Gerard McCaughey was a big personality in his professional life but he was more introverted and not so social in his private life, according to his wifeThe Monaghan-born US-based businessman Gerard McCaughey has died aged 60. McCaughey was best known as the founder of Century Homes with his father, Brian, brother Gary and business partner Jim McBride in 1989.
In 2017 he cofounded the company, Entekra, to launch the production of off-site timber frames on the American market where so-called stick builds was the standard approach. The company received investment to build a factory in Modesto, California – supported by a design and engineering team in Monaghan town.
In the mid-2000s Quigley and McCaughey worked together on a prototype zero-energy, zero-carbon house called the Formula One house. And while that project didn’t come to fruition, in 2007 McCaughey was heavily involved in The Lighthouse, another zero-carbon house built as a model on the grounds of the Building Research Establishment testing centre in Watford, England.
Gerry McCaughey grew up the eldest of three children of Theresa and Brian McCaughey. His father set up the Irish Joinery Monaghan timber engineering company in Monaghan town in 1965, after returning from working in the United States. Following his secondary school education in the Christian Brothers School in Monaghan town, McCaughey studied business at the Regional Technical College in Dundalk . He transferred to University College Dublin to complete his Bachelor of Commerce in 1985.
Jack Murray, chief executive of MediaHQ and former PR consultant for Century Homes, said McCaughey was a dynamic businessman, a natural communicator and an enthusiastic mentor. “His business motto was persistence beats resistance. He was determined, innovative, hard-working, funny and curious.”