A company based in South West Donegal has become one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of natural stone products in Ireland and are now the preferred stone and paving supplier to international award winning garden designers and landscape architects.
Based in Mountcharles, McMonagle Stone products were an integral part of award winning designs at Bloom 2015, with their Donegal sandstone and Quartzite stone central to garden design that won Gold in a number of categories and Best in Show.
This year, the famous garden designer, Paul Martin will be exhibiting at the Chelsea Flower Show using McMonagle Stone products as part of his garden design.
Established in the 1970’s, McMonagle Stone is family business which has grown from solely producing and supplying stone locally for domestic builds to a company that sees demand for its products from international markets.
Daniel Mc Monagle, Company Director, said, “We invested in state of the art machinery and are now supply paving stone for commercial, restoration and landscaping projects to countries all over the world. In recent years our focus has been on developing new products from our leftover materials, which we now package and export as part of the sand and gravel side of our business. The support we have received from Údarás na Gaeltachta has been invaluable and has helped us to refocus our business towards exporting.”
“Our Donegal Quartzite products, along with our sandstone and granite range are prestigious and sought after. The quartzite that we produce from our quarry based near Gleann Cholm Cille is unique to anything found anywhere in the world. Its unique technical properties, the colour and solidity of the material, have made it a very popular product which is high in demand. As soon as the lorries leave the quarries, the materials are brought to our finishing factory at Mountcharles, where they are all carefully cleaned, cut to customer requirements, packaged and dispatched. All our staff pride themselves on their work and every one of them has their own individual roles, which makes our running operation very efficient,” said Daniel McMonagle.
The company currently employs 83 people, between its quarry operations, finishing factory and showrooms in Mountcharles, Dublin and London. “Working with high profile and award winning garden designers and architects has opened up new markets internationally for us, especially within the U.K.”
“These garden designers work on large-scale urban design and landscaping, state commissions and show gardens for international clients. We also work with them on commercial landscaping for hotels and resorts, rural country estates and private residential gardens, and our on demand supply and distribution makes it easier for them to have us as their partner.” says Michael McMonagle.
“We have also been very fortunate to have working with us a number of highly skilled local craftsmen who have been involved in stone masonry for generations. I don’t think that there is anywhere else in the world that you will find skills like we have here in Donegal. To boast that we, a company from South West Donegal, are the preferred stone supplier for award winning and famous landscaping designers and architects all over the world, is an achievement that we are all proud of.” he said.
Photo Caption : Daniel Mc Monagle, Dan McMonagle and Michael McMonagle, McMonagle Stone.
Photo : Paul Doherty Photography