Best Tattoo parlour in Dublin.

Trip Hazard · 30-07-2004 10:24pm #1

Ive been thinking of getting a tattoo for years now and this year is the time, i want to know where is the best place to get it done in Dublin, I hear Zulu tattoo in temple bar is one of the best, Dragon tattoo is good too i heard can anyone back that up or tell me any other good ones. tell me Bad ones as well and why they are bad!!!

Cheers

ThenComesDudley · 31-07-2004 12:39am

just one question i wanna kno where in dublin does tats thats isnt visable to people passing by or other customers?. like in a room or summit like that. i kno they used to in ms. fantasia's but he's gone now.

Trip Hazard · 31-07-2004 2:09am

Zulu in temple bar is private i think, there is a place on dorset st and they tattoo you right at the window i passed by many times to see people getting tattooed. you dont want everyone to see your PAIN!!!

coldenmean · 31-07-2004 3:12pm

snakebite are doin tattooin upstairs... Debs and Alice, and i like their work.. sure go up and have a look.. and i dont think you can get any more hidden away from the public as snakebite! :cool:

Trip Hazard · 01-08-2004 7:32pm

I started this tread not to find a tattoo parlour with privicy but to find the one with the best reputation. can anyone back up that Zulu is the best or tell me any others.
Thanks

coldenmean · 01-08-2004 10:18pm

ok in my opinion.... the bast tattoo parlour is the one were you find a tattooist that likes doin the stuff you want done... as for cleanliness, so long as you stick to any of the main ones you should be fine... everywhere has good and bad word... that goes for dentists to piercers... we all have our opinions... just so long as you go to one that is at least well known and dont be afraid to look around when you go in to talk about it... although i seriously doubt anywhere in dublin city that gets any kind of decent business is unclean and doesnt clave their stuff....
imo....
i havent heard any bad news bout dragon, celestial, zulu, or snakebite....
hope that helps a lil....?

Trip Hazard · 02-08-2004 6:33pm

yeah thats the sort of thing i wanted to hear, thanks, anyone else... Keep 'em coming.

de_shadow · 06-08-2004 11:21am

I've had both of my tattoos done in dragon ,very clean and they make sure your getting exactly what you want. my brother had his done in both dragon and zulu and says zulu is the better of the 2.

hope this helps.

LilyMon · 16-08-2004 5:46pm

Can someone tell me where Dragon tattoo studio is located exactly?
Thanks

ven0m · 18-08-2004 5:01pm

LilyMon wrote:

Can someone tell me where Dragon tattoo studio is located exactly?
Thanks

Without sounding like a div, if u're willing to travel to Bray go to 'Atattooed' & see either Paul or Badger.... they've done a ton of work on me, my mates & my brothers. Highly recommended in my books..

::: ven0mous :::

Kalikat · 19-08-2004 10:09am

Zulu is probably one of the best in town, but Dublin Art Tattoo (used to be Karen Russell's Sacred Art) in temple Bar is very good for black-work and Polynesian. It really all depends on what kind of work you want done!

For my money, nobody in Dublin does good nu-school stuff, so I'm waiting to go elsewhere. If I had my way I'd get stuff done by Grime in San Francisco.

coldenmean · 19-08-2004 7:14pm

lilymon... dragon is situated on talbot st... i think its pretty much opposite irish life mall.... or a bit before it on your left if your comin from o connell st... have fun...

LilyMon · 20-08-2004 10:01am

Thanks for the replies, guys. No excuse now. Will hopefully have my tattoo by next week.....

Blub2k4 · 23-08-2004 9:48am

I am having one done by Debbie at the moment in Snakebite and can only recommend the studio and the artist, I get all my piercings done there too.

Silent Grape · 23-08-2004 10:10am

id also reccommend Attatoed in Bray, i have tattooes done by both Paul and Badger, and they're both really good, and really personable.

LilyMon · 08-09-2004 11:44am

I know this is a somewhat dead thread now, but I just wanted to add that I ended up getting a tattoo done in Zulu tattoo in temple bar.

They were very friendly and very clean and I am delighted with the results. It healed without much scabbing at all.

I have no other tattoo studio to compare them to as it is my first tattoo, but if I ever want another (I've heard it gets addictive) I will go there again.

Lilymon

fi · 10-09-2004 10:31pm

I had my first one done in Bray dont remember teh name and it was ace, really well done and in a private room.

now got all my others done in the dragon by Brendan, now he moved premisis and now it is upstairs in a lovey room where losts of ppl are getting thier tattoos done together but like in private cubicals.

the dragon are also very good at changing a tattoo u already have.

rmonteux · 11-07-2005 5:41pm

Ive made one with sean of zulu tattoo when he was at miss fantasia, top class alright. Made one with robbie of c red tattoos as well at the dublin convention few weeks back, fantastic work to be honest! Looking to make a couple new ones next week, what are the prices likes this days in places like say zulu, snakebite and dragon ?

Blub2k4 · 12-07-2005 7:51am

rmonteux wrote:

Ive made one with sean of zulu tattoo when he was at miss fantasia, top class alright. Made one with robbie of c red tattoos as well at the dublin convention few weeks back, fantastic work to be honest! Looking to make a couple new ones next week, what are the prices likes this days in places like say zulu, snakebite and dragon ?

Zulu tends to be 80 an hour until you start to get some serious work done then it almost halves in price, but if you get a lot of work done any artist should be the same and give you appropriate discounts after a bit.
Debby in Snakebite used to charge 100 an hour and Art tattoo charge 100 an hour, so really between 80-100, most important thing with tattoos is not to pick a place because they are cheapest, good tattoos are not cheap, <edit> and I forgot to add, cheap tattoos are generally not good.

rmonteux · 14-07-2005 2:05pm

Has anyone heard of an artist called Maeve on celestial ring/upper abbey st, any good ?

porra · 25-10-2006 11:55am

I can personally say Zulu tattoo is 1 of the best, so many famous ppl get done up there. I know Sean and Gavin very well, friends 4rm back home in South Africa and Gavin did my 1st eva tattoo and they r the only guys i will let ink me. Very talented

Fantasy_Suicide · 26-10-2006 2:29pm

Well I've had all mine done in celestial. Two best ones are done by mark. I'm told yani is amazing as is john down in abbey. I've seen colour work done by him and I was well impressed. Check them out. Plus you're not inked in a window!! The green has been renovated too, so it's all pretty and stuff. not that it matters at all.

I'm a chick. I like pretty things!! Ya can see an example of the ink mark did in the show me yours thread... excellent detail!!

keelzer · 26-10-2006 8:37pm

i'm a zulu girl all the way.......i had my 1st 2 tats done in the pain factory drogheda before gettin one done wit sean at the tattoo convention last summer....been going to zulu since... its nutin against the PF its just sean's work suits the kinda style i like better...have 3 done my sean nd one by gavin...both excellent!!

truthinwords · 29-10-2006 12:05am

Well based on my experiences so far I'd say Snakebite. I got a small nautical there. The only thing that bothered me was that a different person drew the stencil to the person who tattooed me. I also got 2 stars on my shoulders in Celestial Ring in Abbey St. The artist was pretty rough when positioning the stencil and pretty much just in general and our communication wasn't the best but the result was great. Based on people I knows stuff avoid Zulu and ManikFish(I know it's in Navan) but a guy I know has some amazing nuskool stuff from ColourWorks. Well that's my two cents on the matter.

.truth

porn_star · 29-10-2006 12:27am

why would you avoid zulu?!

It wasn't me! · 29-10-2006 1:55pm

One has only to look at portfolios to realise not to even consider avoiding Zulu.

truthinwords · 29-10-2006 6:15pm

I know people who've gotten some terrible work done at Zulu. One guy now has a smiley face on his shoulder that looks like it was drawn by a drunk two year old.

.truth

el rabitos · 29-10-2006 6:46pm

well how professional and artistic can you make a smiley face.

Will · 29-10-2006 8:31pm

i wonder if emmet will grace us with his skills :rolleyes:

Fantasy_Suicide · 29-10-2006 11:24pm

MANIKFISH!!!!!

Hahahahahahahahahaha! I know the ex owner there. Place got fleeced by the polish mafia yday. Now me and my sister are thinkin of buyin the place and turnin it into a nice profesh kinda place.

Christ, I got my stars done there. For free. I was wonderin why they're so terrible.... Haha!

truthinwords · 30-10-2006 7:58pm

el rabitos wrote:

well how professional and artistic can you make a smiley face.

I don't know but I'd expect better then this from a professional tattoo artist:

.truth

daiixi · 30-10-2006 8:13pm

That looks like a pretty good smiley face to me! Why on earth anyone would want a smiley face inked into their skin is beyond me though. Each to their own!

porn_star · 30-10-2006 8:15pm

can't say I can see anything wrong with the actual tattooing of it

what do you expect out of a circle, filled with yellow...you can't get too artistic with something like that

truthinwords · 30-10-2006 8:26pm

porn_star wrote:

can't say I can see anything wrong with the actual tattooing of it
what do you expect out of a circle, filled with yellow...you can't get too artistic with something like that

Well a quick trip to bmezine and I found some artist who can do something interesting with a smiley face for example:

and even this simple one shows what a bit of shading work could have done:

and yes I agree it was a stupid tattoo idea.

.truth

el rabitos · 30-10-2006 8:44pm

well did u show the artist a picture of the particular type of smiley face you wanted? he's professional tattoo artist not a professional smiley face drawer

did he draw the image and show it to you before he tattooed it on you?

did u sit there and say "yeah thats awsome" after u looked at it in the mirror as soon as it was done? its not like u cant get it touched up, and it should be free if your not happy with it

truthinwords · 30-10-2006 8:48pm

It's not my tattoo it's a friends. My problem with it is any tattoo artist who does a tattoo like that knows the person walking out the door is a walking advertisment for their work and would you want that image associated with your work?

.truth

porn_star · 30-10-2006 8:49pm

Well yeah, you can get artisic with a smilie like that...but I wonder did your friend actually ask for something like that or did he just want a simple smilie like he got. cos there's a bit of a difference between the two and I'd imagine he asked for the latter. makes no difference to me, I just don't think Zulu are a bad shop from the work I've seen. Each to their own and whatever though.

porn_star · 30-10-2006 8:56pm

truthinwords wrote:

It's not my tattoo it's a friends. My problem with it is any tattoo artist who does a tattoo like that knows the person walking out the door is a walking advertisment for their work and would you want that image associated with your work?

.truth

what? that's crap.
that smilie isn't a bad smilie, it's just a stupid tattoo (in my opinion yadayada)
A lot of tattooists aren't gonna like some of the work they have to do, but it's the customers choice as to what they get tattooed, it's the tattoists job to do it properly. If a person really wants a smilie tattooed on them and they're set on the idea and they're the right age, then it isn't for the artists to decide whether or not it's a good choice or not, they just do the job they're paid for and try and make their input as good as possible.

truthinwords · 30-10-2006 9:01pm

Basically as a result of the ****ty smiley face tattoo nobody I know would even consider Zulu. I know other people who've gotten pretty dodgy tatto's from Zulu and everyone I know who's been there once hasn't returned. I think this says a lot about the place. The tattoo (and I know its a stupid idea) even as a simple tattoo could have been done much better I mean what sort of tattoo artist would put that on someones body? It's a piece of crap and could have been done a hundred times better and still been kept simple.

.truth

el rabitos · 30-10-2006 9:10pm

you get the tattoo you deserve

daiixi · 30-10-2006 9:11pm

Is your friend happy with it? I know a lot of people who have been to Zulu and I've not really heard any complaints and a lot of the people i know go back and their stuff is great. I'm also planning on going in to the lads in the next week or so so will post my tatt once it's done and see what people think about it.

s.bal · 30-10-2006 9:13pm

Expensive? Looking to get something intricate and a little tricky... where they based?

daiixi · 30-10-2006 9:18pm

I dont know how much they charge. They're in Temple Bar in Dublin. I don't know the name of the street I'm afraid but if you check out the sticky you'll find it in there.

truthinwords · 31-10-2006 12:12am

el rabitos wrote:

you get the tattoo you deserve

I just think everyone deserves a high quality tattoo. The thread was about peoples oppinions onthe best parlour in Dublin and based on this tattoo and others from Zulu I've seen I wouldn't recomend them. I'm sure a lot of you are huge fans of their work and if they've given you tattoo's you love that fair enough but in my oppinion a professional tattoo artist shouldn't be producing such low quality work.

.truth

el rabitos · 31-10-2006 12:20am

your basing your opinion on work that isnt on your body and as far as we know, you werent there when it was done.

its a tattoo artists job to do what he's paid to do, if your buddy put a piece of paper with a design on it down on the table and said i want that, is it the tattoo artists fault that its a crap design?

the tattoo artist can re-draw a design or suggest alteration and the work on your friends shoulder is nothing that cant be touched up.

abviously your friend left the studio happy that he got what he wanted, if he didnt then thats really his problem. you have to communicate with the artist to get exactly what you want.

truthinwords · 31-10-2006 12:34am

From what I know the guy I know just asked for a smiley face to be drawn. It wasn't from the flash or a previous drawing it was a custom tattoo. I'm pretty sure he regrets it now and I just feel it was of a low quality for a top class tattoo parlour.

.truth

porn_star · 31-10-2006 12:46am

truthinwords wrote:

From what I know the guy I know just asked for a smiley face to be drawn.

From what I can see, it looks like that's exactly what he got.

el rabitos · 31-10-2006 12:46am

ok, let me get this all right...

your friend goes into zulu, says he wants a smiley face

the artist draws it on a piece of paper, asks ur friend "hows that?"

your friend says its great, wants to go ahead with it.

the tattoo is done, he has a look at it, he's happy, goes home

some time goes by and he comes to the realisation that he has a sucky tattoo, you agree, and now your here saying zulu suck?

just because the guy is a tattoo artist doesnt make him a smiley face expert. if your buddy wasnt happy (which he obviously was) then he should have suggested some alterations to the design to the artist (he didnt do that). so its zulu's fault that the artist gave your buddy the tattoo he asked for? is that what your trying to tell us?

truthinwords · 31-10-2006 1:53am

Look its fine we don't agree on this and I never said Zulu sucked I just said I wouldn't recomend it. Let me put it in context for you, I design websites for cash on the side. If a client wants say a theme thats pretty crappy I'm still gonna make it but I'm going to do it as well as possible. I have to be happy with it before it goes to the client because it shows the quality of my work to the world. I take pride in all my work whether I think it's a worthwhile site or design idea and do it as well as I possibly can. I think an artist should feel that way and I really doubt this is the best the tattoo artist could have done. I send out the design in screenshots as its done so the client can see and often times they'll say "that's fine I want it now" on some of the preliminary work and my reply is always "I'm not done it's not good enough." I'd expect the same from someone who puts a permanent design in someones body. My work can be erased with the click of a mouse a tattoo artists cant.

.truth

Sean7 · 31-10-2006 8:23am

Honestly, I wasn't happy with my tattoo from zulu either and even the touch up a month later didn't make me happy with it. It just looks like sloppy work to me.

Fantasy_Suicide · 01-11-2006 12:46pm

Interesting. One of the girls I work with gets her ink by Tara in Zulu and she loves all her pieces to bits. And I must say the work was amazing.

Best Tattoo parlour in Dublin.

Comments