‘I became Ireland’s only female crane driver at age 18’

In 2022, at just 18 years of age, Kate Fahy became Ireland’s only female tower crane operator and reportedly one of the youngest female crane operators in the world.

Now, age 20, Kate has blazed the trail for other young construction workers, male and female, to have the confidence to take on the dizzying piece of machinery.

Ironically, Kate never planned on following her father into his construction business. The Galway girl had dreams of becoming a veterinarian and was deeply afraid of heights before finding her new career path.

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“I was supposed to go to Budapest to study veterinary medicine and I sat my entrance exams but this was in 2021 and pandemic restrictions meant I would be very isolated when I got over there so I decided to defer for a year.

“My Dad, who owns a construction company in Dublin, suggested I work in his onsite office doing admin for the year to make some money and get me out of the house.

“I did that over the summer after finishing my Leaving Cert but I absolutely hated the office. I did whatever I could to get out of the office so I started going onto the site, chatting to the banksman (the person on the ground that directs the crane) or going up the crane”.

Kate started working as a banksman and spent over six months working under another crane operator to get experience before taking her exam to be officially qualified as a tower crane operator in early 2022.

There are other female mobile crane operators in Ireland, but Kate is the first tower crane operator in Ireland.

“Even though I had an interest in construction, and my Dad was in construction, I never would have thought about working with machinery. It kind of came out of nowhere.

“My dad thought it was brilliant, he loved it. Everyone on site was great. I think because I started out in the office, and they saw me training, by the time I was on the crane the lads were all really supportive”.

Cranes can range in height from 40 to 100 metres. The tallest that Kate has operated is 80 metres. “I have been in a 100 metre crane and I controlled it but it wasn’t my job, I just went up for the nose”.

Naturally, a fear of heights is not something that’s conducive with a tower crane operator, but Kate didn’t let that minor detail deter her.

“I would have been a scaredy-cat growing up, I wouldn’t have gone on rollercoasters or anything like that. The first time I went to climb up a crane the lads on site were saying to me; ‘I don’t think you realise what you’re getting yourself into, Kate’.

“I shrugged it off but on the way up I was like, ‘oh no, what have I done?’. But I had to stay going because the lads were all taking the piss’.

“Now I have no fear of rollercoasters or anything like that. I’m doing a skydive over the summer and I definitely wouldn’t have done that before becoming a crane operator. It knocked the fear out of me”.

It can take from four to ten minutes to climb to the top of a tower crane, something Kate says often depends on her mood and the weather.

“It can vary depending on the size of the crane, the weather and my mood that morning. If I’m feeling groggy I might drag my feet. But if I’m full of energy I put my airpods on at the bottom and challenge myself to get to the top of a 40 metre crane by the end of one song.

“But that’s if I don’t stop. It is generally recommended that you stop and take a minute to adjust to the height every few ladders. But when it’s cold and raining you don’t really want to stop”.

One of the biggest limitations to being a female crane operator is the need to leave the crane to use the toilet – many male crane operators use a bottle to urinate without interruption.

“I’m at a disadvantage because I have to use the toilet, the lads get to use bottles. We only get half an hour for a break and by the time I get myself gathered and down the crane, use the toilet, I’d only have a few minutes before I have to get back up the crane.

“I don’t mind going up and down because it gives me a chance to stretch my legs, when you’re sitting down all day it’s no harm to get a bit of fresh air”.

Operating a crane is a lonely position on a construction site, especially for someone like Kate who enjoys the social aspect of the busy work environment.

“Sometimes in the evening if it gets quiet I’ll pop down to the lads for the chats and then go back up again when it gets busy.

“I eat my lunch up there so it does get lonely. The worst thing I ever did was start bringing my AirPods up because I’m on the phone constantly. Whenever I’m not doing a lift I’m ringing people and annoying their heads. They have work as well I suppose, I do forget.

“The craic very much depends on the site. There’s been some sites I’ve worked on that I couldn’t wait to get out because people didn’t really mix, there was no craic, they just came in and did their job. Whereas for me I love going in and having the chats, it could be half an hour before I start climbing the crane because I stop to talk to everyone on the way”.

Now that Kate has a taste for construction life, she doesn’t see herself doing anything else. So while the veterinary dream has been put on hold indefinitely, she also wants to work outside the crane.

“I definitely want to stay in construction for the rest of my career whether onsite or off. I’m very happy at the minute being site-based, but eventually I would like to start looking into other options”.

A true trailblazer; since Kate qualified three more have followed in her footsteps.

“The second girl who qualified contacted me and asked me for advice. I’ve had loads of people on to me, even lads, I constantly have people texting me and wondering where to start”.

Kate then made the decision to go out on her own, which presented a whole new set of challenges.

“It’s hard to get a job as an inexperienced crane driver, but a lad I knew from home took a chance on me and gave me a job over the phone. When I went to a new site the lads did find it a bit strange, that a girl was showing up to drive this crane, whereas my experience up to that point was it was no big deal. It was a weird adjustment period”.

Kate has become something of a local celebrity in the sector now and has been spotted out and about.

“I go to a lot of dances and I was at one up in Monaghan recently. I went outside to get some fresh air because I was roasting and someone standing next to me said, ‘are you the crane operator?’. It’s always in the most random places”.

It hasn’t all been fanfare. Kate has experienced the passive aggressive comments from some people.

“I think people closer to home are the worst for it. They’ll say, ‘why would you want to be doing that now,’ or ‘for a girl why would you want to do such long hours or do such hardship on sites’, but all of my friends who I went to school with are all farmers, electricians or tradeswomen. They’ll catch up with the times eventually”.

Kate is one of 54 women who appears in the new book by retired psychotherapist turned photographer Linda Hanlon. ‘Empower Her’ is a ground-breaking limited edition coffee-table book which features a collection of portraits and inspiring quotes from the most inspiring women in Ireland.

The book captures the essence of female empowerment in modern Ireland, including former Irish President Mary McAleese, chef Darina Allen, Scientist Dr Norah Patten, MEP Frances Fitzgerald and ground-breaking referee Joy Neville. Find out more at empowerherproject.net