When I got back to Brooklyn from the Traditional Tattoo & World Culture Fest in Ireland, I found the latest issue of the wonderful Swallows & Daggers tattoo zine waiting for me. Considering it's published in the place I'd just come from, I've gotten to continue my love affair with the Irish beyond their pubs their lush scenery and vast cultural institutions.

Swallows & Daggers highlights Traditional and Neo-Traditional tattooing, promoting established and up-n-coming artists working in these styles. And they do so in the coolest of old school and new school ways by offering a paper zine (almost like a tattoo newspaper) with a dynamic blog. Bookmark it!

You can order the hard copy zine, as well as the digital version, through their online store, which also includes flash, tattoo books, prints, and some nice looking tees.

I particularly love the thoughtful tattoo interviews, but also check their section on the meanings behind common tattoo motifs, their growing convention coverage, and sketchbook reviews. In fact, there's a great article in this latest issue that explores the good and bad of mass-produced sketchbooks sold by tattooists and suppliers. ["Do they show a tattooer's particular approach to design or just make it easier for the uncreative?"]

Cheers to Cian David Wright who works his butt off putting it all together.