One Irish man who lives in Brazil missed Ireland so much that he had a picture of his hometown tattooed on his stomach.
There are millions of Irish people spread around the world, and for many it can be difficult to find the time and money to travel home as often as they’d like.
One man who has found his own unique way of feeling closer to his Irish roots is 31-year-old Martin Maguire.
He lives in Brazil with his partner and two young daughters.
He told the Irish Mirror: “Being away from home for so long, I began to miss it because none of my family or friends had ever met my little girl Gabriela.
“I began to miss Wexford even more, that’s when I came up with the idea for the tattoo.
“I’ve got loads of tattoos from many artists, but I didn’t think any of them would be up for the challenge of inking this idea on my skin.
“Then I heard of this guy Mark Codd from Umeg Tattoos and after seeing his work I couldn’t believe what he could do with a tattoo gun.
“The guy is in a league of his own. I just knew he was the man for the job.
“I gave him a few ideas of what I wanted and left the rest up to him.”
Martin’s tattoo shows his hometown of Wexford. It is a picturesque view of the River Slaney, with his father’s boat in the foreground and the bridge, churches and other buildings in the background.
The tattoo is not yet complete according to Martin, as he revealed he plans to have a tribute to his two daughters also added to the picture.
He said: “I’ve decided that my next piece to be added to the view of Wexford is going to be a silhouette of a man and on either side of him will be a little girl.
“I have every bit of faith in Mark Codd that when he’s finished it’s going to a very talked about tattoo.
“I’ve already got heaps of stick off people saying all kinds of stuff about it, but in means something very special to me. It’s very close to my heart.”
