200 year-old Dublin music shop announces closure

After 200 years of business in Dublin, the popular music shop McCullought Pigott will officially close its doors.

From guitars to drums and harps, generations of musicians and music enthusiasts bought their instruments and sheets from the store. It first opened on Grafton Street in 1823 and remained there until 1967, when it was destroyed by a devastating fire.

The shop was founded by Dennis McCullough who worked as a piano tuner and luthier in Belfast before moving towards the south of Ireland to continue his business affairs. During the Easter Rising, McCullough was sidelined by Patrick Pearse and Tom Clarke.

After the Grafton Street fire, Pigott merged with McCullough's. However, in 1993, the company went into voluntary liquidation and was purchased by publisher Hal Leonard. In 2008, the premises on Suffolk Street were sold, forcing the shop to relocate to South William Street.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by McCullough Pigott Dublin (@mcculloughpigottdublin)

Hal Leonard has prohibited staff from speaking to the media about the shop's closure. In a statement posted on Instagram McCullough Pigott said:

"It is with deep regret that we inform you, on Monday 20th February, Musicroom/Hal Leonard Europe announced their plans to restructure their Musicroom consumer business in the UK and Ireland."

"This involves the closure of seven Musicroom retail stores, including Musicroom @ McCullough Pigott Dublin. Please bear with us and we will post further updates when available. But for now, it's business as usual. We would like to thank all of our loyal customers for your business and we look forward to welcoming you over the coming weeks."

Meanwhile, Hal Leonard stated that it was moving its sheet music business to an e-commerce platform.

UK and Germany managing director Tom Venvell further said: "Sales and profitability have been impacted by challenging market conditions. With costs continuing to rise, we need to make these changes."

Numerous beloved music stores have had to stop trading in recent years. The closure of the McCullough Pigott music shop follows the closures of Waltons in 2018 and Charles Byrne in 2021, though Waltons maintains a store in Blanchardstown.

Since it's only known that the McCullough Pigott sheet music shop is about to close, it is unknown whether the attached instrument store will remain open. The possibility is very high since it is a joint venture with Joe Lynch.

To save the Dublin shop, music teacher Aideen Cooney of the Cooney School of Music in Lucan has launched a petition. Over the years, many teachers, including herself, purchased instruments and sheets from the store.

The teacher stated: "While online and digital music is a good resource to have, it is vital that students still have a physical outlet to purchase their music. There is nothing like the feel of a good book and for every book they go into buy, they will probably leave with two or three others and maybe a nice mug or new pencil or even a new case for their music."

"McCullough Piggott's needs to be saved so that it can continue to provide music books and instruments to students in Dublin and far beyond."

https://t.co/M5kkTiTf7s

Please sign the petition to save the closure of #McCulloughPiggott music shop. The last remaining music store in Dublin for sheet music celebrating 200 years in business. Their backers are pulling out. We cannot let this happen. Click the link above!!!! pic.twitter.com/jOtNhSCnKu

— CooneySchoolOfMusicLucan (@CooneyMus) February 24, 2023