UPDATE 1-CRH names former Bank of Ireland boss as chairman

(Adds Boucher's previous experience)

DUBLIN, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Ireland's CRH, the world's second-largest building materials supplier by market value, has appointed Richard Boucher as its new chairman, replacing Nicky Hartery, who will retire at the end of the year.

Boucher, who was chief executive of Bank of Ireland between February 2009 and October 2017, joined the CRH board in March 2018 and has been chairman of the company's remuneration committee since September of that year.

Born in Northern Rhodesia, Boucher spent 37 years in banking in Ireland, the UK and the United States. He will succeed the present chairman on Jan. 1, the company said on Thursday.

He was at the helm of Bank of Ireland as it struggled with the impact of the financial crisis, implementing a major re-structuring plan that attracted the international investment that allowed the bank to fully repay a 4.7 billion euro ($5.1 billion) state bailout.

After stepping down from the bank in 2017, Boucher worked as an advisor to Fairfax Financial Holdings, a Toronto-based investment group led by Prem Watsa.

He is currently a non-executive director of U.S. property group Kennedy Wilson, and Greek financial group Eurobank.

Hartery, who has been chairman of CRH since May 2012 and a board member since 2004, will retire from both roles on Dec. 31.

The company also appointed Johan Karlstrom, former president and chief executive officer of Skanska AB, as a non-executive director, with effect from Sept. 25.

CRH posted record first-half earnings of 1.54 billion euros in August, driven by a jump in sales in its Europe Materials division. The world's largest cement buyer said earlier this year it had been able to lift prices in all markets for the first time in 15 years. ($1 = 0.9138 euros) (Reporting by Graham Fahy; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Jan Harvey)