Family at the heart of thriving Longford business which is celebrating 25th anniversary

There is a substantial family element to Corrigan's Service Station who are preparing to celebrate 25 years in business with a range of special anniversary events on October 5.

Corrigan's Service Station was opened on September 20th, 1999 by brothers Declan and Bernard Corrigan in an expansion of the existing family business, which has been in operation since 1919.

The shop started out as Corrigan's forge operated by their grandfather Bernie Corrigan and continued on by their parents Chris and Maura and uncle Ben until 1999.

That year ill-health forced their father Chris to retire and that was when they decided to try and carry on the business by building a new service station in the adjacent site to the old forge.

PICTURES | Big day planned in north Longford as Corrigan's Service Station celebrates 25th anniversary milestone

Three generations of the family have worked for significant periods at Corrigan's since 1919 at the same location in Legga, Moyne, Co. Longford.

And in recent times Declan and Bernard's children Niamh (18), Bláthnaid (17), and Christopher (16) -the fourth generation -have begun helping out and doing shifts during holidays.

"There is a certain element of pride we are still here because the fourth generation, my oldest daughter Niamh (18) does some shifts in the shop and one of our customers dealt with all four generations she tells me," Declan said. "She is one of our elderly customers, she comes in most days and she dealt with my grandfather, my father, me and my daughter so it's nice to have that."

Evolution of the business
Declan said a lot of changes have taken place over the years since 1999 and today their business consists of a modern EMO Branded Forecourt and a 1800sqft Gala convenience store.

"We built the original filling station here in 1999 and both of us were working in Dublin," Declan said. "I moved home, but Bernard would have operated in the background (as a silent partner), he kept his job in Dublin as an engineer with Lynskey Engineering and I took on the management of it."

He recalls that there were difficulties they needed to overcome when they started out.

"Both of us were very young at the time, I was only 25," Declan said. "We indebted ourselves fairly heavily but at the time it was a good time because it was the start of the Celtic Tiger and there was rural renewal and a lot of incentives to get us up and running."

Declan acknowledges it was a big challenge for them to take on.

"We started employing two people and the shop was tiny. In 2005 we rebuilt and doubled the size of the shop and we put offices upstairs for the oil business at that stage," he added.

Declan explained this year they completed another revamp and retrofitted the shop, which is up to new Gala spec and they installed a new sit down area and they expanded the deli.

"There is a totally new feel to the shop, we knocked out an area to get into one of our storerooms to get extra space," he said.

"We would have local people using the walkways who might come in and sit down and have a coffee or you might have somebody going to football training and they will come over here."

Declan said passing motorists and truckers are also a big support.

"It is a convenient enough place for a trucker to pull in and take his break," he added.

Dedicated staff and family help
Declan said they began in 1999 with himself and two staff members but they now have 15 people consisting of permanent and part-time employees.

The shop is managed by Declan and Olivia Corrigan and assisted by Fiona O'Toole, who has worked there for 22 years and Mary Breslin.

"We would have a turnover of younger staff and temporary staff, but our backbone would be permanent," Declan said. "Fiona and Mary basically run the shop, one runs the purchases and the other runs the back office."

Declan explained they have a convenience store, a hot deli and a little sit down area.

"We used to own Corrigan fuels but we sold that off there to Certa last year so they operate from the upstairs here and from the depot adjacent to the shop," he said. "What we operate is the Corrigan service station and the Gala shop."

Brother Bernard said their mother Maura (86) still takes a keen interest in the business and she visits the shop on a daily basis and takes great pride in it.

The father of two is based in Dublin but he said he and his family visit regularly and his daughter Niamh and his son Rían (11), in particular, have a huge interest.

"They have a big interest in their cousins and their family link to Longford, both of my kids while they were born in Dublin have very strong links back to the county, Moyne and they are very proud of their family name and history," he added.

Working at Corrigan's Service Station
Long-term staff member and manager Fiona O'Toole said the fact she has been employed by Corrigan's for 22 years shows that it has been a very positive place to work.

The Ballinamuck native said she married a Dromard man and began working there after she tied the knot.

Fiona explained the customers are lovely and it is an enjoyable working environment.

"I was living in Dromard when I took on the job and then I moved back home to Ballinamuck," she said. "Declan is a great boss and the staff are all great and we all get on well together, we are like one big happy family."

Fiona acknowledged the business has changed a lot since she started in 2002.

"It has but it's all changed for the better and Declan is great at keeping things up to date and it is a lovely place to work," she said.

The shop now is twice as big as it was and Fiona said it has gone from strength to strength over the years.

"We have a sit down area now and a new deli area and it's starting to take off and our loyal customers have been a big support" she added.

Fiona believes Corrigan's Service Station and the business receives so much support and goodwill from local people because of the way it is operated.

"You could not meet nicer than Declan, he is more like a friend than a boss and everyone has great time for him," she added.

Community support goes both ways
Declan stated they try to assist and sponsor local sporting clubs and organisations as much as possible.

"We sponsored jerseys throughout the years and with anything that is going we will always try to sponsor them," he said. "My own kids play GAA as well and with the schools we try to support them as well because they support us."

Declan explained they sponsored benches for the local secondary and national schools this year.

"A lot of the customers coming in and out are friends, there is a social element to it and we have been very well supported through the years," he added.

Declan has lots of positive memories of the past quarter of a century.

"During the building boom and the Celtic Tiger years we had a great time here, it was very busy and then we had the polar opposite when the downturn happened, it slowed very much down and we had to cut staff," Declan said. "But we recovered and by 2014 it was back to being busy again."