"Mr. J. J. O'Brien, President of the O'Brien Construction company, was born in the City of Limerick in 1860, and came to California in 1874.
For the last thirty years he has been engaged in the contracting business, during which time he has erected some large buildings in San Francisco and on the coast. He was awarded the contract for the completion of the City Hall building in San Francisco, which was destroyed during the fire of 1906. This contract amounted to over $200,000 and finally completed the building, which had been in course of construction for many years. For several years he was associated with the American Hawaiian Engineering and Construction Co., during which time he erected the Hahnemann hospital, Butler building, Geary & Stockton streets, Monadnock Building, Market and Third streets, Red Men's hall and several others."