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Meet the Makers: Patrick Brennan, founder of Patrick Joseph knives
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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.”
Practice was key because, as Patrick explains, the whole process “is very high precision. Everything has to be precise, there’s no leeway.”
It’s simultaneously a creative process, as most of the knives Patrick makes are bespoke commissions, requiring him to balance the needs of the customer for each specific knife with his own creative input in the design.
And with the materials he uses, from steel sourced from Japan, Sweden and the United States, to materials for handles including mammoth ivory and bog oak, there are almost infinite combinations.
As a result, Patrick explains, “every single knife is unique because it has its own combination of materials and details. It’s amazing how many variations you can come up with for each type of knife.”
The bespoke nature of his work means that the designs can incorporate unusual design points or personal details. While a chef may have very specific requirements of weight and blade type, other customers have asked for meaningful objects to be used in the knife handle. “I’ve had someone who wanted to use the mantlepiece from their mother’s home in a steak knife set.”
These personal touches also highlight the value in passing these knives down through generations – they are objects to treasure and care for.
Each knife is made through a careful process involving many steps. Polishing the blade in particular is a long job, but it’s one Patrick particularly enjoys. “Although it’s laborious, there’s a real sense of achievement when you’ve finally finished. You start out with this raw, horrible black steel and finish with something beautiful and reflective. There’s something really satisfying about that.”
He forges between four and ten blades at a time, and then finishes them one by one, meaning that he doesn’t have a typical day – depending on what stage he’s at with a knife there’s a variety of tasks he could be doing. He also meets with customers at his design studio in Castle Yard, Kilkenny, to get a strong sense of what they want from their knives before designing.
“In order to make the best knife I possibly can, I need to get a real feel of what they want from the knife, as well as their taste and preferences.”
His favourite knife to date is a hunting knife he made as part of the entry requirements into the Knifemakers’ Guild, a group of around 300 of the world’s top bladesmiths. In order to progress his skills in preparation, he completed a degree in Jewellery and Goldsmithing with the Design & Crafts Council Ireland. These skills were evident in the finished knife: a 6,000-year-old bog yew handle was finished in gold firework and set with diamonds.
At the moment he has it on display in his shop. “I don’t want to sell it, because it was made for my guild exam. It’s very special to me.”
Based in Kilkenny, he says he is grateful for the strong creative community there. “There are so many different crafts in Kilkenny, from glassblowing, to jewellery, to pottery. You can go there and pick up so many different things that are bespoke and special, and meet the people who make them. I don’t think there are many places in the world where you can do that with so many different crafts.”
“Meet the Makers” is brought to you in partnership with Champion Green. Champion Green is the biggest #SupportLocal movement in a generation, encouraging the people of Ireland to seek local where possible and shop consciously online to keep our towns and communities vibrant for years to come. Champion Green is supported by Kilkenny Design and Visa, in association with Retail Excellence, Small Firms Association, Chambers Ireland, Maxol and AIB Merchant Services. Learn more at championgreen.ie.
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