"Michael Quirke is well known in Sligo Town and also by numerous people throughout the world who have visited his quaint little shop here in Wine Street.
Michael, who has certainly got the gift of the gab, carves figures from Irish mythology and local people such as the world renowned poet W.B. Yeats."
Location: Wine Street, Sligo Town
Last week after jumping off the bus and realizing I had some free time, I took a wander into his shop after checking for updated carvings in the window. I walked in the door not being prepared for what to talk about and uttered a simple "hello", and Michael immediately went into talking about a carving he was working on at that minute.
There wasn't any awkward or silent moments, as we ended up talking surnames, family crests and their novelty (apparently crests are BS with no true significance), 'down south', how his shop was first a butchers that belonged to his father, which then turned into a butcher/wood workshop, to becoming solely a wood workshop - apparently he didn't feel as comfortable carving animals as he did wood!
After some small talk he asked what my favourite animal was before grabbing a wood carving tool and ad-lib etching out a cat - while telling the differences between a Sligo Cat and a Cavan Cat. Apparently, you should never tell a Sligo Cat their ass looks big in a dress...
On the other side, he included my name and a simple carving of Knocknarea mountain in Strandhill, Co. Sligo. The extra leaflet of paper (first photo) explains where exactly in Sligo to stand to see the 'womb' of the countryside - apparently near the FÁS centre on the Manorhamilton Road, and look south east over Cairn's Hill. The 'womb' was said to have birds circling it to mark one of the gates to the otherworld.
Soon after, we started talking about the characters on display in the window - Medb, the otter, Dagda, Morrigan, and many more Celtic gods and goddesses who I didn't know the names of! Michael gave a few other descriptions of gods and writers who had told stories about them - ironic, sarcastic, or not. Note how he sticks solely to handwriting in the old Irish style!
While the meeting was brief, I'm glad I got to visit in the time I had. This workshop isn't a formal or tidy shop, if you could even call it one - it's a hands-on workshop in the middle of Sligo town where it's easy to tell that Michael comes by everyday to enjoy his craft, alongside greeting the townsfolk or tourists interested in some friendly chat over work.
Michael is definitely a man with great knowledge of local history, geography, culture, mythology and - dare I say it - how to talk!
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