The Collen family traces its building and quarrying routes back to 1810 in the County Armagh area. John Collen was a stonemason who lived and worked in the townland of Knockmore, in the Barony of Ballinamore, County Armagh. One of his earliest recorded contracts in the area was the construction of a bridge over the Newry Canal.

Collen Bros opened its doors in Carlton Street, Portadown as a building contractor in 1867 and subsequently moving into Hanover Street in the early 1880's.

Collen Bros established itself as a large building and joinery firm during the late 1800s and completed many notable building projects such as the Court House in Portadown, Methodist Church Armagh, Keady Town Hall, Methodist Church Banbridge, St Patrick's Donegal Place Belfast and the Hibernian Bank Letterkenny to name a few.

Collen Bros has a very successful history of building throughout Ireland and some of the major project undertaken are displayed in our products and contracting sections. Collen Bros are also members of The Quarry Products Association Northern Ireland (QPANI) which is Northern Ireland's top trade association for the quarrying industry.

A very interesting book was produced by John Walsh and published in 2010 to mark a milestone of the family in the construction business for 200 years.
Click here for more information about the book

This book discusses the many projects undertaken throughout the past 200 years, this includes work for the Great Northern Railway, RDS Dublin, Educational Authorities, religious bodies, air raid shelters during the second world war, and the construction of Craigavon. It also sheds light on how the industry and thus company has changed and adapted over the last two centuries.