Cid Garlond established the Ironworks in 1562, so that magitek technology might spread throughout Eorzea, lessening the Garlean Empire's dangerous monopoly on the science. With a combination of both Garlean defectors and young Eorzean engineers in its employ, the manufacturers create everything from airships to ceruleum-driven trains. There are even scaled models for the younglings of well-to-do houses.

The company is second to none when it comes to airships, and it was but a twelvemoon after Cid's defection from the Empire that he designed a civilian model completely craftable with Eorzean resources. Since forging their partnership with Highwind Skyways, the Ironworks has produced countless airships, and is largely responsible for the current era's convenience in sky travel.

While Cid remains the president of the company in name, during his five-year absence following the Calamity, it was a woman named Jessie works mightily to support the Ironworks through her particular speciality—equipment created with the aid of magitek, and sold through an exclusive contract with Rowena's House of Splendors.