Drawing attention

Now that Paul Galvin has hung up his inter-county boots and with more and more Irish sports people getting tattoos, who will now sport the best body art and why? We went in search of some answers.

Ciáran Ó Lionáird (Olympic athlete)

“The most striking and obvious tattoo I have is on my right shoulder. It is the head of Native American Chief Osceola, who was the leader of the Seminole Tribe of Florida in the mid-1800s.

“The sports teams of my university, Florida State, are known as the Seminoles and having had such an amazing time competing as a Seminole from 2009 and 2011, I wanted to get something done that represented my affiliation with Florida State and respect for the Seminole Tradition. The Seminole Tribe is the only unconquered tribe of Native Americans left in the US. After three different wars and federal policies that spanned 300 years, the Seminoles have never signed a peace treaty and have never given up. Their solidarity and willingness to fight in the face of enormous adversity and change is something that inspires me greatly. My Osceola tattoo represents my love for Florida State coupled with my respect for the Seminole tradition. The Olympic rings are tattooed behind my right shoulder. Many people saw my interview after my Olympic prelim (in London) and perhaps would wonder why I would get this done. When the dust settled after my 2012 season, I reflected and resolved to keep pushing to make my mark at the 2016 Games. I remembered how, after a disappointing Sydney Games, Felix Sanchez wore a commemorative armband to keep his motivation for 2004 where he won gold. With the rings, I wanted to keep the memory of 2012 with me to push me on and motivate me to keep fighting and training smart towards Rio and to remind me of all the people who invested time and energy into getting me to those 2012 Games.”

Jason Killeen (UL Eagles basketball player)

“I left home in Limerick when I was 16 to attend High School in the US. I was very young and my parents were obviously nervous about letting me go, but they also knew it was for the best and if I was to continue my basketball career that would be the best place for me to be.

Before I left my Dad gave me a prayer card with St Michael’s prayer to keep me safe while I was away from home. Now 13 years later I still carry that prayer card in my gear bag and have the full prayer tattooed on my rib cage along with a picture of St Michael on my left arm. Because I was away from home so much growing up, I often felt homesick and that was the inspiration for the tattoo on my right arm which has got the most attention over the years. It is a map of Ireland with ‘Eire’ on top and “Luimneach” tattooed underneath. It is to show pride in both my country and city and to show people where I am from. I also have the letters “JDG” tattooed over my heart, JDG stands for “Jason, David, and Garry” — my brothers an I in order of age. It was very difficult to leave them as we were all very close growing up, so the tattoo is a symbol of the three of us together. I have nine tattoos in all but they are the ones that hold most meaning to me. The tattoo on my leg is of a skull a roses. Although most people look at skull tattoos as being dark or as a symbol of death, this is not always the case. The skull tattoo can be a reminder that death is inevitable for us all and to live life to the fullest. Combined with the beauty of the roses this tattoo reminds me to live life to the fullest.”

Rachael Vanderwal (UL Huskies and Team GB basketball player)

“My one and only tattoo is of the Olympic rings. Playing for Team GB in the London 2012 Olympics, our basketball team decided to get tattoos once we had finished competing. A tattoo parlour in London gave us their studio for an entire afternoon and gave us free tattoos once we plugged them all over the social media networks. My tattoo is just the rings in black on the side of my ribs. It was pretty painful! Growing up my ultimate dream was to play in the Olympics and I always said that if I made it, I would get the tattoo. It is a symbol that the hard work, dedication and sacrifice I made over the years was all worth it! The London Olympics was the best part of my life. Now I have to think what tattoo I want next!”

Michael Conlan (Olympic medal winning boxer)

“I was 17 when I got my tattoo. A really good mate who had died always wore a rosary beds, so I decided to get the tattoo done in his memory. It only took an hour and a half to have done. People were saying it was going to be quite sore getting it done but it wasn’t too bad. I have the Olympic rings as well but the rosary beds are the one that everybody talks about. Everybody thinks it is a class tattoo, but no one ever ask the details of what it means or why I got it.”

Lynda O’Connell (Cork camogie player)

“I got my ‘Barrs ‘06’ tattoo done after I captained my club St Finbarr’s to our first Cork senior camogie championship title in 2006. We had suffered heartbreaking defeats along the way, so when we eventually won, I wanted to mark it. While some people regret getting tattoos, I smile when I look at mine because it reminds me of the great days I’ve had playing sport. While I’m lucky to have more than one All-Ireland with Cork, I always felt if I didn’t win a county medal, I wouldn’t have achieved anything in sport; and that’s what makes it extra special to win with some of my best friends, my sister Susan and my club where it all started. Two of my friends, Rachel and Caitriona Myers, also got it done, but on the side of their feet. Maybe I was being over-ambitious getting it done on my leg, leaving room for more numbers to be added! Funnily enough, it’s a great conversation starter by inquisitive people on a night out.”

Owen Mulligan (Former Tyrone footballer)

“My first tattoo would have been when I was out in Australia in the summer of 2000. I played for a team called the Brisbane Shamrocks with my brother Stephen and we actually won the Queensland championship out there. They maybe weren’t the best footballers but they were the best of lads and the best of craic and one of the things we did in the name of team bonding was to all get a green shamrock on our back. That gave me the urge to have more. My right arm is covered, dedicated to my granny. It’s her prayer to me, ‘O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in thee.’ I’m not that holy and religious but it’s my way of honouring her and I have a Padre Pio one as well.”

Nikki Symmons (International hockey player)

“The piece on my arm took about four hours. I love stars — I have some tattooed on my ankle too — so I wanted those in it, and the “WGB” in script is for my granddad who was a huge inspiration to me. He had recently died when I got the tattoo done, so he had to be part of it. It does get a lot of reaction; some are shocked when see it first, but then they want to know all about it, and I get compliments too. I normally cover up my tattoos at the school I work in, but I wore a dress to the staff Christmas party and none of my workmates had seen it before, so that got a great reaction! It’s very hard to pick out what would be my favourite tattoo on another person, although I do think David Beckham’s full sleeves look great on him. I also love the small Olympic rings on the ribs; that was going to be my next tattoo but unfortunately we didn’t make it to London. Maybe Rio instead! I have three other tattoos — the stars on my ankle, a piece on my back and one on my wrist that means “believe“. The story behind the latter is that I had a tough time at the start of my career and found it hard to break into the team, but I just kept going, and to help myself I would write that word on my wristband. If I was feeling low in a game or had made a mistake, I would look at it and it would help me trust in my abilities. I also added my squad number, 17, to this recently.”

Gary McCabe (Shamrock Rovers player)

“One of my arms – the left one – is fully tattooed, with the right one halfway there already. I think, in the case of tattoos, you either like them or you don’t. I’d have seen famous people with them when I was younger so they were something I planned from the time of my teenage years. It was more the designs that appealed to me, rather than any personal reason. I’m not overly religious or anything like that. My team-mate at Rovers, goalkeeper Richard Brush, has a demon etched all the way across his back which is a bit dark for my liking. I began about four years ago by having some small stars tattooed on. From there, each time I managed to save up some cash, more designs were added. The ideas for the designs came from pictures I’d see every now and then. The most recent one I’ve had done is a candy skull on my right arm. Unlike the other arm, there are a few bright colours in there with some roses and swallows. I intend finishing off that arm when I have the time and money to do so. I’ve probably got most the tattoos of all the players in the Rovers dressing-room. I don’t know exactly why but I’ve always liked them. In the future, I might even go for a couple on my chest.

Karl Burdis (International swimmer)

“I am very used to people speaking with me about my tattoo. I got my first tattoo when I was just 15, this is the top half of my tattoo, it is a piece of tribal art with the M in the middle. Being so young I decided on a very unique tribal pattern which to me looked very cool with the M in the middle because it was my mother that pushed me to be as successful as I am in swimming.

When I was 16 I finished my Leaving Certificate and decided that I was going to swim in a University in the States. This is when I decided to get the second part of my tattoo, which is two dragons that interlink down my back, one of my best friends Ryan Harrison who was also a swimmer for the City of Derry had also committed to an American University at the same time and since we had been friend since a very young age and tackled every major swimming obstacle together, I decided to get the dragons symbolising our friendship and show how we did everything together with regards to swimming. That is pretty much all there is to my tattoo, it has been a huge talking point for me throughout my career at numerous competitions around the world so there is not a day that goes by that I regret either of them.”

Miah Nikora (Connacht rugby player)

“My tattoo is reflective of my family in Gisborne, New Zealand. I have had it done in three different sections — the first piece on my shoulder and arm represents my family, the second over the shoulder line and back represents my wife, and the last part on my chest was done when my daughter was born.

Maori tattoos are very symbolic to traditional Maori culture, and I am of the Ngati Porou tribe, but my tattoo is not a tribal tattoo. It is just my family, but it is Maori in design and tradition.

The tattooist went to school with me at Gisborne Boys High so I knew him and he interpreted what I wanted. Today probably about 75% of Maoris have tattoos, and my mum and my sister have small ones with a similar meaning to mine.

The first part is myself, my dad Willie, my mum Liz, and my sister and my niece. My dad passed away when I was eight, so the whole top half is my dad, represented in Maori as a tiki (In Maori mythology, Tiki is the first man). The circle is his eye, and he is looking over me. The bottom half is myself, my mum, and the two small fronds are my sister and her daughter.

The tattoo on my chest is my daughter Indie and all around the outside represents my wife Amber and myself and us together as a family. The tattoo is very important for me. Losing my dad when I was young, I feel I can carry his spirit around with me, and having my mum and sister, they are always with me wherever I am. In the old days Maori tattoos were mainly tribal and not as artistic — they were chiselled and would actually cut the skin. I have contemplated having a tribal one, but now I have gone down the family route, I will probably continue — I have space to fill on my arm for more children.