There’s something magical about them.

Handcrafted in traditional shillelagh style or fused with other historic crafts such as pyrography and scrimshaw, a group of local stickmakers are exhibiting their award-winning walking sticks and canes in LHQ Gallery, Cork County Library Building, Carrigrohane Road.

The fabulous foxes, regal swans, crows, claws and pheasants in ‘The Wood from the Trees’ are all handmade by both the Cork City and Glanworth branches of the Celtic Stickmakers Club.

The exhibition takes visitors on the journey of crafting a walking stick, including the straightening and strengthening process – a task which is known to take over a year to complete per piece.

The historic Irish craft of stickmaking can be traced back as far as the 7th Century, however it has seen a resurgence in popularity thanks to the community-based Celtic Stickmakers Club founded by craftsman, Tom Kavanagh in 2006.

The exhibition is open (free of charge) to the public between 9.30am and 5.30pm, from now until October 26th.