History

First house built 1962

Finlay Brothers builders was set up as a partnership of the five brothers Tom, Patrick, J.J, Paul, and Kevin on their parents farm in Bracklin five miles outside Tullamore which was soon to be owned and run by Bernard Finlay another brother committed to farming.

The very first house the brothers built was for their cousin Tom Finlay in Balydaly on the outskirts of Tullamore, new house builds where rare at that time so the building of their cousins house was just the start the new partnership needed unfortunately the weather wasn’t as forgiving as that winter in 1962 proved to be the frostiest on record and as foundations were dug out by hand and concrete mixed by hand progress was very slow.

Work picked up with the advent of grants for the replacement of thatch on old cottages and for replacing windows (which had to be handmade) and fortunately has been continuing ever since. Today that partnership in now a company formed in 1979 with over 2000 homes built in 23 counties. As recently as early 2008 the company, now known as Finlay Homes was transferred to the second generation of Finlay’s many of who have had a vast experience in the construction industry.

Through the 48 years of operation there was the Bank strike, the oil crisis in the seventies, the protracted recession in the eighties with crippling interest rates and of course the current recession, but luckily in those years and as is the case today the company has been able to rely on a top quality workforce within sales, office and the trades which has enabled it to provide the best value for money for its clients, and in some cases building for 2nd and 3rd generations…the key to longevity for any business.