Longtime St. Paul gift store Irish on Grand to close this spring

Irish on Grand, a destination for Minnesota shoppers in need of Irish gifts or sausages, will close at the end of March, its owners announced on Wednesday.

Maeve O’Mara and Liam O’Neill took ownership of the quaint shop in 2003, but it was founded under different owners in 1990. O’Mara and O’Neill are originally from Cork, Ireland. Now entering their late 60s, they said it felt like the right time to retire, giving them more time for travel and to be with family.

“It’s mixed feelings; of course we’re sad to be closing, but there’s a lot of things with the freedom this allows us,” O’Neill said in an interview.

For 30 years the shop has sold a variety of Irish goods including pottery, music CDs, food, clothing and more. In particular, O’Neill said, he thinks shoppers will miss the Irish and British foods they sold, including Irish-style sausages flown in from Chicago.

While the store at 1124 Grand Av. will close on March 30, the owners will maintain their annual booth at the Minnesota State Fair and will keep selling from their website.

As they retire, the couple are hoping to take trips to Australia and back to Cork, where they have a second house. O’Neill wrote in the closing announcement that his uncle once told him, “Don’t get old! But if you do, don’t get too old to enjoy life.”

O’Neill said he failed at the first part of that phrase. But he says he wants to take advantage of not being too old to enjoy life by stepping away from running the shop.

He acknowledged he will miss daily interactions with customers, but he hopes to find “new horizons, like interacting with people on a beach in Australia when it’s 20-below in Minnesota.”

“I’m at an age when shoveling sand sounds like a better prospect than shoveling snow,” O’Neill said.