About Us
History of Henry Paton & Co. Ltd
Henry Paton & Company Limited was incorporated in Dublin on the 14th May 1948 with Jack Spiro and Abraham Stein as its first shareholders and original company directors. Jack and Abraham were married to two sisters, Florrie and Bessie Clien from Liverpool.
Originally known as Henry & Company (Eire) Limited, the company had as its main object, “To carry on the business of a Shroud and Habit maker” an object that continues to this very day.
The Paton Family
Following the death of Abraham Stein in 1955 at the relatively young age of 52 years and the death of Jack Spiro in 1973, Jack’s widow Florrie sold the company to Olive and Alec Paton in mid-1976. The company transferred from High Street, Dublin to a new location and its present home at Mill Street, Tullow in January 1977. Under Alec’s leadership the company went from strength to strength.
Two generations of the Paton family are currently involved in running Henry Paton & Co. Ltd. today. Will Paton joined the company in January 1985 and his daughter Lauren and son James joined him in December 2024 as company directors.
What We Do
Henry Paton & Co. Ltd. are suppliers to the funeral and monumental trades on the island of Ireland.
Our unique selling point is that in 2026 we are the only remaining soft good manufacturer left in the Republic of Ireland that serves the funeral trade. All our soft goods – coffin and casket drapery; coffin and casket pads; lining sets; eiderdowns; trim sheets; lid linings; habits; shrouds; door netts and crepes as well as Child of Mary cloaks – are designed and made inhouse. Our soft goods are “Made in Tullow” with pride.
The great advantage of manufacturing our own products means we can quickly respond to trends in the funeral trade and offer funeral directors unique one-off pieces to match to their customers’ requirements. Whether the request is for extra large or extra small, different colours or patterns, we can meet the challenge. All you have to do is ask!
We don’t trade in coffins but we do have a limited range of steel Canadian made Legacy Caskets which have proven very popular over the years.
For the monumental trade our range of rubber sand blasting tapes prove very popular as do our headstone photographs; sanding discs; battery and solar lamps; bronze headstone ornaments; gold leaf; stone glues; resin bonded statures and ceramic angels.
Our People
The greatest resource within Henry Paton & Co. Ltd. is our people, who have a wide range of experience from two years to nearly fifty years in the funeral trade. While each person has particular responsibilities with the company, we work as a team to meet the needs of our customers. Here are our people:
Will Paton
BBS; MA; MBA: MSc
Will joined Henry Paton & Co. Ltd. in January 1985 after serving four years with Phelan Prescott & Co., Chartered Accountants in Dublin. He became the third generation of his family to be involved in funerals in Tullow until the family sold the funeral business in ****. While his strengths are in office administration, Will has developed great customer relationships in the past forty odd years and he became Managing Director in 2024, following the resignation of Alec Paton as an active member of the company. Will is an Independent member of Carlow County Council, representing the Tullow Electoral Area since June 1999.
Lauren Paton
BSc. Nursing
Lauren is Will’s elder daughter and she joined the Board of Directors as Company Secretary in September 2025.
James Paton
QQI Care Skills
James is Will’s middle child and he joined the Board of Directors in September 2025. He is involved in the running of the company on a part-time basis and enjoys getting out and about in the van meeting customers.
Seamus Jones
Seamus joined Henry Paton & Co. in January 1995 as Sales Representative and is the “face” of the company as he travels around the country servicing customer’s needs.
Maureen Doyle
Maureen joined Henry Paton & Co. way back in January 1981 when she took on a part-time role in accounts to help out Alec. Over the years her role as developed and she now supervises the office, manufactures goods and organises goods for delivery.
Martha McGrath
Martha joined Henry Paton & Co. in October 1995 as a sewing machinist with years of experience making military uniforms at McGonnells of Rathvilly. Today she can turn her hand to making habits, pads, drapery sets etc. She enjoys the challenge of making one off items for customers.
Sales
Our Sales Representative, Seamus Jones covers eight sales areas in the Republic of Ireland and calls to our customers approximately every two months. Seamus sends customers a postcard reminder of his forthcoming visit a week in advance and one big advantage of having a sales representative is that he can deliver urgent orders when he visits. He also deals with any customer queries or concerns face to face.