Tattoo convention puts Limerick on global map

THE organisers of this year’s Limerick Tattoo convention say they are thrilled with the event which attracted hundreds of people to the city over the weekend.

The Great National South Court Hotel in Raheen was a hive of activity on Saturday and Sunday with people travelling from Ireland and across the globe to attend the convention.

Around 100 tattoo artists from 25 countries attended the event including Luke Sayer, winner of E4’s TattooArtist of the Year; Ryan Ashley Malarkey, winner of US reality TV show Ink Master and Teresa Sharpe – one of the best known female tattoo artists in the world.

One woman flew from the United States in order to secure an appointment with Ms Sharpe while Amy Fielding from Bristol travelled to get a tattoo done by Ryan Ashley Malarkey.

”I’m doing it in memory of my Nan and I just felt Ryan was the best person to do it,” she told the Limerick Leader as her tattoo was being done.

One of the organisers, Roy Keane of Soul Addiction Tattoo Studio on Roches Stree, said the event gave people the opportunity to book an appointment with some of the world’s top artists.

“It’s fantastic, we have had a lot of people who travelled from abroad, particularly the UK and mainland Europe, to get tattoos from some of the top artists in the world. They wouldn’t have a hope of getting an appointment with these tattooists in the US or the UK,” he said.

Local tattoo artist Steve Savage, who runs Hard Knox Tattoo at Upper Gerald Griffin Street, said it was great to have a convention of such a scale in Limerick.

“It’s really, really good. They’ve put on a really really world class show.

You can see by the people walking around it’s really positive and it’s very family friendly and the artists are really, really nice and he had brought some of the best artists from around the world and across Ireland,” he said.

There was also a choice of body paint and an array of artists offering body piercing and jewellery at the event.