Craftsmen in pictures : Tom Allison – blacksmith
Tom Allison blacksmith blueberry hill farm and muckross farm
county kerry
Nigel Borrington
TOM ALLISON
Last week while visiting Muckross Traditional Farm, I was lucky enough to meet and chat with Tom Allison, he is an experienced professional and you can tell that he has a passion for blacksmithing. With his easy-going way of showing you how he works and creates some amazing items.
Tom studied blacksmithing at Hereford College in 1997 and continued his training with an apprenticeship in Wales for 2 years. Tom moved to Sneem in 2000 to set up his own forge and since then has completed a number of major commissions.
I spend a good amount of time watching Tom work in the old forge at Muckross Traditional Farm while he demonstrated the old skills of blacksmithing. His work ranges from contemporary art and designs to traditional historical reproduction and restoration.
Nigel Borrington 
These are extraordinarily effective studies, even without the presence of horses!
Thank you.
Fred O’Callaghan
June 25, 2018 at 6:51 pm
So great to see that traditions continue whether practical or for arts sake. You really captured the story with your images
June 25, 2018 at 10:07 pm
The photos look like how I would have pictured the hero of Leon Uris’s novel “Trinity”. Don’t know if you’re familiar with it, but it’s a long, exquisitely detailed read of historical fiction about the Irish Catholic fight for freedom.
June 27, 2018 at 6:33 am