Brothers, aged 13 and 10, pen great business idea from their garden shed

THE McGarvey brothers Ronan, 13, and Conor, 10, couldn’t keep up with business orders for the Christmas market.

Now the directors of Donegal Pens say they are so busy, they are going to have to move to a bigger premises — in their back garden.

The boys, from Loughanure in the Donegal Gaeltacht, operate out of their shed which measures 16 feet by eight feet.

But now their father Eoin is planning to get them a bigger garden shed as their business empire expands.

“They literally couldn’t keep up with the orders before Christmas. It was great to see them so busy.

“It’s got so cramped in the shed that they have to store the pen boxes in the house and their Mammy isn’t too happy with that.

“We’re going to have to have a look at getting a bigger shed the way things are going,” said the proud dad.

The lads started the business almost two years ago and the orders have been coming in from around the world ever since.

Ronan and Conor, who are members of the Irish Woodturners’ Guild, first got the idea when they attended a craft fair in Antrim in 2009 and saw a demonstration in woodturning by Co Down man Geoff Tulip.

Among those who are now the proud owners of Donegal Pens include Gerry Adams, Bertie Ahern and Daniel O’Donnell.

The famous Donegal singer has even included a link to the lads’ company on his official website.

Before Christmas they couldn’t keep up with orders from around the globe including New Zealand, America and across Europe.

“We never thought it would get this big,” said Ronan.

“We really enjoy doing it and we spend as much time as we can in the shed coming up with new ideas and new designs,” he said.

The boys are always on the look-out for old bog oak in Donegal and also buy much of the wood for the pens on eBay.

They receive about 95% of their orders through www.donegalpens.com and are working on designs including fountain and mechanical pens.