WHEN Eamonn de Burca stepped onto the boat for England in 1968, he carried with him his most prized possession: a copy of The History of Ireland by Thomas Moore, published in 1862.

He had bought it two years previously from a schoolmate in Castlebar, Co Mayo for IR£1 (€1.27). “That was the start of my bibliomania. I have been collecting ever since.”

Forty years later, he still has the book, but these days it is part of a collection of 50,000 volumes — and all the rest are for sale. De Burca has a shop in Dawson Street, Dublin, another at his home in Blackrock, and sells over the internet. The business employs four people, all family members, and enjoys sales of about €1m. His son William is a bookbinder, while his daughter Regina has just brought out a catalogue of children’s books and is also managing the Dawson Street branch.

“We sell a lot of books, starting from about €10, so you can see the turnover is quite high,” he said. He will never let go of the Thomas Moore classic, however. “It means too much to me. It might be worth €500 now.”

It is all a far cry from the early days in London, when De Burca did building work while taking classes in carpentry, then law and civil engineering at night. “There wasn’t much work for a young gossun in the west in those days,” he said.

Once he had qualified, his work as an engineer took him around Britain and he used the time to build up an enviable collection of rare books. “I was always stuck in bookshops in England and in Ireland.”

In 1981, De Burca decided to move back to Ireland and set up a business selling rare Irish books. “I had a great interest in history and I had written a minor book and contributed to a few journals.”

He had also amassed about 100 rare tomes that he was willing to sell, so he typed out a list and gave it to a printer. “I had been reading catalogues for years, so I knew how to do it. I was taking a risk, but that is what it is all about. You have to take a chance.”

The books were snatched up. “As the years marched on, I acquired, and thankfully still am acquiring, some very unique and rare books, bindings and manuscripts,” he said.

After 25 years in business, De Burca is called upon regularly by the National Library of Ireland, as well as other institutions here and abroad, to value single items and collections.

This year, he has sold three copies of first editions of James Joyce’s Ulysses for €35,000 each, but not every year is as bountiful.

“There have been some very lean times when we did not know how we would manage, but I’m very optimistic,” he said.

At €15,000 a year, insurance is expensive. “A million euros could not replace the books, they are not there to be had.”

De Burca still puts aside his favourites and hopes that some of his best finds will supply his pension — not that he ever plans to retire.

“I’ll probably have one foot in the grave and still be dealing books. I love it too much to leave. There’s no snobbery in books. Customers range from street sweepers to brain surgeons.”

One of the keys to success is to keep an eye out for quality. “One must always be diligent,” he said. “What on the surface may not look interesting may contain some unbelievable treasures. Some rare items have come through the door and from some incredible sources.”

Staying on top of a topic also helps. “Don’t take anything for granted — my reference library alone consists of 5,000 volumes,” he said. “An extremely rare devotional work printed in 1616, in the Irish language, was found in a skip outside a convent in Waterford.”

De Burca’s next project is to turn Castle Bourke, which he bought near Lough Carra in Mayo, into a bookbinding museum and shop.