History of the Irish Sea Celtic Shop
The Irish Sea Celtic Shop was started by Bill Leroy as an online store in 2000, and opened as a store front in 2004 as a combination art gallery and Celtic store known as The Leroy Galleries, Inc. On a trip to Ireland in October 2007, Bill decided to concentrate on the Celtic items, and renamed to the Irish Sea Celtic Shop.
The shop is located in the front of Bill's home, located at 333 W. Broadway Street on the railroad tracks in the heart of historic downtown Frankfort, Kentucky, diagonally across the street from the Old State Capitol and directly across the street from the Watts Federal Building, in a one story red brick house built in the early 1820's and used at that time by George Bibb as a law office. For a map and driving directions, please click on the "Contact Us" link above. For more on the building, click here.
The Irish Sea Celtic Shop is a member of the:
Frankfort Area Chamber of Commerce
Downtown Frankfort, Inc. (a Federal Main Street program)
North American Celtic Trade Association (an association of Celtic store fronts)
Bill Leroy is a Past-President of the Clan MacDougall Society of North America, Inc.; past Secretary of the Scottish Society of Louisville; past member of the Stone Mountain Highland Games committee; a past Board member and Secretary of the Kentucky Scottish Weekend; a member of the Caldonian Society of Cincinnati; and has been an Honored Guest at several highland games around the country.
Through our commitment, experience, and expertise, the Irish Sea Celtic Shop is establishing a solid business relationship with our customers! We invite you to visit us, call us at (502) 223-9946 or send an e-mail to info@IrishSeaCeltic.com.
The building and George Bibb:
In Russ Hatter and Gene Burch‘s book, “A Walking Tour of Historic Frankfort", Russ tells us that the building started out in life as the George Mortimer Bibb Law Office. An 1824 tax record lists this property at 333 West Broadway Street in the ownership of George M. Bibb. (His younger brother John, famous for developing Bibb lettuce, resided nearby on Wapping Street.)
The career of George Mortimer (or Motier) Bibb spanned the first half of the nineteenth century. He was both a witness to and a participant in most of the important political and legal events of his age.
Bibb was born in 1776 in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and moved to Lexington, Kentucky in 1789. Establishing a successful career in law, he married a daughter of Charles Scott, later Governor of Kentucky. In the early 1800’s he served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky Free Masons. Bibb served in the state legislature, succeeding Henry Clay in 1806. In 1808 he was commissioned a Judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals and in the next year was designated by his father-in-law, Governor Scott, as Chief Justice of Kentucky. He became a U.S. Senator in 1811 and was among the “War Hawks” pushing for war with Great Britain.
Following a second term as U.S. Senator from Kentucky, Bibb was appointed to the Louisville Chancery Court and thus acquired the title “Chancellor”, by which he was generally known in later life. His friendship with John Tyler during his service with the Jackson administration culminated in his appointment as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury in the summer of 1844. In his latter years, he was a reminder of a bygone era. He was the last to wear the old style knee britches in Washington. In 1859, he died of pneumonia at his home near Washington D.C. and is believed to be buried in Frankfort.
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