Custy Construction Ltd. reached a milestone anniversary in May, 2025 and hands-on founder / proprietor Dermot Custy is delighted to report that the Ennis-based building contractor is busier than ever, with demand for its industry-leading services continuing to rise.
Twenty years in, Custy Construction Ltd. continues to go from strength to strength.
Renowned across the greater Clare, Limerick, Galway, Tipperary region for the consistent delivery of a broad range of high-quality residential, commercial, healthcare, pharmaceutical and public projects, Custy Construction has been firmly committed to looking after customers since Day One, with meticulous workmanship and the keenest attention to detail culminating in a steady stream of repeat business and referrals through word of mouth.
Dermot and his trusty team have a healthy order book in front of them going into 2026 and beyond – not a bad place to be in as they mark their 20th anniversary! A nice landmark to reach for any business? “It is for sure,” says the Clare man. “The 20 years seem to have gone by very quickly, especially with the last few being so busy. I set the business up in May, 2005, starting off as a small building contractor, and we’ve just grown over the years.”
A carpenter by trade, after spending a couple of years working in America, Dermot operated as a sole trader for four years before setting up the company. It’s fair to say Custy Construction has come a long way in two decades, having started off doing mainly extensions, renovations and roofing followed by one-off houses and graduating on to deliver a fantastic portfolio of high-end homes, multiunit developments and a rich, diverse array of residential, commercial, pharma and HSE work.
On the residential front, Dermot is currently busy on a series of multiunit housing developments, comprising both private estates and local authority contracts. “As everybody knows, there’s a big housing crisis in Ireland at present and we’ve very busy doing residential work, with a number of housing estates on at the minute.
One is a private development of our own in Ennis, while we’re also currently working on three different housing estates for Clare County Council – two in Kilrush and one in Doonbeg.”
Between these three sites, the much-sought-after company is in the process of building no fewer than 36 new social and affordable homes for Clare Co. Co.. Meanwhile, in association with CHI (Co-operative Housing Ireland), they have just recently completed a further 25 new homes in Ennis. “We’re also doing 16 units in Croom for Limerick County Council and 16 more social and affordable homes for Galway County Council on a prominent site on Dunlo Hill, Ballinasloe,” the driving force behind Custy Construction continues.
For their own private development, Custy Construction have just recently started on site in Ennis, where a total of 48 private homes will be built. They are also the main contractor, working for a developer, on another private development of 45 units in Kinvara. “Phase One is nearly completed there and we’re looking forward to getting started on Phase Two.
“We are also working away on one-off, bespoke, high-end homes. Between everything, at present, there are up to 180 residential homes being built at present.”
Custy Construction currently generates steady full-time work for a team of 50 direct employees as well as an extended network of regular subcontractors plus additional subbies who are brought in when needed. “We’re growing every year and I’m happy enough with it,” Dermot confirms. “I don’t want to take on too much but at the same time, there’s a big push in housing at the moment and the work is there.
“It was really during the recession that I started doing one-off houses and we survived that because, as we were still small, we weren’t too exposed. Since then, we’ve grown it steadily and gradually, taking on more work, more men and more machinery.”
From the word go, quality workmanship has epitomised everything that Custy Construction is all about. “It’s always been my No.1 priority,” Dermot concedes. “From the start, I was always more focused on having the work right rather than the money end of it. I’d also be very conscious of how important it is to keep things tidy and clean for people moving into new homes.
“Health and Safety is also massive. We have our own safety officer and are very conscious of all aspects of Health and Safety. So I’d say it’s about the quality of the work and also the cleanliness and safety of the site.”
Three years ago, Custy Construction successfully participated as main contractor in the voluntary quick-turnaround transformation of a home in Ennis as part of RTE’s DIY SOS: The Big Build Ireland show. When we touched base with Dermot in June, 2025, he had just completed work on another amazing project for the same show, this one in Clarecastle comprising the adaptation of a home for 13-year-old Franek Barczak and his family.
“We do a good bit of work with Kirby’s, who are associated with the show, and that was probably why the production team first approached us three years ago,” Dermot notes. “It was nice to be involved in it and we had a great experience. I didn’t think there’d be another one coming to Ennis in three years and we initially had to decline it because we are so busy.
“But they were determined that we’d do it again and refused to take no for an answer. We took it on in the end and I’m glad we did because you feel good and it’s nice to be able to help out with something like that. Myself, John and Dave were all involved onsite and it went well. Look, it was something we didn’t need but at the same time you get a great sense of achievement from it.
“It’s amazing what people can do when they pull together. The family got a full new extension and it was fully completed in seven or eight days, all by volunteers. People are great when they come together and the spirit on site was unbelievable. We were just a small part of it and there were countless others involved. It really is astonishing what can be achieved when a large number of people come together with energy and things are organised properly. And the big thing is that it’s going to make a massive difference to the family.”
As for the future of Custy Construction, Dermot will review the situation month by month and accepts that even though they are flying right now there’s no room for complacency: “In construction, you can’t ever get too carried away. The company has grown year on year, both turnover-wise and adding more staff. It’s been great, but you don’t want to go too mad.
“Without our loyal team of skilled tradesmen, subcontractors and suppliers, we’d have nothing, so I’d like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to them all for their invaluable input.
“Even though we have tons of work in front of us for the next two years, there’s always uncertainty in this industry and we’re always conscious of the volatility of the economy and how things can change dramatically, as we all saw with the last crash,” the Clare contractor concludes.
“We’re at a good size at the moment and it would be nice to keep it going at around this size if at all possible, because it runs really well now and you can step back the odd day if you need to. Between government contracts, HSE work, pharma and the private work too, we have a good mix of projects and that gives you a little security going forward.”
Custy Construction Ltd.,
Unit 4,
Block G,
Riverside Business Park,
Quin Road,
Ennis,
County Clare.
Tel: 065 6845494
Email: [email protected]
Web: custycon.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, October 2025, Vol 11 No 11
