Katie Mullally
A London Irish Story as told to Anna Johnston
“My father was from Tipperary and my mother, although born in Scotland, was from an Irish family. I remember Dad missed living in Ireland a lot; he wanted to bring his bit of Ireland into the soul of the family. There were many occasions when my parents and their friends would gather around and sing Irish songs while Mummy played the piano. I always loved it, and I don’t know of any other culture where it happens. I feel very lucky and proud to have my Irish heritage.
When my grandfather died, his farm was divided into three. My uncle Paddy took over one of them. Every summer, growing up, we would spend two or three weeks at Uncle Paddy’s farm. I’m one of seven children. It always felt that we had the run of his house and land, we could make as much noise as we liked there. Uncle Paddy never married and had no children so it must certainly have been a big disruption for him when we all piled into his home. But he never seemed to mind and always gave us a warm welcome. We would spend our days walking across the fields, just to arrive at the solitary petrol station locally where they sold sweets.
Growing up I was always seen as the bold one, I wasn’t particularly good at school. I later discovered that I suffered from dyslexia. This was not known about in those days, so my parents didn’t know how to help me when I wasn’t doing well at school due to my difficulties with reading.
My mother was a barrister, and my father was a doctor, and all my siblings did well in school and went to university. I felt different to my brothers and sisters. I know now that I was the one with creative gifts and had different strengths, but my parents didn’t know what to do with me at the time.
Since the age of 14, I would spend my school holidays at my Granny's antique silver and jewellery shop in St Christopher’s Place, beside Selfridge’s in London. There I would help her with cleaning the silver. I learned a lot at the shop.
My Granny was in partnership with my Uncle Michael. One of the first things they taught me was to look for the hallmarks on the silver and what those hallmarks meant. Hallmarking is stamping the makers mark, together with the date and place it was hallmarked, on to a piece of silver or gold. The hallmark tells the story of the piece; I learned to recognise the makers’ marks so well when I was younger. I found it fascinating! Uncle Michael specialised in Irish silver; he was invited to write the Irish section for Jackson’s known in the trade as the hallmarking Bible. Michael was well known in Ireland, and a member of the Goldsmiths’ Company in the City of London, he was also awarded the Freedom of the City of London.
As I got older, I moved away from the antiques trade, a decision which I now regret. At the age of 17 it just didn’t seem a very exciting industry to be in. I went travelling, spent some time in Greece and did all the usual teenage things like working in bars. Once home, I took a secretarial course locally while I tried to discover what I really wanted to do. I then worked in the city for many years.
When I got married, my son Will and daughter Georgia arrived, and my work revolved around my kids. For a good while I was doing up wrecks of houses which my husband and I would buy, renovate and then sell – we moved many times! It was a creative outlet for me to renovate these houses and I really loved it.
Having learnt a lot about auctions and markets from my dad and knowing how to pick up a bargain, I always furnished the houses by buying at antique markets and auctions. I still love nothing more than going to an antique market and having a rummage, as the Japanese say, it’s my ‘ikigai’.
When I was turning 50, I decided to join a silver smithing course to make and design jewellery. It was like a eureka moment when I started - I just loved it and I knew this was what I was always meant to do. My grandmother worked into her late eighties and my mother, at 92, is still going strong so it didn’t seem like it was too late to begin something for myself.
Initially, I began soldering silver bangles and adding vintage charms, selling them from a shop in Devon. The vintage charms were becoming increasingly hard to source and so I decided to design charms, based on my love of vintage, and then have them cast. This allowed me the opportunity to scale up the business and to ensure that every piece I sell had the KMM hallmark. Many jewellers do not take the trouble to get hallmarks for smaller pieces. But hallmarking is very important to me, as I know it tells the story of each piece in addition to adding to its value.
In the years to come, many KMM customers will appreciate being able to pass their jewellery down to future generations, each piece telling its own story of the year and place the jewellery was stamped.
I am so excited to be working with the London Irish Centre on a London Irish Claddagh ring. A Claddagh design but without the crown. Forty per cent of the proceeds from sales will be going to the London Irish Centre charity. It is a privilege for me to be invited to work with the LIC, I so much admire all the good works they do. Also, it keeps me in touch with my Irish heritage of which I am immensely proud. I know Dad would have been proud too!”
London Irish Centre X Katie Mullally
Be the first to be notified when Katie Mullally’s Claddagh ring in partnership with the London Irish Centre goes on sale by signing up to the London Irish Centre’s newsletter here
40% of the profits from this sale will go towards the work of the London Irish Centre.
Follow Katie on instagram: @katiemullallyjewellery Twitter: @katiemullally
