to display their items. We are currently running a street art competition where we pick an artist every month who can showcase their work outside the shop.

Each item has a personality of its own with decades of history behind it and finding particular pieces can even arouse nostalgia says Lawrence,

“A lot of people come in and find something that is like a memory from their childhood, maybe their granny had the same thing or it was in a house that they liked. Anyone can go out and buy a piece of furniture, to have that story with that piece is what makes it much more special.”

Period pieces have been created from solid material, by craftspeople some of whose skills are now confined to the annals of history. These items are non-disposable and come with something money can’t buy - a past and a provenance.

 

The antique expert with a vintage pram 

“They built things years ago to really stand the test of time. Nowadays we have this throwaway culture. When our parents and grandparents were growing up, you had your table and your sideboard and it was cherished forever.”

Lawrence says never knowing what you are going to find what makes exploring antiques and curios stores so special.

“We currently have a famine pot which has gotten great interest. It’s a huge pot and people would donate what they had. If someone had carrots and another person had something else the whole village would get together and they could sustain themselves for a while.

The Trim treasure trove had a very special guest recently in the form of Courtney Kennedy Hill daughter of the late Bobby Kennedy who was in the town for the official opening of Dear Dot, an exhibition on the life and times of Dot Tubridy, a close family friend of the famous political family.

Customer Tracey Hopkins browsing the many weird and wonderful items

“We presented her with two pieces of art from the local artists in our shop. She also fell in love with two bookends that she had never seen before and we gifted them to her. She mentioned our shop in her speech.

“On the day of the exhibition, Bernie’s dad John Hopkins presented Courtney Kennedy with a poem he wrote called Dad. It was read by Ryan Tubridy. He lost his own father a few years ago and obviously Courtney Kennedy lost her dad at a young age.”

An antique tells a far more interesting story than any mass-produced item could ever dream up and many people are starting to appreciate this idea according to Lawrence.

“Vintage furniture and household items that are built to last are no longer put in a hutch and untouched, people are actually using them.”

The husband and wife team are currently looking for artists and crafters to get involved, for further information find Bernies Treasures Just For You on Facebook or call 087 - 2994949