A visitor to the top floor of Eason, the 201-year-old grand dame of Irish retail, could until recently see a collection of artefacts from its colourful past. These included a pamphlet written by trade union leader Jim Larkin warning the company off stocking the newspapers of William Martin, then proprietor of the Irish Independent, during the 1913 lockout of workers. Another letter is from Charles Eason in 1886 to British retailer WH Smith, asking if he could buy the company, in what could have been Ireland’s first management buyout. Then there are notes from the Eason family recalling the Easter…

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