For more than thirty years, Seamus Fitzpatrick Construction Ltd. have been providing farmers across counties Monaghan and Cavan with high-quality, value-added farm building and poultry house construction services. We travelled to their Ballybay base and caught up with Rory Fitzpatrick to find out more about this exceptional, second-generation family business.
Covering counties Monaghan and Cavan predominantly, Seamus Fitzpatrick Construction Ltd. are synonymous with building the best poultry houses, sheds, milking parlours and cubicle houses that money can buy, as well as an unrivalled concrete laying service.
Thoroughly professional services are provided at all times, by experienced personnel using only the highest quality CE Marking approved materials, with every project invariably delivered on time, within budget and to the customer’s precise specifications.
Considering the Fitzpatricks’ uncanny ability to offer farmers the finest bespoke buildings with the maximum attention to detail and a minimum of fuss, it’s little wonder that their reputation for excellence has spread like wildfire over the past 30 years and more, the industry-leading family business going from strength to strength on the back of a steady volume of repeat custom from satisfied customers as well as new contracts secured through positive referrals and the all-important word of mouth – arguably the most precious advertising medium of all!
“At the end of the day it all comes down to carrying out quality work at a cost-effective price, and completing jobs on time,” says Rory Fitzpatrick when asked about the key to the company’s success since its inception in the 1980s. “Quality, price and schedule – if you can excel in all three of those areas then you won’t go too far wrong.”
Members of the Irish Association of Steel Fabricators, Seamus Fitzpatrick Construction have placed a huge emphasis on quality since the eponymous Seamus set the business up. “All the work is fully certified and we have had the CE Mark up to Execution Mark II for the past three years now,” continues Rory, who runs the business alongside his father.
“It’s a family business and we have ten men working with us at the moment, which we are very happy about. Things are going fairly well, thankfully. All the men are highly skilled and vastly experienced; some of them have been with us for 30 years. They know what they’re doing. With so much experience, they know farm buildings inside out and have very good knowledge of the industry.”
The fact that Seamus Fitzpatrick Construction is first and foremost a family business, offering a friendly, personal touch, is another key strength. With founder Seamus still heavily involved in overseeing all projects and his sons Rory and Niall also on board, all three have a vested interest in making sure that the business continues to thrive, thus making quality workmanship a given!
Seamus Fitzpatrick Construction specialise in delivering a diverse range of farm buildings and poultry houses, providing a complete construction service in house, from start to finish. “At the moment, we’re working on a poultry house for 40,000 birds for a farmer outside Monaghan town,” Rory notes. “This man is running a dairy and poultry enterprise and we completed a 25-unit milking parlour for him last year. Farmers have to diversify more and more to keep their businesses profitable.
“We’re also doing a cubicle house in Threemilehouse, which is 110 foot wide with ten cubicles in it and five bays. Before Christmas, we’re also due to start work on a new milking parlour in Drum. A lot of the work is repeat business but we’re picking up new customers too. We’re doing all types of farm buildings, poultry houses, milking parlours and we also do a lot of concrete laying.”
This comprises both agri and residential work, including laneways, paths, concrete around houses, concrete grooving, etc.
There’s a lot more paperwork and compliance involved in constructing farm buildings these days but, even though it can be time consuming, Rory believes this is a good thing as it helps keep standards high: “There’s a lot more regulation and compliance than there used to be. Even the CE Marking takes up a lot of time and attention. You have to make sure all that paperwork is in order before you even contemplate going out on site. But if everybody is complying and standards are higher across the board, then that’s a positive for everybody.
“We used to build some residential homes as well – and we even did one last year – but if we’re kept busy with the agri work then we’re happy to concentrate on that. Luckily, we are fairly busy right now but Brexit is a big worry and we’re all watching to see how that’s going to pan out.”
To consistently provide the best possible service, Seamus Fitzpatrick Construction have invested in their own heavy machinery, including three 14-tonne Volvo diggers (one of which was purchased new this year), a teleporter and their own fleet of vans.
Looking to the future, Rory says the aim is to consolidate the business by continuing to provide excellent products and service levels at a good price. “We’re doing a good mix of work at the moment,” he concludes. “We always have a few jobs ahead of us, which is good, particularly at this time of year anyway. We have another job coming up before Christmas in Ardaghey, which is a cubicle house with 100 cubicles and a dry shed to the side of it. We offer a complete construction service from start to finish, including a professional design service if required. That’s convenient for farmers who appreciate only having to deal with one contractor.”
Seamus Fitzpatrick Construction Ltd.,
Annaneese,
Ballybay,
County Monaghan.
Tel: 086 2593141 / 8351046
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 8 No 2, Summer 2020
Seamus Fitzpatrick Construction Ltd.
