Two go solo after years of experience with Cork's famous 'Baldy Barber'

Two new barbershops by former 'Baldy Barber' apprentices are opening in Cork, just months after the iconic Cork barber retired after 59 years in the trade.

The former barbershop in Blackpool sold at the end of last year, with former Baldy Barber Mick Moriarty saying he expects apartments to be put into the premises.

Noel Sheehan has been in the barbering trade for 38 years, beginning in Cork and working in Dublin, London and New York, before returning to Cork a few months ago and settling in Boherbue.

He opened his own store there last week: “Sheehan’s Irish Traditional Barbershop is family-orientated, tying into the old school ethos where barbershops were kind of like a meeting hub. I said to the estate agent, if you could imagine a cross between Cork barbershops in the 90s and a men’s shed.

“We have no TV, we talk here. In the Baldy Barber’s, you had two or three generations of the same family coming in, and you had a direct connection to your customers. It’s classic cuts more than fad hairstyles.” 

He said that the current trend of barbershops is “copy and paste, they’re soulless. Appointment only, ring lights – that’s not what my shop is about.” 

He opened last Tuesday, and he said that they’ve had “great support” from the community. “Mick came down and brought me some of his dad’s tools, which made me very emotional. It was such an honour, like he was passing on the gauntlet.

“Mick was an integral part of the community in Blackpool, a stalwart of the local area. I’m trying to get a sense of the area now, what works best for Boherbue.

“People coming in are mostly 25 and upwards, locals. A kid came in asking for a burst fade and I said to him there’s a guy in Newmarket who does all that stuff and his father said ‘fair play’.” Another Baldy Barber apprentice, Donncha O’Connell, is also opening his own shop soon in Gurranabraher. Mr O’Connell spent 26 years working alongside Mick before the shop closed recently, and went viral internationally for cutting the hair of a young boy with additional needs in the back of his mother’s car.

Mick said: “Donnacha is the best I’ve seen at working with children with special needs. My shop made Fox News when Donnacha went well beyond the call of duty cutting a boy’s hair. He will do very well.” Mr Sheehan added: “Me and Donncha grew up on the same road, we were childhood friends. We both served our four year apprenticeships, and realised that the four years is about learning the craft, but also learning your people skills and how to deal with customers.”