The Toy Collectors: How quitting smoking gave birth to a 3,525-strong porcelain doll collection

It all began almost 13 years ago when Mary decided her husband was in dire need of a distraction. Just days after quitting smoking, the 75-year-old was showing visible signs of disgruntlement.

“I don’t smoke myself so I have no idea what that feeling is like,” Mary said. 

“I just knew that Billy needed something to take his mind off it. He hadn’t smoked from Ash Wednesday but Sunday came round and he was tempted. I suggested that we go for a drive. While passing Ballydehob I saw there was a car boot sale on. We’d never been to a car boot sale before so we decided to stop and have a look.” 

Mary and Billy never imagined that an impulse purchase might change their lives.

“A friend of ours had asked me if I could pick up something for a very large bay window she had that faced the sun. I spotted five of the most beautiful porcelain dolls. They were two and a half foot tall and immaculately dressed. 

"I asked if I could buy one but the woman selling them said this wasn’t an option. The dolls were all named. She said they were a family and they couldn’t be split up. If they were going they had to all go together.” 

The 78-year-old felt deflated until later that day Billy revealed he had secretly purchased all five dolls for her.

They decided to keep just one, while gifting the others to friends and the remaining doll to loved ones.

However, Mary was consumed by guilt at the thought of breaking up the “family”. The five dolls stayed put. Little did they know their family was about to grow considerably.

Word had spread at the car boot sale about the couple’s new penchant for porcelain dolls.

“The woman selling the dolls must have told someone we had bought them and word travels very fast in West Cork. People were ringing us saying that they heard we had started a collection. Some had got porcelain dolls for their communions. Others had been gifted them as teenagers. They wanted to get rid of the dolls but they didn’t want to give them to charity shops. 

"I suppose people felt they would have a nice home with us. Then we began getting calls from other parts of Ireland. There were dolls coming from Sligo, Waterford, Limerick, Leitrim, Galway, Mayo and Tipperary, anywhere you could possibly think of really. At one point there was a courier here every day for three months.” 

Opening of museum

The retired farmers eventually had to construct two extra rooms in an outside dwelling to accommodate their new lodgers. It was opened up as a museum earlier this year, which operates by appointment only. Each doll has been thoughtfully arranged by height and style.

Every doll comes with a story but only few are known to Mary and Billy.

“There was one old lady who gave her two dolls to her friends after she moved into a nursing home. She had received one for her 18th birthday and one when she got married. Her last words were that they couldn’t be parted. The problem was that they were both exactly the same so the only reason anyone would buy two of them together is if they wanted twins. They were both immaculate and we couldn’t say no to taking them.” 

Mary enjoys restoring the dolls to their former glory.

“We have one doll who had spent years in a pub window. The pub was being demolished so I was contacted and asked if I would take her. The back of her had been facing the sun so was completely melted. I had to take off the coat and redress her. I cut a pattern and it turned out nicely. You can apply a similar pattern to a lot of them. 

Many of the dolls have the beads and the buttons along with the old-fashioned hats and feathers. I’ve dressed a lot of dolls. There are some lovely ones that have dresses and coats with mink collars. You would wear them yourself if only they were in your size. 

"Many of them are so old they were falling apart when they arrived. One lad a bought a house and found a doll in the shed. It’s entire body had to be redone so I remade it all.” 

All proceeds from the doll museum are donated to charities in the area.

“At the start, we asked for suggested donations which all went to the air ambulance in West Cork and Schull Community Hospital. However, this didn’t work out as people would only leave very small donations or none at all. It was suggested us that we charge a fee of €5 to people who want to come and see the collection so that’s what we’ve been doing since.” 

The reactions of younger visitors vary.

“The very small ones will be running up and hugging them. They just want to hold them but we don’t encourage this as they are so delicate and could easily break. Then we get the very small children who are afraid of the collection. 

Funnily enough, the little boys are often more interested in the collection than the girls. We only have a few boy dolls because they are so scarce. One of the boys is a fisherman. The other one has a broken leg. Each one of them is unique in his own way. 

"We have had quite a few American visitors. A lot of the dolls remind them of their childhoods. One lady was saying that she had the same doll in her grandmother’s house. They are often wondering where their own dolls ended up.” 

She credits her husband Billy for making the doll collection a reality.

“He was the one who started collected them so they are his really. I was just roped into dressing them and putting ringlets in their hair.” 

Mary and Billy plan to keep the doll museum up and running for as long as possible.

“My granddaughter is only six years old but she’s not into dolls. There are places in America that would buy the collection in its entirety but that’s not a road we’d like to go down at the moment. My daughter-in-law has shown a real interest in them so there’s a chance she might take it over when we’re gone.” 

Each doll undergoes a through inspection process before entering the museum.

“There’s a special stamp that lets you know they are real porcelain. We don’t take dolls without this. All the dolls are so different in everything from their clothing right down to their expressions. 

"We have Irish colleens complete with shawls and red skirts and a basket of turf. We have brides, nuns and first communion dolls — any dolls you can think of we have. 

"My favourite one has a gorgeous blue dress and coat. She is holding a suitcase like she is about to go on holidays.”