Pat & Win

I think it's probably best to press L and view this one in large :)

A couple of months ago, while I was driving around Ireland with everydaypeople, we stumbled upon a little barbershop while looking for somewhere to eat one night in Limerick city. The sign outside proclaimed the 'best barber in the world', with the tagline:

There is only one God and one Barber. He is upstairs.

With a sign like that it was a pretty safe bet that he'd be an interesting guy! So when I found myself in Limerick for lunch today I thought I'd pop in to meet him, and I was not disappointed.

Pat Stapleton trained as a barber in 1945, and according to the signs is the longest practising barber in Ireland. He can't speak, so he uses a voice box pre-programmed with phrases. Some are useful, like "what would you like done today?", "thank you" and "you need to pay more", but in true Irish style out of the 40 possible phrases 25 are programmed as jokes! The walls are absolutely covered in funny sayings and photos, with politicians and traffic wardens in for special abuse! Pat took great pride in pointing out his favourite signs to me and showing me a photo of his two daughters, who are both doctors. He also gave me a demonstration of the exercise bike he uses between cuts, and a singing toy that flashes its underwear - for someone who can't speak he gave me lots of laughs in the 10 minutes I was there.

Today Pat was cutting the hair of Win, who had lots of interesting stories of her own. She was one of the first female councillors in Limerick, at a time when it was almost unheard of. She can't walk very well, but she still gets a friend to regularly help her up the three flights of stairs to get Pat to look after her hair, and she says she wouldn't go to anyone else. I can see why! :)