My Greystones: Susie Kenny

Whenever we pop by Susie Kenny in her quirky Paraphernalia shop on La Touche Place, we always find ourselves getting lost in all the magic and, well, juicy gossip.

Not only have you stepped into a shop straight out of Alice In Wonderland, but you have in Ms Kenny someone who clearly loves living in Greystones.

Indeed, Susie’s love of conversation, and people, and her heady mix of anecdotes, local stories and, yep, the occasional slice of juicy gossip, may go some way to explaining why it took Ms Kenny close to four months to answer five simple questions about her hometown. And when the answers did finally arrive, it was photographs of her handwriting with a large market. The technology of typing her answers into a computer had let Susie down – so, she relied on the technology of photographing and then emailing her questions in.

It’s just the kind of wonderful kookiness you’d expect from Susie Kenny, from the unorthodox and colourful presentation of her answers to the unorthodox and colourful answers themselves. “I don’t want to repeat what everyone else tends to say, again and again,” Susie explained to us whenever we dared query just how soon we might have her elusive My Greystones answers. “The sea and all that, they’re beautiful, but, I’m determined to come up with something new. That’s what’s taking so long.”

So, Susie isn’t been ditzy here, folks. She’s being deep.

All part of the charm, you understand. And very much in keeping with the kind of shop Susie reigns over. You never know what you’re going to get with Paraphernalia, but you can be pretty sure it’ll be wacky, and beautiful, and it’ll really pull a room together.

Just like Susie Kenny…