Beyond the pines: Cork furniture designer and restorer looks back

We visit antique dealer, designer and restorer Bruce Perkin at his workshop in Woodside, Tivoli, as he gets set to retire this spring

Bruce Perkin in his workshop. “I suppose we are known for vernacular Irish pine — but we’ve never been strictly that." Picture: Dan Linehan

Dealer, restorer and furniture designer Bruce Perkin is a highly familiar character in the Munster antique and interiors circuit. So, it was a jolt to hear that like so many of these rare artisans, he was retiring.

In the gilded light of his remarkable stone workshops in Tivoli, Cork, sits a patient population of period shutters, dressers, brass beds and disassembled old dears.