Eoin Reardon loves timber. His millions of social-media followers watch him carve the most extraordinary items, from simple spatulas and garden rakes to epic currachs and even guillotines.

“That was for a residency at Bunratty Castle,” says the 24-year-old. “Myself and a blacksmith, James O’Connor, spent the best part of five months working there together last year and we were asked to build a guillotine.

Eoin says: “It was a challenge. We were both used to working on our own in our own workshops and zoning in on the job, but this was in public. It took us about six weeks all in.

“I remember, when we finished, we got a few watermelons, and the thrill of seeing that plane plummet down on them and cutting them clean in half was very satisfying.”

Constructing Gallic gallows for the execution of ill-fated fruit wasn’t always the plan for Eoin.

Before he ever picked up a chisel, he was carving out a very different path.

Eoin Reardon (aka Captain BusyBollocks) with a piece of his work. Picture: Larry Cummins

“I think I fell into a situation a lot of young people find themselves in,” says the West Cork native.

“They leave school without any particular passion; they see what their CAO points can get them and go to college, because it’s the next logical step.

“I got into commerce at UCC and stuck around for two years. I probably should’ve left earlier, because I spent all my free time working with wood, obsessively researching and honing my skill, while I was sulking in college. It was obvious where my passion lay.”

Eoin took that obsession to social media and, “at some point in 2022”, a TikTok of himself shaving with an old razor he had restored went viral. Soon, he was coming home from college every evening and going straight to his workshop in the family shed to make content for what became 100,000 followers in just a few short weeks.

“I started to make a small bit of money and decided I’d take a year off my studies to see how it went,” Eoin says.

“When the time came to go back to college, I deferred again and I haven’t looked back since.” Understandably, not everyone in his immediate circle was keen on this unexpected pivot. Having invested in their son’s education, Eoin’s parents “took a bit of convincing”.

“They now see that it’s worked out and they’re happy,” he says.

Most importantly, Eoin is happy.

“I’ve always been drawn to wood as a material,” he says. “I think back to sharpening sticks with a pen knife in the scouts; it’s just very therapeutic.

“I think there’s something within the human animal that likes working with their hands to shape a material. I find it incredibly rewarding to step back and look at something that I’ve made.

Craftsman Eoin Reardon in his workshop in Crossbarry, where he restores old tools and makes new furniture

“I love the whole process of sourcing the material and building it up. There’s skill and knowledge required the whole way through the process. I’m for ever learning and I will be learning until the day I die.”

Eoin’s endless search for new materials and new ways of doing things, as well as his unique style, keep people watching. With 3.4m followers on TikTok, 580,000 followers on Instagram, and 1.6m on YouTube, his audience growth has been remarkable. Still, Eoin says there is a stigma about working with your hands.

“I think there’s almost been a snobbery around trade jobs being second class,” he says. “Maybe we are starting to see a shift now, with trades getting the recognition they deserve.”

Research by builders’ providers Chadwicks about attitudes towards apprenticeships and trades seems to support Eoin’s assertions. Seventy percent of young adults surveyed said they wanted to learn a trade skill, but almost half had not had the opportunity at school. And 38% said apprenticeships were not promoted as much as university courses, while only 30% of parents were likely to encourage their child to consider an apprenticeship.

Eoin Reardon, aka CaptainBusyBollocks, out on his self-built currach

“We worry far too much about college in this country,” says Eoin. “With the world heading more towards AI, I’d be fairly sure that trades are going to fare much better than some college-educated jobs over the next few years.

“If school and academia are not for you, don’t be shy; reach out to local tradespeople and see what opportunities there are.”

As for his own future, Eoin is chipping away and building on his success online.

“My plan is to teach workshops,” he says. “I’m putting together a timber-frame shed over winter and I want to bring people in for a few days or a week to learn how to make, maybe, a table or chair from scratch. I’ve a sawmill and the site is surrounded by forestry we can take timber from.

“I just want to teach people what is almost a lost art of sourcing timber, cutting it, and turning it in to a functional piece. I want to revive hand-tool use in this country.”

Given what he has achieved already, few would be surprised if he does just that.

To mark the new school year, Chadwicks has partnered with Eoin Reardon and Shauna Doyle to inspire a new generation to consider a career in construction.

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