Build it and they will come

A LEGO obsessed dad of three from Trim who creates giant mosaics of famous faces using specially sourced bricks and boasts a garage full of rare collector sets has organised an event celebrating his passion.

Jay Byrne (35) who along with his brother Mark owns every Batman batmobile ever made by LEGO describes becoming “hooked” on the pastime when he got a castle set as a child. 

The mosaics that contain a staggering 20,736 pieces each measuring 4.5 x 4.5 and took two months to build are so big they are unable to fit in John's house and have to be kept in a warehouse. 

The toy fanatic who is a member of an adult LEGO fan group called Bricklink travels around Europe displaying his creations at special LEGO events says he often stays up for entire nights completing a project. 

His interest dwindled as he got older but rediscovered his love for the pastime a number of years ago.  

“I loved LEGO when I was a child. It was the creativity of it, I'm very artistic and love creating things. As I grew older, I lost interest in it. 

Each mosaic has over 20,000 pieces 

“About five years ago I got back into it and started buying everything all over again. My brother had a couple of collectors sets and sold them and made a good bit of money out of them so we started buying and selling them.

“I decided to one day make one of them which was a Batman Tumbler from the Dark Knight Movie and fell back in love with it. 

“Building LEGO is relaxing for me. I enjoy sitting down, and building the latest UCS sets and putting them on display in my house. Once you see them complete, you feel a sense of accomplishment having built it with your own hands. I have even gotten my sons Nikita, 10 and Eden, 2 into it.

“I collect the Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series which is mostly Star Wars ships. Most sets wouldn't take me more than ten hours to complete. 

“I loved LEGO when I was a child. It was the creativity of it, I'm very artistic and love creating things."

“I've often started building something on a Friday and would stay awake the whole night until 8 am the next morning because just lose track of time, I enjoy it so much. 

“The UCS collection is for adults. The cheapest one you can buy is about €200 and they go up to €850.

John's major passion is creating impressive mosaics of well-known faces he designs and builds from scratch. 

“I love making mosaics of famous figures because I love drawing and painting and there is more of a creative element to it than lego sets. I find a picture that I like or want to copy and draw it on the computer and then I was a programme to build it on the computer first and after that, I build it in real life.

Jay travels around Europe displaying his creations at special LEGO events 

“As you use 1x1 bricks, it's easy to reuse the parts after a while to make different people.

“I have been getting involved in LEGO events for years now - my first was shortly after I got back into it as an adult. I love meeting other adults who have an interest. 

‘Creative Bricks’ takes place on the 7th June in the Knightsbrook Hotel and is a must for any fan of LEGO according to Jay. 

“We will have tonnes of LEGO for the kids to play with. We will have workshops with Bricks Club, face painting by Jiggle n' Jump (Trim), Duplo and colouring areas for younger kids, LEGO design competitions, LEGO wall kids can build on and charity tombola with LEGO-themed prizes and much more.” 

Jay chose to partner with a charity for the event that helped him and his family through a heartbreaking time.

Jay and his wife Olga tragically lost their daughter Arya who was stillborn at 39 weeks just days before Olga was due to give birth. The family was left devastated but says that Féileacáin, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to offer support to anyone affected by the death of a baby during pregnancy or shortly after gave them some comfort in their darkest hours.

The Trim dad spending quality time together with son Eden (2)

"In 2016, sadly my wife Olga and I lost our beautiful daughter Arya through complications days before birth.

"Féileacáin were a huge help to us and made our loss that little bit more bearable. 

“We had Arya in the Coombe Hospital and Féileacáin sent up a teddy for my son from his sister along with handmade clothes from people who knitted them especially and they gave us a beautiful white coffin as well.

"They provided us with a memory box and even had a photographer spend a day with us to capture memories with our daughter. 

"They also bring parents who have gone through this together.  I've always wanted a daughter, it broke my heart but I can't understand the way she feels having carried her in her womb for nine months.  

"Our second charity partner is BUMBLEance because of the fantastic work they do in bringing sick children to and from hospitals all across the country."

For tickets search Creative Bricks on www.eventbrite.ie