Our Story

Founder Noel Fitzgibbon 1984

The Fitzgibbon family come from a long tradition of Kerry stonemasons who, over the generations, perfected our craft and developed a reputation for innovation and hard work. Noel Fitzgibbon carried on this tradition and in 1989 he started Ard Ri Marble manufacturing handcrafted fireplaces in Tralee town.

The company has grown exponentially over the past 31 years from a small local factory with 5 employees to an international manufacturer and distributor of quality affordable homeware products with over 680 employees spread between Ireland, the UK and Asia. We are now a market leader in the homeware market in Ireland and a growing force in the UK, where we aim to be a market leader within 3 years.

When Noel retired in 2000, we took over the business. We realised early on that having control of our supply and delivery chains would copper fasten our competitive advantage and allow us to control both the quality and the supply of our homeware products.

Overcoming obstacles with language, culture and politics, we invested heavily in two large factories in Guangdong China and now manufacture our own homeware products and distribute and supply a trusted growing network of over 1200 retailers across Ireland and the UK directly from China where we employ over 550 people. This was a game changer for Ard Ri and gave us a secure supply line where we could control the quality of our products and guarantee supply.

Left to right: Neil Fitzgibbon, Mike O’Toole, Lucy Frazer – Cambridge MP , Paul Fitzgibbon

Ard Ri Marble Staff

We built our own transport network across Ireland and the UK and supply high quality doors, stoves, architrave and other homeware products. We have developed a top class distribution system that ensures on time delivery, high quality standards and a first rate customer service programme. These supply chains became an increasingly important asset when Covid19 began eroding trust in supply chains.

The Ard Ri group now employes over 680 people in two large distribution centres in the UK, a large distribution centre in Dublin and a further distribution centre and headquarters in Tralee, Co. Kerry. We are embarking on an aggressive expansion plan which will see us entering 5 new markets over the next 5 years. We will double our turnover from 65m to 130m within 5 years, growing our global workforce to over 2,000.