31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Artist reveals story behind Wexford's latest eye-catching mural – ‘I wanted it to be something local significance'
The owner of Moska Tattoo Studio on Thomas Street, Nirman Kadel has seen his business rapidly expand in recent years with a stable of talented tattoo artists working there. It resulted in the requirement for a bigger premises and the studio is now making the move closer to the heart of things, taking the corner unit on Barrack Street.
Aware of the imminent approach of the Fleadh, Nirman decided to pump time and money into making the building eye-catching.
"I thought it would be nice to do it up a little and have it looking nice in time for the Fleadh,' he says. 'I had to work with the weather though and I had hired the cherry-picker and everything, so I ended up working on the mural from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. in order to get it done in time.'
The results, as you would imagine from a master of his craft, are extremely impressive.
"When I thought about doing this, I wanted it to be something of significance to the local area – a local figure or a bit of local history,' Nirman explains. 'I got in touch with Leonard Kelly and he suggested the work of local historian Nicky Rossiter.'
The story so impressively depicted on the walls is a folk tale of how Wexford, or Loch Garman, got its name.
Thousands of years ago a Fenian warrior named Garman Garbh was said to have stolen the crown of the queen of his tribe. Seeking its return, the queen enlisted the help of a local enchantress or priestess who released a great torrent of water. The deluge engulfed Garman and he was drowned. The crown was retrieved and when the waters abated and settled in the lowlands of the South East, they formed a lake. It supposedly resulted in this part of the country being given the name Loch Garman.
"I was delighted to do my own interpretation of the story and I just thought it was nice to have a piece that tells the origin story of the name of the town and county.'
As for Nirman and his crew, they hope to move into the all new Moska Tattoo Studio, possibly the week after the Fleadh, and the beautiful mural on the walls is sure to be a solid advertisement for the great work he does.
