Conor Phelan was born to be a builder and the meticulous workmanship and unerring attention to detail invariably invested into each project undertaken have resulted in swift and organic growth for his exceptional Dungarvan headquartered contracting firm, Conor Phelan Construction. He’s never been busier but Conor nevertheless graciously took some time out to speak to Building Ireland.
Since inception, Conor Phelan Construction has delivered industry-leading excellence across a wide range of residential extension, refurbishment and new build projects across the Mid Waterford region. Demand for his stellar services continues to soar and the Dungarvan contracting firm is in big demand right now.
Hailing from a strong building background and imbued with a resilient work ethic, Conor was perhaps always destined to front his own contracting company. Conor Phelan Construction is now in its seventh year trading as a limited company and the model family business continues to go from strength to strength, growing exponentially year on year and amassing an unrivalled portfolio of professionally and promptly delivered projects that consistently meet, nay exceed, client expectations.
At the time of writing, Conor had just embarked on two key new projects – namely Weavers Lane and Cappoquin Regeneration Project. Weavers Lane is a private development of seven new build houses at Villierstown village, Waterford, comprising five detached 2½ storey dormers and two semi-detached single storey units, with Conor Phelan Construction acting as both developer and main contractor.
Meanwhile, Waterford City and County Council awarded the first construction contracts for the Cappoquin Regeneration Project to two local contractors in April of this year, with Conor Phelan Construction winning the contract for the refurbishment of three terraced townhouses at 6, 7 and 8 Main Street.
Over €6m is being invested by The Department of Rural and Community Development in the overall Cappoquin Regeneration Project and Conor Phelan Construction’s housing contract will transform the vacant terraced townhouses into three new homes with ancillary mews accommodation at the rear on Green Street. Extensive reconstruction and refurbishment works over the coming twelve months will deliver the new homes for occupation by the end of 2025.
“The Weavers is my own development, working in collaboration with an architect and engineer,” Conor confirms. “We started on site there in April and will be finished all seven units next year. Three are already sold, two went to the council and the last two are still available.
“For our work on Cappoquin Regeneration Project, we are currently two months into a 15-month project that will involve the complete top-to-bottom refurbishment of those three units. We’ll be knocking them to the ground and putting in new foundations, new retaining walls, underpinning them, everything will be completely rebuilt.”
To complement those ten residential units, Conor also had no fewer than ten home renovation projects ongoing when we spoke to him, predominantly in the greater Dungarvan area but going as far as Lismore.
Conor Phelan Construction isn’t limited to residential work and also has a brilliant track record delivering a vast array of commercial works, including a number of educational projects, one recent example being a €1.3m extension onto Slieverue Mixed National School in bordering Kilkenny.
From a building materials supply and carpentry background, Conor has been running his own business for twelve years. His family own and run Phelan’s Fuel & Hardware in Dungarvan and the young Conor got to know all about materials and building while working in the store from the age of twelve until he was 20. That gave him a firm background in the trade and the more he learned and the more contacts he made, the more the Waterford man wanted to get into building himself.
He left the family business at the age of 20 and went down the carpentry route, first working for C&H Builders before setting up Conor Phelan Carpentry & Building Services, which would become Conor Phelan Construction Ltd. in 2018.
Incidentally, Marlhill Construction from Ardfinnan is the other local builder awarded one of the initial two contracts under the Cappoquin Regeneration Project (for the refurbishment of Moore’s Hotel on Main Street) and as happy coincidence would have it, Conor and Marlhill go back a long way: “After I went out doing carpentry on my own, I was subcontracted in to Marlhill and I got to know Seamus Butler [proprietor} very well. We still get on great today.”
Workmanship is key to the wonderful reputation Conor Phelan Construction has garnered near and far in a relatively short space of time. To achieve this, one needs good tradesmen and good management.
“A lot of it comes down to man management, looking after crews, and scheduling,” Conor comments. “We have 20 great, skilled lads directly employed here and you have to make sure to keep them all happy and motivated. We’ve a great crew and we don’t lose many of them. To keep morale up, we go for days away and we enjoy doing things together. I also make sure they have all the best gear and that helps keep everybody happy. We look after them because we are nothing without them.
“We use subbies, too, but our own team cover nearly all the trades. We have a tiler, plasterer, block layer, carpenters, two men on groundworks and foremen. I’d take in plumbers and electricians and also additional block layers and plasterers for the bigger jobs. We have all our own gear for the groundworks and that helps us to avoid any unnecessary downtime.”
Conor Phelan Construction is very much the archetypal close-knit family business. Conor receives invaluable support and help from his wife, Niamh, adding: “My brother-in-law is one of the foremen and I gave him a small share in the business a couple of years ago. His dad is on the digger and his brother is a plumber, so it all works out great. They all take great pride in the company and look after it like it’s their own.”
Looking to the future, Conor says continued growth is very much on his mind: “We are ambitious and we are trying to grow as fast as we can and as big as we can,” he concludes. “My goal when I started out was to one day be the biggest builder in Ireland. Obviously, I have a long way to go, but you have to take baby steps to get there. We are working very hard and are focused on quality.
“We are doing good work and getting recommended. We’re known for our renovations and extensions and thankfully have a very good reputation. At the moment, we are in the process of looking for planning for another new estate in the centre of Dungarvan. We’re going to try hard to keep moving forward, although funding will always be an issue on your own developments.
“Look, it’s tough going and myself and Niamh have three young kids – aged six, four and one – and I’m still playing football and hurling, There’s serious work going into this at the minute and it’s not easy but there’ll be no let-up. We’ll continue to give it our utmost and it will all be worth it in the long run.”
Conor Phelan Construction,
Dungarvan,
County Waterford.
Tel: 087 7610644
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ConorPhelanConstruction
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, October 2024, Vol 10 No 10
