Tattoo? I do! Cork couple who met while getting inked celebrate 14 years together
Louise and James Langan met over a hot tattoo pen at Midleton Tattoo Club summer bash 14 years ago. Now married with children, they return each year for fresh ink. Picture: Chani Anderson
A husband and wife who first met while getting inked at a tattoo convention revisited the annual event 14 years later for a special anniversary tradition.
Louise Murphy-Langan and her husband James were the picture of wedded bliss at the 26th annual Midleton Tattoo Club summer bash held in the Co Cork town.
The event is Ireland’s longest-running tattoo show and features a variety of artists, body-piercing experts, and jewellery stalls, among other attractions.
For Louise, who gets inkings with her husband there every year, the tattoo extravaganza has a deeper significance.
She had come to the show more than a decade ago as an act of rebellion following a breakup. However, the Cobh woman’s faith in love was restored after locking eyes with a man getting tattooed on the table directly across from hers.
The process took nine hours for both parties, giving them ample opportunity to chat, during breaks. It was love at first sight — for James at least.
“I was rebelling after a breakup so meeting someone was the last thing on my mind,” Louise told the .
“I got onto the guy doing the tattoo last minute and arranged to get this big tattoo on my thigh. I’m not bigging myself up when I say this but I did spot James looking at me from across the way.
“I had just come out of a relationship and didn’t have any interest in meeting anyone. I knew his face from around Cobh. I suppose he stood out because he moved there in his 20s, whereas most of the other people grew up there.”
It wasn’t just the tattoo artist who left his mark.
“We weren’t close enough to chat but we could see each other that whole time.
"He was getting a tattoo of Beast from X-Men on his calf and I was getting one of a half-girl, half-zombie on a motorbike.
“After the weekend we continued talking. I don’t think we had exchanged numbers but he was messaging me on Facebook. He was the one who kept it all going.”
Louise revealed the writings were on the wall even back then.
“James caught me unawares to be honest. It’s funny because a psychic had told me a man would come into my life who was sporty and had a background in buildings. She had described James to a T because he plays with a football team and studied architecture so I should have seen it coming.”
Louise was pregnant with their first child Luke (now 12) a year later. The couple also share a two and a half year old daughter named Esme.
“We try and go every year. Esme has been to every one of these tattoo shows since she was born, and even before that as I went when I was pregnant with her.
“She now swans in the door like she owns the place.
“Luke is different because he says he’s never going to get a tattoo. I can see Esme following in our footsteps though.”
The couple’s passion for tattoos shows no signs of waning
“We’ll probably still be getting tattoos when we’re 90. There’s a lot of space left so we’ll continue getting covered. We always get tattoos when we come here. James had my name tattooed but I’m yet to get his.”
Denis Dennehy, who founded the convention, said the event has come a long way since its humble beginnings in a local community centre.
“There was about eight old dears and they were protesting outside. They were the local Legion of Mary.
We introduced them to some of the artists. They left after 20 minutes saying 'aren’t those grand young fellas now?'
This year’s event was a family affair for Kevin O’Sullivan and his son Darren, who own Quadrant Ink tattoo and piercing in Midleton, and had a stall at the event.
“We started eight years ago,” Kevin told the .
“Before that I was a martial arts coach. The reason I got into it was because of my son. He got out of college and was finding it hard to get an apprenticeship. He went to the UK, but when he came back we were working on fake skin and food. Eventually we were tattooing each other. Most people start off doing friends and family.”
The pair have had a number of bizarre requests over the years.
“You get requests for inappropriate right-wing symbolism to which we say ‘absolutely not’. However, this is rare. The weirdest thing I was probably asked to do was a picture of a Capri-Sun package on a man’s leg.”
Davey Ennis from Electric Tattoo on Wicklow St in Dublin travelled to the event with one of the shop’s most prized possessions.
“This is the gumball machine,” he told the .
“Inside there are loads of tattoo designs, mainly traditional ones. They are €150 each. If you get what you get and you don’t like it you can pay another €10 to go again. A lot of the people come with friends to use the gumball machine.
“In some situations they end up swapping the designs. I’ve been so fortunate in my career in that everyone has liked their tattoos.”
He said that the demographic of customers at their shop is broadening.
“I have a few people who are older coming in for their first tattoos. Some are 70 years of age. I think it was something that they always wanted to do but they never had it in them to actually go and get it done when they were younger.”
