NOT all that long ago, when Lord Nelson worshipped in the church in Hanover Square, the building on the corner of Bond Street and Bruton Street, now 150, New Bond Street, was the high class business of a purveyor of fish to the aristocracy and minor gentry of Hay Hill, Berkeley Square, Farm Street and Mayfair.
At the rear of this piscatorial emporium, in the mews, were the stables for the smart horses and wagons of the fishmonger. Alas! as the aristocracy and minor gentry never paid their bills, the fruits of the sea ceased to be sold in Bond Street as the fishmonger went out of business.
The site today, owned by the Prudential, is now Ireland House, one of the most expensive properties rented by Irish State sponsored bodies outside of Ireland. What was formally a run-of-the-mill Irish shop has now been taken over by the Kilkenny Shop.
The Kilkenny Shop in London, together with the Kilkenny Shop in Dublin and the Design Consultancy and Shop in Kilkenny are part of Kilkenny Design.
Kilkenny Design, established in 1963, is the national design authority of Ireland which promotes top design in industry and among consumers.
The new chop has been designed on the lines of a Georgian Irish country house. It has been designed by one of Ireland's leading architects, Sam Stephenson.
The Kilkenny design label is now on a varietyof goods on sale in the shop for the first time in London, including Irish linens and wools, tweeds, leathers, glass, gold, silver and Waterford crystal, and designer clothes by established names such as Paul Costello.