Inspired by the creative functionality of outdoor living areas abroad, Liam and Dani Kavanagh set up their own business, Cruach Design six years ago. Now employing seven people in their local community in Clonard, close to Ballymahon, the couple have built a sustainable business from the ground up.
Growing up, Liam’s father did general fabrication, creating gates and railings and ornamental work. After spending a lot of time overseas working in the oil and gas industries, Liam returned to Ireland but he didn’t have much direction regarding what he was going to do. However, his father’s business and workshop were there.
“I said, I will go back at that game for a while, and I worked on general fabrication,” says Liam.
“People asked for things a little bit more creative, and I got good satisfaction out of doing that. There didn’t seem to be other people working in that space.”
Then the opportunity came up to create a sculpture in Ballymahon.
“I created a 3D sculpture of a fisherman with a stainless-steel fishing rod, which was very well received,” says Liam. “I started doing more creative metalwork and found myself being drawn into looking at sculptures.”
Now, Liam and his partner Dani are working together to use Corten, or weathering steel to make their unique creations, not only because it is sensible due to its zero maintenance, strength and durability, but because it is symbolic.
“Nature boosts the colour and vitality of Corten over time, adding to its strength, durability and lifespan by activating a protective layer. It symbolises the restorative and revitalising properties of spending time in nature,” says Dani.
The family business that was born in 2018 out of Fabworx (his father’s company) has since grown into a reputable local employer. The couple’s passion is to bring engineering to everyday life and enjoyment.
“The inspiration has come from other countries,” says Liam. “In Ireland, people want to enhance their outdoor spaces so much more. God knows the weather is bad enough, but we can brighten up our outdoor areas in the long winters with the likes of some light towers or colourful powder-coated planters.”
Liam believes there’s so much everyone can do to bring light into their own life by using metalwork to enhance an outdoor area.
Dani’s path to the company came from a completely different avenue. After school, she did a PLC in Applied Psychology before moving on to study psychology as a graduate degree at Edinburgh Napier University. From there she went on to work in disabilities, social services and social care.
When she spoke to her career guidance teacher in school, she advised her to do business or nursing. Dani feels a lot of people might resonate with that as PLC courses and
alternative pathways aren’t discussed enough in schools. She went on to do the first Psychology PLC in Ireland.
“I was interested in why people did things,” explains Dani. “I was interested in human behaviour, it was probably coming from a personal space where I didn’t have a chance to explore that or understand my own experiences. I was just on this path of following whatever was put in front of me.”
She and Liam moved to Australia and spent four years gaining a lived experience working in the healthcare system.
“I think I would have made a good engineer. But at the time, it was very much male-dominated, and I kind of felt like I might be misplaced,” she says.
As a result of her experience in the education system and previous work, Dani recently founded a democratic school that focuses on self-directed education, and she is is working to bring that to fruition.
“We’re setting it up in Longford, It’s the fifth of its kind in Ireland and it’s called Midhe Democratic School. We’re trying to finance it at the moment, and we’ve had planning permission approved,” she says.
The group she is working with are hoping to open the school in January with 20 students aged between five and 18 already enrolled.
“Having small kids you meet other mums that share this concern for the education system - that is not catered for at all,” says Dani.
“There’s a huge amount of research on how we learn and how we learn best naturally. We often have to strive towards where the bar is set and the standards. A lot of people talk about the regurgitation and this learning, but more than that, you have to strive to a standard and pass a test.”
She believes education should be around who you are, what interests you, and what your unique skills or capabilities might be to help students find their passion and be self-driven.
“We’re renovating a building in Barry, and we’re hoping to be open in January, but it all depends on the building – it could be next September,” she says.
Visit midhedemocraticschool.ie
Dani and Liam Kavanagh of Cruach Design in Ballymahon, Co Longford with their sculpture, an Irish Heritage Dexter. \ Philip Doyle
Creating a positive working culture
Part of the reason that the couple set out to work for themselves was so that they weren’t working for somebody that they didn’t feel respected by, or that they didn’t respect.
“That is going to be a huge part of your daily life and your mentality and how you can grow,” says Dani. “It’s about the culture. Both of us worked in positive cultures and toxic cultures, and that’s something that we wanted to avoid toxic culture, and if possible, create a positive culture.”
Creating Cruach Design with Liam allowed her to have a better work-life balance, prioritise her young children and keep it about being a family business.
Being responsible for employees’ and other people’s income is a huge responsibility that Dani and Liam have, however, Dani finds it very rewarding as they are providing jobs to international people in rural Ireland and helping them integrate into the community.
“In the Irish culture, that sense of community is so important,” she says. “Small local businesses are so important, and a lot of the time they are being crunched by taxation and bigger commercial outfits.
“Looking at supermarkets, there is a huge trend to get behind local producers and the Local Enterprise Offices are fantastic for supporting it. But they’re meeting difficulties.”
Although there are challenges starting a small business, Liam encourages people to just go for it.
“Don’t go into it just harebrained, you do need some sort of a plan with achievable goals. If you can, set your goal for the first six months to a year, what you want to achieve in that space of time,” he advises.
National Ploughing Championships
The pair enjoyed attending the recent Ploughing, their first time exhibiting and although it was tiring, the weather this year made it a little easier.
When the Local Enterprise Office asked if they would like to exhibit in the village, Liam wanted to design a statue specifically for the Ploughing.
As the stand is only two metres by three metres, he wanted to make something that could fit while also reflecting the spirit of the agriculture sector in Ireland.
“My friend has Irish Heritage Dexter,” he says. “They’re cute and something all the family can enjoy. The kids can get the photo with them.
“We started the design and planning last April. It’s purely made for the Ploughing Championships, she’s had a great response.”
The statue sat in front of the LEO village for the three day-event, drawing great attention and positive comment.
Visit cruachdesign.ie
Read more
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Inspired by the creative functionality of outdoor living areas abroad, Liam and Dani Kavanagh set up their own business, Cruach Design six years ago. Now employing seven people in their local community in Clonard, close to Ballymahon, the couple have built a sustainable business from the ground up.
Growing up, Liam’s father did general fabrication, creating gates and railings and ornamental work. After spending a lot of time overseas working in the oil and gas industries, Liam returned to Ireland but he didn’t have much direction regarding what he was going to do. However, his father’s business and workshop were there.
“I said, I will go back at that game for a while, and I worked on general fabrication,” says Liam.
“People asked for things a little bit more creative, and I got good satisfaction out of doing that. There didn’t seem to be other people working in that space.”
Then the opportunity came up to create a sculpture in Ballymahon.
“I created a 3D sculpture of a fisherman with a stainless-steel fishing rod, which was very well received,” says Liam. “I started doing more creative metalwork and found myself being drawn into looking at sculptures.”
Now, Liam and his partner Dani are working together to use Corten, or weathering steel to make their unique creations, not only because it is sensible due to its zero maintenance, strength and durability, but because it is symbolic.
“Nature boosts the colour and vitality of Corten over time, adding to its strength, durability and lifespan by activating a protective layer. It symbolises the restorative and revitalising properties of spending time in nature,” says Dani.
The family business that was born in 2018 out of Fabworx (his father’s company) has since grown into a reputable local employer. The couple’s passion is to bring engineering to everyday life and enjoyment.
“The inspiration has come from other countries,” says Liam. “In Ireland, people want to enhance their outdoor spaces so much more. God knows the weather is bad enough, but we can brighten up our outdoor areas in the long winters with the likes of some light towers or colourful powder-coated planters.”
Liam believes there’s so much everyone can do to bring light into their own life by using metalwork to enhance an outdoor area.
Dani’s path to the company came from a completely different avenue. After school, she did a PLC in Applied Psychology before moving on to study psychology as a graduate degree at Edinburgh Napier University. From there she went on to work in disabilities, social services and social care.
When she spoke to her career guidance teacher in school, she advised her to do business or nursing. Dani feels a lot of people might resonate with that as PLC courses and
alternative pathways aren’t discussed enough in schools. She went on to do the first Psychology PLC in Ireland.
“I was interested in why people did things,” explains Dani. “I was interested in human behaviour, it was probably coming from a personal space where I didn’t have a chance to explore that or understand my own experiences. I was just on this path of following whatever was put in front of me.”
She and Liam moved to Australia and spent four years gaining a lived experience working in the healthcare system.
“I think I would have made a good engineer. But at the time, it was very much male-dominated, and I kind of felt like I might be misplaced,” she says.
As a result of her experience in the education system and previous work, Dani recently founded a democratic school that focuses on self-directed education, and she is is working to bring that to fruition.
“We’re setting it up in Longford, It’s the fifth of its kind in Ireland and it’s called Midhe Democratic School. We’re trying to finance it at the moment, and we’ve had planning permission approved,” she says.
The group she is working with are hoping to open the school in January with 20 students aged between five and 18 already enrolled.
“Having small kids you meet other mums that share this concern for the education system - that is not catered for at all,” says Dani.
“There’s a huge amount of research on how we learn and how we learn best naturally. We often have to strive towards where the bar is set and the standards. A lot of people talk about the regurgitation and this learning, but more than that, you have to strive to a standard and pass a test.”
She believes education should be around who you are, what interests you, and what your unique skills or capabilities might be to help students find their passion and be self-driven.
“We’re renovating a building in Barry, and we’re hoping to be open in January, but it all depends on the building – it could be next September,” she says.
Visit midhedemocraticschool.ie
Dani and Liam Kavanagh of Cruach Design in Ballymahon, Co Longford with their sculpture, an Irish Heritage Dexter. \ Philip Doyle
Creating a positive working culture
Part of the reason that the couple set out to work for themselves was so that they weren’t working for somebody that they didn’t feel respected by, or that they didn’t respect.
“That is going to be a huge part of your daily life and your mentality and how you can grow,” says Dani. “It’s about the culture. Both of us worked in positive cultures and toxic cultures, and that’s something that we wanted to avoid toxic culture, and if possible, create a positive culture.”
Creating Cruach Design with Liam allowed her to have a better work-life balance, prioritise her young children and keep it about being a family business.
Being responsible for employees’ and other people’s income is a huge responsibility that Dani and Liam have, however, Dani finds it very rewarding as they are providing jobs to international people in rural Ireland and helping them integrate into the community.
“In the Irish culture, that sense of community is so important,” she says. “Small local businesses are so important, and a lot of the time they are being crunched by taxation and bigger commercial outfits.
“Looking at supermarkets, there is a huge trend to get behind local producers and the Local Enterprise Offices are fantastic for supporting it. But they’re meeting difficulties.”
Although there are challenges starting a small business, Liam encourages people to just go for it.
“Don’t go into it just harebrained, you do need some sort of a plan with achievable goals. If you can, set your goal for the first six months to a year, what you want to achieve in that space of time,” he advises.
National Ploughing Championships
The pair enjoyed attending the recent Ploughing, their first time exhibiting and although it was tiring, the weather this year made it a little easier.
When the Local Enterprise Office asked if they would like to exhibit in the village, Liam wanted to design a statue specifically for the Ploughing.
As the stand is only two metres by three metres, he wanted to make something that could fit while also reflecting the spirit of the agriculture sector in Ireland.
“My friend has Irish Heritage Dexter,” he says. “They’re cute and something all the family can enjoy. The kids can get the photo with them.
“We started the design and planning last April. It’s purely made for the Ploughing Championships, she’s had a great response.”
The statue sat in front of the LEO village for the three day-event, drawing great attention and positive comment.
Visit cruachdesign.ie
Read more
Agri Careers: beefing up interest in Certified Irish Angus
A ‘notable increase’ in rural youths needing mental health supports
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