Laois great grandad's 'Trojan horse' featured by Marty Morrissey on RTÉ television
Laois great grandad Charlie Bourke’s amazing life size Trojan horses are getting famous, now featured on national television on RTÉ’s The Today Show.
Marty Morrissey chose The Leinster Express / Laois Live’s recent story about Emo woodworker and retired taxi driver Charlie, for their weekly slot on rural newspapers.
They went a step further and interviewed Charlie and his wife Kathy via Zoom on the afternoon television show, on Friday, May 22.
Presenters Maura Derrane and Jonathan Healy chatted to Charlie and admired his artistry.
“You seriously are an artist. It’s a very dramatic one, just like the Trojan Horse. Now you’re going to leave a whole history of your family,” Maura told him.
“It is a work of art, to start from scratch,” Marty Morrissey said.
It follows a visit to Charlie Bourke’s workshop in Emo by the Leinster Express to see Charlie’s incredible wooden horses and hear his story in person.
Charlie made his first full sized horse out of mahogany as a gift for Kathy, and is now working on his second, made of layers of high grade plywood.
“I thought it would be nice to do it full size. It's not rocket science," a modest Charlie said.
Both have hollow tummies inside which the family have placed special mementos including The Leinster Express newspaper.
They will be preserved inside as long as the timber survives, which could be hundreds of years to come.
The episode is available to watch back online on the RTÉ Player.