Meet the Makers: Patrick Brennan, founder of Patrick Joseph knives
Based in Kilkenny, his knives have received international acclaim, and each one is made by hand.
As objects we use every day, it would be easy to think of knives as purely functional. But Patrick Brennan, founder of Patrick Joseph knives, sees them as so much more.
“I see knives as functional art. They have to be high performance, but I also want my knives to be beautiful, something that people want to keep and pass down.”
With around 40 hours of work going into each knife, Patrick works with a care and precision that ensures that each knife he makes balances both of these needs perfectly. But it might be surprising to learn that this is not always what he did.
He was running his own business as a builder when in 2010 a motorbike accident left him with a broken back in five places and a traumatic brain injury. His recovery was slow, but a few years later as part of a neurological rehabilitation programme, he started crafting with leather.
“I was in a wheelchair for two years after the accident, and it was very difficult. I was on a lot of medication, and the craft helped with pain distraction, and to reduce the drugs I was on.”
He became interested in knife making, and after trying unsuccessfully to learn the craft from books, travelled to the United States to learn from master knifemaker Gil Hibben.
“I always worked my hands and tools,” Patrick says, “so those were transferable skills that I could use. It was just about learning about the specific kinds of processes involved with knifemaking, and then practising and practising.”