Based in Carrigaline, County Cork, Murphy Building & Civil Contractors is a forward-thinking construction company with an unrivalled track record in successfully delivering industry-leading projects across all sectors. Building Ireland spoke to proprietor Peter Murphy to find out more about the comprehensive range of services provided – from new builds and extensions to sportsgrounds and civil works.
Specialists in high quality new builds, extensions, remodelling projects and a full spectrum of civil works, Murphy Building & Civil Contractors is a family-run contracting company that can see a wide range of construction projects through from start to finish.
Established four decades ago, the company has grown in both size and reputation on the back of combining the best people, the best knowledge set, the latest technology and sustainability measures and an unwavering commitment to safety.
Murphy Building & Civil Contractors boasts a broad portfolio of successfully completed construction projects across a wide array of sectors including residential, restoration, refurbishment, commercial and agricultural. As proven professionals in both construction and civils, their ability to see all projects through from site clearance culminating in a complete turnkey solution sets them apart as a one-stop shop for residential, commercial, sports and agri construction projects large and small across Cork, Munster and sometimes further afield.
“We have two business, which overlap – the original plant hire company, which goes back to the 1970s, and the building company, which has been going since 1992,” reveals hands-on director Peter Murphy. “We amalgamated the two businesses a few years back to form Murphy Building & Civil Contractors.”
In the case of Murphy Building & Civil Contractors, to point out that they offer a wide range of services is an exercise in understatement as they can literally do everything and anything construction- and / or civils-related from their well-appointed base in Carrigaline.
“It can vary from high-end one-off houses to civil works, GAA, soccer and rugby sports pitches, horse arenas and golf clubs, and we also do a lot of work for farmers on roadways, digging out tanks, drainage and cattle underpasses. As there is such an overlap between the construction and civils, it made sense to bring them together to offer an all-in service.
“For example, if we are doing a new build home, we can offer our clients a complete service in-house from start to finish, from the initial site clearance through construction and then landscaping, drainage and patios, etc. We have all the equipment on the plant side of the business that’s needed in building, so the two co-exist. There was no masterplan really to provide a complete service but we have the expertise, experience, equipment and manpower so it is a logical development.”
Murphy Building & Civil Contractors offer the full scope of civil engineering services, including mass concrete / gabion retaining walls; commercial and domestic drainage; site improvements; managing civil works for new commercial builds; and road restoration works.
Peter has built lasting working relationships with many local developers, including Stephen McCarthy of Astra Construction (for whom he is currently assisting with site clearance work on a 1,000-unit housing development in Carrigaline called Janeville) and Ruden Homes, who are also headquartered in Carrigaline.
Indeed, Ruden Homes is Murphy Building & Civil Contractors biggest customer on the plant hire / civils end: “We have two loadalls with them full time and we do a lot of mulching and tree felling. We have all the attachments we need for that work and have cleared five or six large sites for them already this year so that they could get their surveyor in. Mulching is the best way to clear a site. It’s very sustainable and has minimal environmental impact.
“We also crush concrete with crushing buckets and our aim is to deal with everything on site as much as possible to minimise the amount of waste leaving the site. That’s the way things have gone. The industry has gone very green and everybody is working as sustainably as possible. We are conscious of doing things in the most sustainable way and always try to work as conscientiously as we can.”
As clubs around the provinces benefit annually from Sports Capital Grant windfalls, Peter and his team pick up a conservable amount of sports pitch development work. “We’re doing two new juvenile pitches for Carrigaline GAA at the moment and we also work regularly with Premier Sports in Tipperary. In conjunction with them, we’re doing a pitch for Ringmahon Rangers soccer club here in Cork and we’re also going to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, where the pitch is being resurfaced.
“We have a laser grader which can level the pitch down to the last millimetre using GPS before the 5G carpet is laid. Carrigaline Soccer Club also resurfaced their second pitch, which also had to be done very precisely to meet the conditions of their grant. Not everybody has that laser equipment and we travel the country with it. We’ve also done pitches in Clare, Limerick and Westmeath recently, so we’re busy in that side of the business.”
Great equipment and great people are at the heart of everything Murphy Building & Civil Contractors do. “We have six guys employed directly on the plant side and they are all fully trained up,” continues Peter, whose late father Peter Snr. founded the family business. “Anybody can buy an excavator but you can’t buy the guys driving them. They have vast experience and know the job inside out, which gives us the edge.
“We have the same guys on all the machines. They have all the necessary tickets and each of them can operate a wide range of excavators, bobcats, lowloaders, loadalls and lorries.”
On the construction side of things, meanwhile, Murphy Building & Civil Contractors have an enviable track record in completing a steady volume of stunning, high-end homes throughout the Rebel County. “We take on four or five new builds per year and they would be high-end homes, completed to the highest standards. We can do everything in-house from site clearance to landscaping.
“At the moment, we’re working on two fantastic one off homes in Carrigaline and we’re also doing a domestic renovation with a very high-end finish in the city,” the personable Cork contractor concludes. “We’re also at Monkstown Golf Club working on their new driving range, having previously put in a new buggy bay for them. We’re busy on a good variety of projects, but there is absolute carry-over between all the work we do.”
Murphy Building & Civil Contractors,
Riverview,
Carrigaline,
County Cork.
Tel: 021 4372109
Fax: 021 4371508
Mobile: 086 3683836
Email: [email protected]
Web: murphycontractors.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, January 2023, Vol 9 No 1
Murphy Building & Civil Contractors
