History

1968 The company's first contract was for houses at Rosary Place, Midleton, Co. Cork. The first office was located at Kilcoolishal, Little Island, Co. Cork

 

 





 





1969 The company moved its offices to new location at Lee Road, Cork, in a disused quarry where it was based for more than 30 years.
1969-1974 Early contracts included cold stores for Eirfreeze Ltd. at Little Island and Dublin, Water Tower at Hollyhill Cork, General Mills and Dromana Bridge in Co. Waterford.
1971 Plumbing and Mechanical Services was incorporated. Its registered offices were in Newtown, Co. Waterford.
1974 The company was renamed BMD & Co Ltd.
1973-1979 In this period a large number of pharmaceutical multinationals were choosing Little Island as a base including Irish Fher Laboratories, Plaistow, Cara Partners and Pilmar. The group companies focused on the construction needs of these companies.
1976 BMD and Bowen Mullally undertook all of the civil, mechanical and instrumentation work associated with Marathon Petroleum's onshore terminal at Inch, Co. Cork, from then Gas was supplied from the Kinsale Head field to Bord Gais. This began a relationship with Marathon that continues today. Bowen Mullally and BMD focussed on the needs of this emerging sector, often working together.
1979 Bowen Mullally was awarded the contract for the construction of Government Buildings in Cork. The table form method of construction of floors was used for the first time in Ireland.
1983 Construction of Blackrock Bridge spanning the Blackwater River and forming part of Mallow Bypass on the N20.
1984 Philip Mullally resigned as Managing Director of Bowen Mullally and left the company to pursue other interests. Pat Kelleher was appointed Managing Director. John R Bowen appointed to the board.
1985 Bowen Mullally changed its name to Bowen Construction Ltd., adopting a new logo.
1986 Construction of the Clonmel to Waterford Gas Pipeline in joint venture with Biggs Wall UK.
1988 Construction of Dublin to Dundalk Gas Pipeline in joint venture with Biggs Wall.
1992 Construction of North Main Street Shopping Centre and car park.
1993 Carlow Shopping Centre.
1994 Tralee Town Centre mixed development including hotel, multi-storey car-park and offices.
1996 Vincent K Bowen died. John R Bowen succeeded as Chairman of the Bowen group of companies.
1999 The Bowen Group acquired Arthur Ring and Sons from IFG Group.

2000

Bowen Group office established in Baldoyle in Dublin. New Corporate identity launched.

2001

Bowen Construction and BMD received an Excellence in Construction award for the successful delivery of the Eli Lilly IE16 manufacturing facility in Kinsale, Co. Cork – the world’s first pharmaceutical plant completed using modular construction techniques.

2002

The Bowen Group head office moved from its original Lee Road site to new premises in Little Island, Co Cork.

2003    

Bowen Construction began work for O’Callaghan Properties on the landmark Mahon Point site.  BMD was awarded the mechanical services contract on the Drug Substance Building at Wyeth BioPharma in Grangecastle, Dublin – the world’s largest single-site biopharmaceuticals campus.

2004 John R. Bowen was shortlisted as a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
2005 Mahon Point Shopping Centre, with anchor tenants Tesco and Debenhams, opened to the public on 1st February.  The Bowen Group opened a South-Eastern regional office in Waterford and was listed as the 6th largest construction company in Ireland.
2006 Bowen Construction successfully completed a challenging 16-month building programme to hand over the new 4-star Jurys Cork Hotel in time for the October Bank Holiday Jazz Festival.  The Bowen Group was selected as a finalist in the national business2arts awards for its sponsorship of the Airgeadoir Exhibition at the Crawford Art Gallery during Cork’s tenure as the European Capital of Culture.
2007 The Bowen Group continued its regional expansion in Ireland with new offices in Belfast and Limerick while also establishing Bowen plc in the UK with offices in Twickenham, London.