One year after a huge fire destroyed the sheds and some of the machines in the Clerihan, Co Tipperary, yard of contractor Jim Ryan and sons Kieran and Morgan, the business is truly back in action with a new shed designed for farm contracting operations.

With the trauma of the fire behind them, the Ryan family set about picking up the pieces. Their insurance company, FBD, was quick to react and this allowed them to move on the re-instatement of the sheds in a matter of weeks. Once the charred remains of the buildings and machinery were removed, the site was levelled and they set about designing a building fit for the future of their business.

Loughryan Engineering, based in Grange, Clonmel, designed and built a 10-span shed that is 60 metres (200ft) long and 22.5 metres (75ft) wide. The new shed is higher, while narrower than the old one destroyed in the fire.

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The high roof design with sliding doors allows for great access for machinery storage, while the overall roof height gives excellent clearance for storage of combine harvesters, silage wagons and bigger trailers.

Large sliding doors are used throughout, each the width of a shed bay and stretching from the ground to the eave height. Each door is six metres (20ft) wide, adequate for the widest machines in the Ryans’ large fleet.

The side walls are mass concrete up to 2.5 metres high. Jim opted for light sheets in the side walls rather than the roof. “They give us great light and don’t get as dirty as roof ones,” he said. The overall result is a bright and airy shed for machinery storage and work. The shed is also used for grain storage at this time of the year.

The Ryans carried as much of the initial site clearance work as they could with their own machinery.

The smouldering remains of the Ryans' machinery and workshop after the devastating fire in August 2014

The side walls were constructed by Donal Casey, while Barry Power laid and levelled the floor in one day with 24 loads of concrete.

Morgan Ryan, a qualified electrician, carried out the electrical installations on the job, to suit their specific needs. Air supplies are in place in the larger shed for extra versatility.

The workshop area remains separate from the main storage shed and only a section to the rear of the original workshop remains intact. It is now fitted with a neat electro-hydraulic folding door which folds upwards to almost the shed roof height. This provides additional shelter when working with machines.

The diesel, AdBlue and lubrication storage area is in a separate attached shed. Here large sliding doors provide protection and security. This area is now fully bunded against spills.

Virtually all of the stores and the workshop at the contractor’s yard were destroyed in a fire that was seen for miles as tyres and oil tanks exploded, adding to the blaze. At the time, Jim and his sons lost a number of balers, a combine harvester and a tractor, along with tyres and a range of workshop equipment assembled over many years.

Jim said: “Thankfully no one was injured in the fire and in hindsight we do appreciate the work of the gardaí in keeping us out of the yard when the fire was blazing. We would have gone straight into the sheds to try and rescue some of the machines, putting our lives in danger, and we now realise that their resolve in keeping us out was the best possible outcome, in the circumstances.”