Established eight years ago, FRA McLoughlin Civils Ltd. has rapidly gained a stellar reputation for completing a comprehensive range of construction projects to the most exacting standards. We dropped into their Kiltoghert, County Leitrim base and interrupted joint-MD Fergal McLoughlin’s busy schedule to find out more about this highly-professional and upwardly-mobile family-run contracting firm.
From demolition, groundworks and shuttering / concrete through to major infrastructure / roadworks and multi-unit construction projects acting as main contractor, Fra McLoughlin Civils possesses the experience and expertise to promptly and professionally deliver a full array of civils and building works to the highest standard and with the minimum of fuss.
Headquartered in County Leitrim, this outstanding family-operated contracting company boasts an outstanding track record for consistently achieving industry-leading construction excellence on major projects across the midlands and west of Ireland, and they are constantly spreading their wings both geographically and in terms of project type.
In the eight short years since its inception in 2016, Fra McLoughlin Civils has completed an impressive portfolio of projects as subcontractor working in conjunction with a who’s who of main contractors including the likes of Glanua, Kilcawley Construction and Clare Civil Engineering.
At the time of writing, they were about to dip their toes into their first multi-unit residential housing scheme acting as main contractor – a €5m development of 21 two-storey dwellings at Clooncolry, Dromad, County Leitrim.
Works on this stunning mix of three-bedroom and four-bedroom terraced and semi-detached homes located within a picturesque setting will include the provision of a communal green area, separate driveways, new service road, pedestrian footpaths and Fra McLoughlin Civils has the capacity to oversee and undertake all works from greenfield site to turnkey finish.
The beginning of an exciting new chapter in the company’s history? “It’s our first time to take on this type of project as main contractor and time will tell whether it’s something we’ll do again in the future,” states Fergal McLoughlin, who runs the business alongside his brother Ross. “If it goes well for us, we will definitely look at doing some more.”
FRA stands for Fergal, Ross and Aaron, the three brothers who were involved in the genesis of the company. One could say that construction is very much in their DNA as they are sons of Frank McLoughlin, who has for decades been running the renowned groundworks, civils and plant hire company Frank McLoughlin Plant Hire.
Was this something Fergal and Ross always wanted to do? “We would have been at it from a very early age and you are in the game before you really know what you want to do,” the former quips. “We went to Australia for a few years and then came back and set the company up. Myself and Ross are MDs, Aaron is a little younger than us and was in admin at the beginning but has since gone to Australia for a while himself. Understandably he wanted to get the travelling out of the system while he’s still young.”
The exhaustive portfolio of projects that Fra McLoughlin Civils have worked on is an impressive and varied one, including but by no means limited to: the groundworks and concrete package for the new McDonald’s in Carrick on Shannon and a number of water treatment plants for Glanua. Works have been ongoing at Leixlip Water Treatment Plant for five years, while projects have also been successfully delivered at Ballymore Eustace and Wexford Water Treatment Plants.
Elsewhere, for Clare Civils, Fra McLoughlin Civils worked on upgrades to the runways at Dublin Airport and Knock Airport and are currently engaged on the N55 Corduff to South of Killydoon road upgrade. Work for Kilcawley Construction has included a 29-unit housing development in Summerhill, groundworks for the Wineport Hotel in Westmeath, groundworks at Alexion Athlone and they are currently engaged nearby doing groundworks on the 110KV substation, also in Monksland. The firm is also working with Conack Construction being involved in drainage upgrades at Alkermes, and also the public realm scheme of the town regeneration in Carrick-on-Shannon for Shareridge.
Another notable locally completed project is Drumhierny Woodland Hideaway in Leitrim village, where a groundworks and landscaping package was delivered for this exquisite presentation of 16 lodges and tracks and trails nestled within a spectacular 100-acre forest.
Workmanship of the highest calibre is invariably provided by Fra McLoughlin Civils’ skilled, experienced and qualified team, currently comprising 18 between machinery operatives, groundworks crews and concrete shutterers and fixers. Complementing the exceptional team, a vast fleet of excavators (twelve different sizes from one tonne up to 20 tonne!), dumpers, tractors, dump trailers, etc. is at the heart of the company, which has expanded its services to nationwide, with a steady volume of work currently being undertaken in Dublin and down south.
As for the key to delivering a top-class civils package, Fergal, who like Ross is a hands-on director, comments: “A lot of it comes down to managing the work yourself and being on the ground with the lads all the time. We’re very fortunate to have a couple of great, experienced foremen and we make sure to keep a good workforce – because machines can’t drive themselves – and maintain a safe and enjoyable working environment for them.
“Keeping all the plant and machinery in good working order is obviously critical, too, and we’re always striving to make sure we are using the latest, most efficient and safest ways of delivering improved, modern methods of construction.”
With regard to the imminent 21-unit housing development in Dromad, Fergal and Ross are in the advantageous position of being able to provide a large swathe of the work in-house, which confers very obvious economies of scale. “We’ll be bringing in proven trades for the electrical work, plastering, plumbing, roofing, block laying, etc., but we’ll be able to do all the groundworks, drainage, footpaths, landscaping, etc, ourselves. That should make us fairly efficient, so we’ll see how it goes…”
Looking to the future, Fergal concludes: “If this residential project goes well, it’s probably something we will do more of. Outside of that, our main focus will remain on keeping standards high and providing an excellent service. The west of Ireland is an especially hard place to try to get work and to keep local lads working locally. We’ll maintain the standards we’ve already set for ourselves and keep good working relationships with local main contractors, county councils and the public sector to make sure we keep getting a nice volume of work.”
And, if history is anything to go by, that work will be completed to the most exacting standards!
Fra McLoughlin Civils Ltd.,
Kiltoghert,
Carrick on Shannon,
County Leitrim.
Tel: 071 962 1155
Mobile: 085 8248275 (Fergal) / 087 4540602 (Ross)
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, October 2024, Vol 10 No 10
