Nothing particularly unusual about this shop sign, you might think though even in Dublin nowadays a store notice entirely in Irish will raise eyebrows.
But when the location of this particular signage is Lenox, Massachusetts — the heart of the Berkshires — it does merit special mention. Translated from the Irish 'Siopa Leabhar - Bealach Isteach', the sign reads 'Book Store - Way In'.
At The Book Store the genial shopkeeper — who is not Irish nor a speaker of An Ghaeilge and blanched when a recent customer addressed him in Irish - says he put the sign up some years back "for a laugh".
And it does get comments every year, especially during the summer season when New Yorkers and Bostonians flood into the idyllic Berkshires.
The good news for visitors who like a libation with their leabhair is that The Book Store also includes the informal, open-all-hours wine bar, Get Lit. NATIVE TONGUE: That unusual sign in the Berkshires up close
Sláinte!
