Land of Heart’s Desire part 2: Michael Quirke.
Michael Quirke is famous across Sligo town and county. If you mention him to someone local, they’re likely to tell you he used to be a butcher. For the past few decades however, it’s not meat he carves, but wood from native Irish trees. Initially his interest he reports, wasn’t taken seriously by people around him, but as his skill developed, the carvings began appearing in the butchers shop. Decades later and Michael’s studio IS the butchers shop - traces of which can be seen in the white tiled walls, large window and metal bars and hooks. While Michael takes on commissions of all shapes and sizes, it’s his own personal love of story-telling, folklore and mythology that keeps him occupied. This is tangible not just in the characters that he carves, but in the books and ephemera that surround him as he works.
Walking in to Michael’s studio is truly magical - one second you’re on the busy Sligo town street, the next you’re in Michael’s world of god’s, goddesses and mythical creatures. As I photographed him, he recounted his own stories of Fionn mac Cumhaill, Sheelagh Na Gigs and divine feminine energy. Michael gifted me with a carved goddess, and a hand-drawn map of a special view that can be found near Ben Bulben mountain.
- Georgina
