Verified Guest Reviews for Finin Liam Christie - Blacksmith Workshop

It is the single most enjoyable experience I've had. Good crack in the forge and Finin helps you all along the process. 100% if you've time and are interested in trying blacksmithing, it's here where you go.

The best experience in Ireland 🇮🇪. Finin was a very great teacher and truly loves his work.

I did the three day course and found Finian to be a very good and patient teacher. We made multiple pieces - he would make what I was making but would do a few steps to show me what do do and and then I would do the same steps on my piece with his supervision. This meant that learning the basic skills and workflows was straightforward and easy to follow for a complete newbie. The course was one-on-one tuition which makes it very good value for money. Highly recommended.

Myself and a friend spent one day in Finin's forge to learn and practice blacksmithing techniques by making a small sickle and a small sword.

Finin was very helpful, patient and friendly in guiding and helping us to make our items. His knowledge of the art of blacksmithing and the speed at which he forms the metals are unbelievable. We loved every second of the activity and especially the fact that only old techniques and old fashioned forge were used. We will definitely go back for another day some time in the near future.

after i was made to feel very welcome the first thing i was told was to treat everything as red hot. Finn then set a task of making a rams head poker for my fire, this was to see what level i was. Finn explained , demonstrated , then let me loose. with his eagle eye and clear guidance i made a great poker. now came the reason i was there, to make a hand forged knife. a lot harder than it sounds, a lot of skills to master, but with the great teacher comes a great product. I was there for two days and when i left i had a superb knife blank that i had totally made myself. if i had another day im sure it would have been 100% finished. With Finn's guidance i took it home and finished the knife. its the best knife ive ever had. a real bush craft tool. My advice. Go for the experience with a plan of what you want to make, and take a few other ideas of what you would like to make just in case you have a few hours left . Finn is a Master Blacksmith. and all round good guy.

The full-day workshop was 100% hands on, Finin would show a stage of making the item which I then be reproducing (with varying success). There was enough time to make several different items and get sufficiently tired - it's hard work!

I would recommend Finin as an instructor - he made the experience very engaging, answered a ton of questions and forged an extra souvenir to take home.

My son spent three highly enjoyable days with Finin which were split over three weeks. He could not speak more highly of Finin and I also found Finin to be an absolute gentleman. My son looks forward to continuing his interest in Blacksmithing and returning to do further courses with Finin.

My 19-year-old son spent three days with Finin and it was a terrific experience. Finin was patient and clear, always demonstrating each activity and then encouraging my son to copy it, correcting as appropriate. I was particularly impressed by the range of skills that Finin taught. It wasn't just about "what do you want to make" but instead "what new skills can you learn by making this." By the end of Day 1, my son's hands were pretty torn up (blisters) so I wish we had found a way to forestall that problem. But it was a fabulous introduction to traditional smithing, and we're now looking at setting up a forge at home. Thank you, Finin, for the wonderful inspiration!

Wonderful experience! Combines watching a master craftsman at work with learning to do it yourself. Finin (Fi-NEEN) is great as both craftsman and teacher. Really fun to watch glowing steel magically transform into strong, graceful shapes under the sure blows of his hefty hammer. His helpful, encouraging teaching and expert's tips helped me complete a couple modest projects in just one day. And his stories throughout the day were entertaining and insightful. My one-day workshop gave me a good taste of the craft, and my nephew's three-day course taught him more techniques. HIGHLY recommend! Tip: bring a fingerless exercise or bike glove for your hammer hand.

I completed a one day course with Finin at the weekend. The day was absolutely fantastic. Finin is a total gentleman, and his approach to teaching the skills that he has amassed over a lifetime of blacksmithing is excellent. Finin takes a step-by-step approach and is very encouraging throughout every step. On the day i wanted to make a poker and tongs as a present for my brother. I felt that there would be some great techniques to be learnt shaping both of these tools. We made a ram's head poker, and a lovely tongs for the fire. The ram's head poker is quite detailed and the work brought us up to lunch. In the afternoon we made the tongs and i was very pleased with the day's work. We we're finished a bit early and i didn't mind, feeling we had done some great work, but Finin wasn't finished. He wen't on to teach me how a blacksmith traditionally would have made a nail from scratch, and we then make a decorative leaf too. All-in-all I have to say it was a great experience, and i will definitely be going back to Finin, for a 2 or 3 day course next time. I can't recommend this highly enough. Derek