Company History

Caffrey's Natural Stone started in 1960. The highly impressive granite façade at our premises on the Marsh Road hides the history of a small local company that grew into one of the finest monumental works in Europe, through hard-work and innovation by entrepreneur Malachy Caffrey and his family.

Malachy started making headstone monuments at the back of his mother’s house in Pierce Park, Drogheda, after an apprenticeship with P.H. Moss at Thomas Street. His reputation as a craftsman quickly spread and soon he found the need to acquire more suitable premises at Bolton Street, where the company started to grow. Assisted by his father, Daniel, Malachy acquired an electric multipurpose sand disc saw and specialised in monuments of Kilkenny limestone and white Italian marble. Through the following years the firm continued to expand with the arrival of experienced craftsmen and the purchase of a site adjacent to the Bolton Street workshop.

In the mid 1970's the business changed with the arrival of the popular granite headstones. An Irish business that had the technical knowledge to manufacture granite headstones was McKeon's of Stradbally, Co. Laois. The oldest of Mal’s children, David, decided to work for McKeon's and learn the skill of working with granite. Within two years, David returned and Caffrey's were now in a position to produce the latest granite monuments. Grabbing the bull by the horns, Caffrey’s bought a new site on Dyer Street and equipped it with specialist granite machinery.

That step was so successful that the firm quickly found itself in the wholesale business supplying other craftsmen with the finished granite stonework. Little by little, the wholesale side of the business expanded along side the local retail business. Tony Caffrey, who is in charge of sales, says 'The success came from solid hard work and the commitment to quality'. By the late 1980's Caffrey's had grown into a major player nation-wide and other family members joined the expanding workforce. Fran Caffrey took on the cemetery work and Lorna handled the administration. David, who is in charge of production, pushed the business to expand to other natural stone products, taking advantage of the highly skilled and experienced workforce.

In 1999, the firm was offered a substantial sum for the Dyer Street site and duly accepted the offer, moving to the current Marsh Road factory and showroom. The new facility provided space for further automation. Two CNC work-centres were bought, which cut granite kitchen counter tops to computer precision, allowing Caffrey’s to lead the kitchen countertop business in Ireland. The Marsh Road factory is the match of anything similar in Europe and the firm is fiercely proud of their achievements.