Sixty years of CareyGlass

If you want to capture modern Ireland in a microcosm, then trace the story of Carey Glass.

Six decades on from its inception as a humble glass-processing facility on Silver Street, the company is now an international leader in the production of high quality glass. What started as a daring business venture devised by three brothers in 1965 has grown on a scarcely believable scale. Just like Ireland, Careys has expanded and evolved. The company now has three plants - the 800,000 square-feet facility on the Limerick Road, with its futuristic front facade and manufacturing hub that seems to stretch on to infinity; another in Lurgan, Co Armagh; and a third in Chester, in the UK. It produces just about every type of glass imaginable, from the window panes of your ordinary house to the vast translucent panels that make up skyscrapers and other large edifices. In 60 years, it has come a long way.

Standing as a kind of glass fortress at the entrance to the town, Careys is impossible to miss. Granted, it didn’t always have the sleek, suave exterior that it has today. In the early days at least, Careys was less concerned about looks. In an article in The Nenagh Guardian dated September 8, 1973, Cllr John Ryan calls for the frontage of Careys to be tidied up, because, “in its present state it gave a bad impression to newcomers entering the town from that side.”

How things have changed.

SILVER STREET

Reverse back eight years to when it all began, in 1965, when Jim, Gus and Willie took a risk and established a premises on Silver Street. Did they envisage a future there, in that location, or was it always just a starting point? Glass processing requires space, and lots of it. Still, the company manufactured its first insulated glass units on the street in 1968, a landmark moment for what was then a small firm.

Six years was all that was needed for the Careys to outgrow their surroundings. The move to the new premises on the Limerick Road was much needed. It offered 15,000 square-feet of processing space and enabled the business to advance. The cutting lines and ovens were cranked up and the glass started to flow throughout Ireland.

Soon, Careys were looking further afield, beyond these shores. In 1977, the company exported its first sheets to the UK, while also linking up with major retailers such as home furniture giant IKEA. That was the start of a major commercial relationship. Exactly one decade on, a representative from IKEA would visit the Nenagh premises with a view to deepening business ties between the two. In 1980 Careys expanded its facility in Nenagh to 100,000 square-feet. The 80s were a time of rampant emigration and economic strife in Ireland, and Careys was by no means immune. Yet it seemed to emerge from the decade almost in better shape. 1990 brought a further expansion, to 200,000 square-feet, and within two years the Nenagh firm was exporting to the Netherlands and continental Europe. Careys had gone global.

As the millennium drew to a close and the Celtic Tiger really began to ignite, the company began processing glass for commercial high-rise construction. The symbolism of that moment cannot be lost on anyone. The company was, literally, soaring skywards.

GLASS CEILINGS

If the 90s were ground-breaking, the 2000s saw Careys smash through yet more glass ceilings. The plant in Nenagh was increased in size again, to 450,000 square-feet. New, innovative methods were pioneered, like the establishment of their own structural double glazed and single Wallglass system.

And then another step forward - the launch of a second factory in Lurgan, Co Armagh, in 2005. The most remarkable aspect of Careys’ evolution is its resilience. The company has navigated the vicissitudes of the business cycle and bounced back from the depths of recession. For instance, the 2008 collapse hit the company hard, and yet, once the global financial system had been resuscitated and the fog had cleared, Careys went and opened a third factory in 2015, this time in North Wales. A year later the Nenagh facility almost doubled in size, to 800,000 square-feet. Across the three factories, Careys had a combined total of one-million square-feet of processing space.

The pandemic was challenging, but again the company withstood the economic paralysis and bookended the period nicely in 2022 by opening five new machines, a new paint line, and an anisotropy scanner (an inspection device used to examine toughened glass).

And that brings us to 2025, the company’s 60th anniversary. The Careys of today - 100% owned by the Carey family - is a hive of activity employing around 800 people between the three factories. It houses every type of worker, from engineers to truck drivers. There isn’t a person in Nenagh that isn’t connected to the company in some way. There isn’t a team that hasn’t been sponsored by them at some point. The glass business is tough. It’s a place for ambition but not for ego.

The past has been marked by some extraordinary achievements, but the future beckons. The story of Careys is not over. The next 60 years are just beginning.