Tommy celebrates 55 years working for Kilkenny company

On Monday of last week, Tommy Gleeson celebrated 55 years of unbroken service, working for Roadmaster Caravans in Johnstown.
The entire workforce came together at the company’s premises to mark the achievement on April 1.
The founder and managing director of Roadmaster, Myles Mc Cabe presented Tommy with a commemorative plaque.
He thanked Tommy for his years of service to the company, through the good times and the bad, remarking that due to his dedication, enthusiasm and good health, Tommy rarely missed a day’s work throughout all the years.
History
Myles who served his time as a cabinet maker in Callahan and Connolly’s furniture makers on Kieran Street, Kilkenny, where Dunnes Stores now stands, started making caravans in the late 1950s in the backyard of the family home in Johnstown.
Then in 1962, he purchased land on the main road between the villages of Johnstown and Urlingford to setup a manufacturing facility, where the company still operates.
During the 1970s Roadmaster operated a second manufacturing plant outside Castlecomer, before consolidating the operations back at the home base in Johnstown in the early 1980s.
Over the years the company has grown from strength to strength, currently employing over 40 personnel and is one of the leading manufacturers of pre-fabricated buildings in Ireland.
It also produces a range of bespoke designed holiday homes serving the Irish market.
Tommy also served his time at Callahan and Connolly's before deciding to take up a job vacancy at the then fledgling Roadmaster Caravans.
He can still remember driving out to Johnstown from his home in Cuffesgrange on that first morning in April 1964, not knowing at the time how long he would work for the company.
Tommy rose through the ranks and has played an integral part in the success of the company, heading up the furniture manufacturing department both at the Castlecomer plant during the 1970s and at the current base of operations in Johnstown.
He is an avid supporter of Kilkenny hurling and with the company's close proximity to the Kilkenny-Tipperary border, the scene is often set for healthy competition and banter.
He and his wife Joan enjoy traveling, both within Ireland and to further flung destinations and he likes to keep himself fit and healthy, to this day playing squash several evenings a week.
While Tommy is set to retire from working life this summer, it is not before passing the milestone of having worked for the same company for 55 years.  A remarkable achievement.