The Success of Louis Mulcahy
Louis’ vision when he started his pottery workshop in 1975 was to produce the aesthetically and technically best pottery possible and to develop a studio/workshop which would leave an indelible print on the long-term history of Irish handcraft. Over the last five decades, Louis has built up a business which has become renowned not just around all four corners of the Emerald Isle but right across Europe and the US.
Louis Mulcahy Pottery has been the stand-out operator in the domestic pottery industry from the time Louis won first prize for pottery in the National Crafts Competition in 1970 before he moved his workshop from Blackrock, county Dublin to Ballyferriter. In 2004 he became the first Irish craftsman to receive an honorary degree from the National University of Ireland in recognition of his brilliant skills and contribution to his adopted community along the Atlantic coast.
All the pottery’s glazes have been devised by Louis to his own specific recipes over the last forty years. The pots are either dipped or sprayed, and any decoration or motif is applied by freehand brushwork. Using a sophisticated palette of colours to generate a hugely distinctive luminous glaze, the Mulcahy line of durable pottery is forever eye-catching, and Louis’ one-off pieces are destined to be collectors’ items in years to come.
Along with his popular glazes including Navy, Green, Russet, Smoilin and Tenmoku, Louis has now introduced vibrant reds, yellows, cobalt, and turquoise blues with slip trailed abstract motifs, also including birds, fish and naomhógs. These new designs are only available on a selected number of items are exclusive to his workshop near Clogher beach.