Established in 1939, O’Reilly Concrete, part of the O Reilly Group, are one of the largest Precast companies in Ireland and the UK who design, manufacturer and install precast concrete buildings, including Residential, Commercial and Educational projects for a wide variety of Clients. The O Reilly Group’s head office is in Kingscourt, Co. Cavan, while it has 10 production facilities located across counties Monaghan, Cavan, Meath and Westmeath as well as in Cardiff, which opened in October 2019 to cater for its growing UK business.
Employing 560 people directly and indirectly, the O’Reilly Group is made up of four companies – O’Reilly Concrete Ltd, Barleystone Paving Ltd, O’Reilly Oakstown Ltd and O’Reilly Precast (UK). The Group’s main customers are in the construction sector with its concrete, blocks, paving and precast concrete products being utilised in a wide range of construction activities, ranging from small & large residential and office block projects through to Schools, Hotels, and a variety of commercial projects.
O’Reilly Concrete are unique in the industry as they complete all Design & Detailing work ‘In House’ through their experienced and extensive design & detailing office.
The company’s ‘Modern Method of Construction’ (MMC) has proved innovative and timesaving, while always maintaining high standards in quality. O’Reilly Concrete’s unrivalled track record in its ‘design and build’ projects, along with its complete range of precast concrete solutions, have seen it become one of the market leaders in Ireland and UK.
O’Reilly Concrete’s core products have historically been ready-mix concrete, quarry products, concrete blocks and Agri precast products. It also manufactures its own range of bespoke products which include hollowcore flooring (both Thermal Flooring & Traditional flooring), wide slab floors, precast walls, precast insulated wall panels, prestressed wall panels, precast Column & Beams, precast stairs and the latest addition to the portfolio includes Architectural Insulated wall panels.
In April 2021, O’Reilly Concrete opened its new AWP (Architectural Wall Panel) manufacturing facility in Taghart, Shercock, Co. Cavan. The facility is manufacturing bespoke architectural wall panels, designed by O’Reilly’s in-house team, that includes brick-faced precast panels, coloured rendered finished panels, along with other bespoke finishes.
The construction phase on-site can be reduced by up to 50% with a very small crew compared to traditional build methods. The walls are flexible in design with windows, doors and internal electrical conduits and sockets now being installed at the Factory prior to delivery on site, thus further accelerating the Construction programme for their clients.
“We’re leading designers and manufacturers of precast frame building solutions,” says O’Reilly Group CEO Emmet Cosgrove.
“We operate our own quarries so are self-sufficient when it comes to raw materials. We provide the full design, manufacture, installation, and certification package for our clients. Our business continues to go from strength to strength as the industry, post-Covid, turns towards off-site construction, with more and more developers, architects and engineers realising the real time, cost and CO2 savings that are to be had with our system. The inclusion of our Architectural Wall division to the O’Reilly Group will ensure we continue to provide for what our Clients and the Market requires”.
“Everything is built in and ready for fitting. There are big savings on labour costs and it’s also a more sustainable way of doing things due to less waste due to Factory controlled production and less lorry movement of products and trucks to and from site compared to traditional build methods.”
O’Reilly Concrete partners with main contractors such as BAM, JJ Rhatigans, ABM, Townmore Construction, Sisk, Elliot Construction, Galiford Try, OHMG, Glasgiven, Stewart Construction, Ganson, Vision Construction and Monami on residential, educational, commercial, hospitality, environmental, healthcare and agricultural projects throughout Ireland and the UK. The Irish market accounts for 75% of its business, with the UK market accounting for the rest.
“We have several projects ongoing in the UK presently including a large residential block in Worcester for our long-standing client, Elliotts. We have also just finished in the last few weeks another large residential development in Purley, London for LBC,” Emmet explains
The O’Reilly Group has come a long way since it was formed over 80 years ago as a small sand and gravel family business. Still owned by the O’Reilly family, the Group has retained its core values and commitment to delivering quality, reliability and customer satisfaction to each and every project. The Group is also committed to the highest standards of Health & Safety and even has its own in-house training centre which facilitates and assists in the training and continuous learning of all its employees.
In addition, the Group is proactively looking for new ways to improve its environmental footprint, by reducing CO2 emissions in its concrete with the inclusion of a low carbon filler replacing cement to planting over 15,000 trees at one of its facilities. The Group is currently working on its ‘Environmental Sustainability Roadmap’, which it hopes to publish in Q1 2023.
Offering ‘The Perfect Finish’, Barleystone Paving is the paving arm of the O’Reilly Group. This company’s core products are paving brick, masonry brick, flagstones and decorative stones. O’Reilly Oakstown Environmental is another division of the Group and provides a wide range of environmental solutions both Domestic & Commercial, including wastewater treatment systems, septic tanks, precast retaining wall, Petrol Interceptors and rainwater harvesting systems for homes, schools, hotels, businesses, and Agriculture. Over the years, O’Reilly Oakstown has grown to provide full bespoke design and installation services.
Emmet Cosgrove joined the O’Reilly Group as Operations Director in 2015 before being appointed CEO in early 2020. “We’ve continued to grow over the last two-three years, despite the challenges posed by Covid, Brexit, hyperinflation, soaring energy costs and the more recent war in Ukraine,” he points out. “Despite these challenges, we continue to invest in our facilities and in our people to ensure the O’Reilly Group continues to develop and grow into the future”.
Emmet would like to take this opportunity to thank the O’Reilly Group’s clients, customers, partners and suppliers for their continued support as well as its expert teams in every division for their hard work, dedication and commitment that they have shown over the last two-three years in particular.
O’Reilly Concrete Group
Head Office:
Larchfield,
Kingscourt,
Co. Cavan,
A82 HY00.
Telephone: +353 (0)42 9693500
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, February 2023, Vol 9 No 2
