My Story

Growing up, there was a huge emphasis on creativity. My parents, both artists and designers, always encouraged us to use our hands, and self-expression through drawing and making was our first language.

On top of this, as a child I was obsessed with the likes of Peter Pan, pirates, lightsabers and medieval knights etc, as well as cranes, building sites, the docks, and “fixing” things in general - all of which, I suppose, suggested a future in which both blades, and manufacture of some sort, might likely feature.

I went to Dublin to study sculpture in the National College of Art and Design, where - as well as having an unbelievably good time - I had the chance to experiment with lots of different materials and processes, as well as thinking conceptually.

This led me to take up an internship in Conservation Letterfrack, where the work was really varied and diverse, the quality of the workmanship was of the highest calibre, and I was totally seduced by their workshop.

Here, I not only learned many workshop and tool skills, but also had the chance to develop and hone my appreciation for design, workmanship, and craft. One day, while working on a job to design 3 chopping boards, I found myself wondering about the knives that would be doing the chopping. I felt like I was designing a cart, but having never seen a horse.

So I changed my brief, and set about designing and making 3 knives instead.

But it wasn’t until I took the first one home and used it to prepare my dinner that the thunderbolt struck me. This was something that I had made, from scratch, and had now used, and would use every day again for the rest of my life - to make dinner! I was hooked.

From then on I spent some time working in different jobs, but always making knives on the side, trying to improve my skills, until April 2018, when I moved back to Limerick and established my business, Hugo Byrne Knives.

I now share a studio with my father Mike - a ceramist - and make a variety of custom knives for professional chefs and home cooks alike.

My work is born out of a passion for making, and the hope that my knives will inspire those who use them to make with passion, creativity, and experimentation also.