Best Tattooist in Cork

Psychic Lady

Hi All,

I'm thinking about getting my partner a tattoo for his birthday can anyone suggest a good tattooist in cork city it will be his first tattoo!!

Thanx

porn_star

It depends what kinda tattoo he's looking for.
I like the lads in tattoo zoo, that's where I got my own and intend on going back for more.
then there's a guy in tribal ink, I think his name is Jay, whose really good aswell.
raohul(sp?) in triple x
and karen russell down in midleton.
there's a sticky thread on recommendations so if you look through that then you might see some more info on any of them. Or else you can check them out yourself, I'm sure all of them have portfolios.

Psychic Lady

Hi Pornstar thanks for the advice just one more question where are tattoo zoo located and is Karen Russell in Holycow Tattoos in Midleton?


Thanks

kellxor.1337

Tattoo zoo is located opposite Captain america's at the end of North Main Street, Not a big fan of there work TBH, Jay in Tribal ink is Brilliant for Tribal and Celtic Designs But the best tattooist in cork is The dude from the raven, Is it brian or mark? I've seen loads of his work and he's done all my piercings, I've heard people talk crap about him, and i always jump to defend him, And he's also one of the nicest tattooist's in cork, He'll chat away to ya as your gettin the work done and he's a funny guy,



Kellxor

porn_star

and I'll say I've seen loads of work by that guy in Raven and I'd advice you to stay well clear,one of the reasons he's so popular is cos he's a favourite amoung minors( not saying you are one kellxor) and I know a lot of people who've gotten work covered up by him, because it looked so dodge.

Tattoo zoo is on south main street, its not hard to find. Easiest thing to do,is to go down the alley between centra and argos and its across the road.that lads inside their are really helpful and they'll more then likely have portfolios on hand.

Anyways yeah, Karen is working in Holy Cow in Midleton alright. Getting my next tattoo done by her actually. She does some amazign work.

kellxor.1337

Not a minor, I'm 22, I suppose the reason i back him up is because whenever i meet some who talks bad about him it's never them doin the complaining, It's one of there friends or a friend of a friend, again, It depends on what kind of ink he's gonna get done, For Wicked designs check out tribal ink, There selection is top notch,


Kellxor

ShayHT

you can check out Karens work here: http://www.karenrusselltattoos.com

boxoid

Tattoo Zoo. North Main Street Cork... 021 4271243
Best Tattoo parlour in the south, the lads and girls in there are a great laugh and its very relaxed.
Its a big open shop with 3 tattoos, one piercer and a receptionist. The shop is spotless... and i mean spotless...
Some other good ones in cork also....

but be warned.... DO GO NEAR THE RAVEN... he is ****, saw some of his work, very bad. he is not a bit consistent... he has his OK days and his bad days... and god help ya if you go in on one of his bad days...

porn_star

I think you meant 'don't'

Psychic Lady

Thanks to all of you for the advice I'm going to try tattoo zoo and Karen Russell to see what their designs are like first.

boxoid

porn_star wrote:

I think you meant 'don't'

lol ya... spot on.

Psychic Lady

Has anyone had any experience or heard any reports about John Taylor in Holycow Tattoo?

boxoid

Psychic Lady wrote:

Has anyone had any experience or heard any reports about John Taylor in Holycow Tattoo?

not good, but haven't seen any of his work, so cant really comment.
i only comment on work i have seen or photographed.

porn_star

I've seen a bit of his work and it was good. But saying that I haven't seen too much of it, but I've heard some good stuff about him. Don in holy cow is really good too. him and karen have actually opened up a place in kinsale, but they're both still working in midleton on some days, for customers who can't get up there.
but if your looking for work by john, I'd say he has a portfolio so just go in and ask!

Psychic Lady

Thanks for the advice yet again will see what his portfolio is like.:)

Blub2k4

boxoid wrote:

Tattoo Zoo. North Main Street Cork... 021 4271243
Best Tattoo parlour in the south, the lads and girls in there are a great laugh and its very relaxed.

Ah, so that's where you work. That'll be why you're advising people off of Raven. You're a very stupid person with that stunt you pulled.

boxoid

Blub2k4 wrote:

Ah, so that's where you work. That'll be why you're advising people off of Raven. You're a very stupid person with that stunt you pulled.

i am a marine engineer. not a tattooist.
but you are paranoid. what stunt are you on about... the truth.
ask around, you'll get the feedback about that dump.

Blub2k4

So what would possess you to make **** up about a studio?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054926208 <---prettty clear that I am delusional and paranoid, pop on over to that thread and explain how my links and the source are incorrect and you actually time travelled and took the photos back in time then posted them to badtattoos.com, go on go on go on.

That's the source of the tattoos, not your own photos as you told us here before, taking the lot of us for idiots and using the board to push a false agenda.

Defend that dickhead.

The feedback that you are helping to create by telling lies about someones work?

Here's the basis of the lie "mate", you said you took a photo 2 days ago that I know has been on badtattoos.com for over a year, explain?

Blub2k4

boxoid wrote:

i am a marine engineer. not a tattooist.
but you are paranoid. what stunt are you on about... the truth.
ask around, you'll get the feedback about that dump.

Well all we know for certain is that you are a liar.

Still waiting for you to post in the other thread and "discredit" my post.

Maybe it is a dump and maybe he is rubbish, the best way to foster that argument would have been to show us some of his work. To trawl the internet for bad stuff and then post it as his doesn't do much for your argument.

I still think that you are either a competing artist who feels threatened because you are not as good as him, or just some asshole with a grudge.

You could try to explain but really you cant, you were caught red-handed making **** up, I'll make it a personal point to make sure no one gets any information off of you anymore in public without a bit of input from myself, or you could attempt to clear the matter up....I dont think you can do that.

aidjtk

i have a similar problem to the orginal woman( or lady if she prefers) I want to get CARPE DIUM ( I know its sad and trite but I have my reasons) on my arm. I am in waterford and there's a place thats good but it'll cost bout 70 euro. would anyone like to tell me to go to a guy in cork whoes good at celtic writing, or just written tattoes. or does anyone think go to waterford

amazingemmet

*cough* Carpe diEm *cough

rain on

€70's not expensive if the work's good, most places in dublin charge €80 per hour. i pay £60 sterling an hour for my stuff.

Kingpin-Nasty

am,john taylor is very good,i got a tattoo yesterdy done by him and its perfect,he's sound out and has a good portfolio.i would recommend getting tattooed by him...

porn_star

John's deadly, he did my legs and a lot of a couple of friends stuff, seen a lot of nice stuff done by him.

busted flush

john did my sleve highly i recomend him. he is not to bad on bobs side of tings either

viva_zapata74

KAREN RUSSELL, who now works in SEVEN ROSES in Kinsale; I have a few tattoos on my body collected through the years from several artists (and one from a butcher... :-) )and she is the best, and I do mean the very best, I met so far.

She has been able to turn a very bad job done by LIVING ART in CORK (ladies and gents, AVOID LIVING ART like the devil and the plague) into a PIECE OF OUTSTANDING ART; I cannot stop looking at my arm now, I am delighted with what she's done and I will definitely be back for more.

I also get very good feedback about RAOUL, the Spanish dude in Cork who works, if I am correct, in XXX studio in Oliver Plunkett Street.

So, the very finest in Cork are:

KAREN RUSSELL, Seven Roses Tattoos, Kinsale (by my own experience)
RAOUL, XXX tattoos, Oliver Plunkett St, Cork (by word of mouth)

... firm standing that toilet pub cleaners have my utmost respect, those in LIVING ART are instead the guys who should be scraping sh**e and puke off pub toilets instead of tattooing people.

The_Scary_Man

viva_zapata74 wrote:

I also get very good feedback about RAOUL, the Spanish dude in Cork who works, if I am correct, in XXX studio in Oliver Plunkett Street.

AFAIK it's Smiley Dogg tattoos now and the work I've seen of Raoul's is top class. I'm getting a piece done by him next week so I'll post up pics of it.

It'll be in Sanskrit in a similar style to this;



I can't wait

delilahlioneye

right so was reading this whole post and have been advised to stay away from the Raven.

had a look at their site and the piercings seem to be okay but i was kinda hoping for pictures of tattoo's they've done. if there are some there and ive missed them then i take that back, but also wanted to know whether i can get a tattoo legally in Cork being only 16? was looking everywhere on the internet but can't seem to find a tattooing of minors act stating the legal age.

i got a quote on the custom one i wanted over here and converted it stands at around 90 euro

xo

Gauge

Wait until you are 18 please. There isn't a single reputable place in Cork that'll tattoo underage people. Raven do sh!tty tattoos AND sh!tty piercings- the guy does surface piercings with straight barbells for crying out loud, and tells people they can't have both nipples pierced because the hand they write with will make their nipple infected! I've yet to see a good tattoo come out of there. He messed up a simple black tattoo, overworked it and now it's just a black and navy scarred blob with black ink bled out all over- I know a bunch of other people whose tats are full of scar tissue, raised and uneven looking because of Raven. He refused to tattoo a spiral-type shape on my friend as well, because circles are "too hard!"!! I really cannot recommend them.

Léan

Oh yeah Red Dragon on Father Mathew Quay (i think? not sure of the name).

STAY AWAY FROM THERE.
I've seen some brutal work come out of there, i know a lot of people that went there just because they tattoo underagers; (one i know of was only 13 at the time).
Awful awful work, the stuff i've seen comes out of there has been faded, scabby, generally really poorly done. They really don't have the best hygiene standards there either.

Beware!

A_Fitz

Got three tatts done in Tattoo Zoo....one by a guy who worked there yrs ago....think Fergal was his name, and two by the owner. The one Fergal did is excellent but faded a lot (not his fault obviously), and of the other two; one is good and the other one is fair......think he rushed it a bit, so it's a tad off, which disappointed me.

Got another one in the Red Dragon yrs ago, n' I sware to **** if I had done it myself it would have been better, even taking into consideration that it's on my back n' all like. The CUT of it. DISGRACEFUL. Place is long gone I think, is it??

Met numerous people since that had ****ing awful pieces done by the same guy. He should have been sued, he was a ****ing disgrace.


Dunno about The Raven, personally speaking, but never heard anything good about it. Ever.

A_Fitz

L&#233 wrote: »

Oh yeah Red Dragon on Father Mathew Quay (i think? not sure of the name).

STAY AWAY FROM THERE.
I've seen some brutal work come out of there, i know a lot of people that went there just because they tattoo underagers; (one i know of was only 13 at the time).
Awful awful work, the stuff i've seen comes out of there has been faded, scabby, generally really poorly done. They really don't have the best hygiene standards there either.

Beware!

Lol, just saw your post now right after I had slated that guy. Ya, that pretty much sums up my tattoo, and others I've seen from there. I'd consider violence if I ever met the fella; it really is that bad. Often showed it to people, including other tattooists, n' without me having to say a word, they all knew who had done it. Ridiculous joker, senile ****.

nillox

tattoo zoo, i got all but one in there, by all the guys and have always done an excelent job.

xxx/raoul, not to sure, he didnt do mine to well but others pretty good.

raven, stay away, doesnt use gloves and gropes girls gettin their nipples pierced.

red dragon, stay well away. iv actually seen ppl outside it say dont go in there.

i think iv heard good things about that karen one tho.

Gauge

....

Colin, is that you?

nillox

......maybe......

Crumble Froo

haha, reminds me of the time a friend of mine started a thread about something about him that he didnt like, and i replied that i knew a guy who had the same thing and i thought twas awesome...

on further inspection, it turned out we knew each other, and he was the guy i was talking about

RubyXI

hey, does anyone know the opening hours of tattoo zoo in cork?? are they open late any night.

garthv

phi3 wrote: »

hey, does anyone know the opening hours of tattoo zoo in cork?? are they open late any night.

(021)4271243

PheonixLin

does any one know where maurice who used 2 work in tattoo zoo is workin these dayz??????????????????????????:p

porn_star

metal urges in tralee.
metalurges.net
got a myspace and a bebo for the shop floating around aswell.

PheonixLin

Thank u porn star he has 2 be the best ever........got my lip pierced in raven by Brian and my tongue done by Maurice in tattoo zoo.........must say Brian in raven was snappy and ignorant with me when i got my lip done and he was awful to my friend also when she got pierced by him...........Maurice on the other hand was so polite and helps u relax and feel at ease..........i don't care what anyone says customer service and politeness is as important in tattoo shops as any other kind of business

hayleym

ive got numerous tattoos and piercings from brian in raven,all of which i have been ecstatic with but just think about this....your running a tattoo and piercing studio and most people who come in seem to always ask "will it hurt?" and waste time freaking out about it.If i personally had to put up with this on a daliy basis,i would crack up!Its not the tattoo artist' job to "calm" you before you get inked or pierced.Whenever i was getting something done,i would spend 20 minutes freaking before i would even sit down but the next few times i was alot calmer and just didn't think about it and then he was actually really nice,i even got a discount!I think he's the best in cork,without a doubt,i wouldn't go anywhere else.

PinkTulips

i've got to say about raven... the guy's an ass, but one of the best tattoos i've ever seen in the flesh was done by him... in fact it was the tattoo that made me want ink myself! fantastic goblin taken from the book of faeries on a chicks back/shoulder.

but yeah, he's an arse and a perv....

corz

hey guys,
i went to get my tongue pierced with my sister who also got her neck done in raven, he did her neck all wrong he pierced it too low down her neck used the wrong eqp. gave her the wrong size bar and didnt tell her how to take care of it, she went to a piercin place in dublin and they know him for being dodgy and using the wrong stuff and a big fan to minors etc.. and if people from dublin heard about him then he's fairly well known for being ****e!!!she had to take it out and wait for it to heal for 7months , and my tongue is still givin me problems the tip of my tongue hurts alot and i tink the nerves are ****ed too and i was told to take it out. do not go to raven he wasnt even nice...i got a tat in tattoo zoo and they were very nice and id def go back to them again.

oeb

viva_zapata74 wrote: »

I also get very good feedback about RAOUL, the Spanish dude in Cork who works, if I am correct, in XXX studio in Oliver Plunkett Street.

One of my pieces was done by Raoul when he was still working in Metal Urges (When it was in Killarney). While it is a simple piece it came out exactly as I wanted and I can in no way fault his work. (I have also seen bigger pieces done by him during his time here, and they were all fantastic.

ashwoodvale

hayleym wrote: »

ive got numerous tattoos and piercings from brian in raven,all of which i have been ecstatic with but just think about this....your running a tattoo and piercing studio and most people who come in seem to always ask "will it hurt?" and waste time freaking out about it.If i personally had to put up with this on a daliy basis,i would crack up!Its not the tattoo artist' job to "calm" you before you get inked or pierced.Whenever i was getting something done,i would spend 20 minutes freaking before i would even sit down but the next few times i was alot calmer and just didn't think about it and then he was actually really nice,i even got a discount!I think he's the best in cork,without a doubt,i wouldn't go anywhere else.

were you smokin CRACK before you posted?????????

PinkTulips

i have a story that sums brian up perfectly......

a friend of mine was there with his mate who was having a tat done. an older, not very attractive woman walks in and asks if he does clitoral piercings... brians quite aggressively says 'no, we don't do that here'.

about 20 mins later a young girl about 18/19 walks in and asks the same question and he says 'of course, give me 10 mins to finsih up here and i'll do it right away for you...' he then proceeds to do the pirecing while my friend and his mate are still in the studio, in a seperate area but without any closed doors or curtains between them and the girl, only for she was side on to them they would have been able to see everything.

he's a perv.... occasionally turns out good work, but is a major perv.

lolsiebones

avoid the red dragon and the raven like the plague!! when people come into the shop for cover ups you can bet if it was done in cork its been done it either of those shops. you just know a red dragon tattoo on sight it shocks me that he hasnt been closed down. its an industry that need regulation in this country. standards of skill and hygiene should have to be met. its shocking that in a time where people are pushing the level of artistry to such a high end that there are places still allowed to knock out **** like the red dragon does!!
dude cant draw a stickman!

Star Lord

lolsiebones wrote: »

avoid the red dragon and the raven like the plague!! when people come into the shop for cover ups you can bet if it was done in cork its been done it either of those shops. you just know a red dragon tattoo on sight it shocks me that he hasnt been closed down. its an industry that need regulation in this country. standards of skill and hygiene should have to be met. its shocking that in a time where people are pushing the level of artistry to such a high end that there are places still allowed to knock out **** like the red dragon does!!
dude cant draw a stickman!

Where do you work then Lolsiebones?

mayordenis

Righto good read in this thread - getting back in good shape and one of the first things I'll be doing is getting some more ink,
Tattoo Zoo and xxx seem to be the 2 most hyped in the city so I'll check them out - gonna get something alot less painful this time so should be cool.

And problem gonna get my lip re-pierced pretty soon - which would you guys go with?

Gauge

XXX is long gone fyi, it's now Smiley Dogg on Marlboro Street.