While visiting Crosshaven, Co. Cork, Tony Duggan a keen artist with a background in architecture and design met the legendary Irish glass cutter Eddie Flavin. A close friendship followed and Eddie invited Tony to view him cutting. He watched Eddies skillful hands cut beautiful patterns into the surface of plain glass and as he watched the idea of setting up Cork Crystal was born. Indeed one of those early pieces is now in the possession of the Cork Public Museum.
Eddie was one of the first to be trained by the European artisans brought into Ireland after WW2 to re-establish the Irish glass industry. These men formed and implemented the distinctive colour and cut of Handmade Irish Glass. Eddie and Tony gathered a small hand picked group of the finest glass workers in Ireland. John Murphy who is still cutting with us trained with Eddie and this is whom that I learned my craft from.
Today John,Mark and myself can show an unbroken connection to those original Irish glass makers with well over 100 hundred years experience between us. We have a complete complete skill set, as craftsmen in mass production facilities only work on one part of the finished piece.
George Duggan