From a village in Ireland to a town in England

Outside of school we played football and hurling. And listened to the radio as well of course, I remember a programme call Dingo, which had traditional music and sketches, and one called The School Around the Corner where the radio went out to different schools, it never did come to ours mind! Can't really remember what I was doing when it was raining, I guess I was rummaging around in drawers or something. In fact I can't remember it raining in my childhood, I just remember sport and sunshine.

... I left school at 15 and we moved to join my dad in England - Friday May 29th 1962. I traveled on the Princess Maud . It was an adventure to me, looking forward to meeting me father and opening up a door to a new life. ...

I must've always been a hungry child. I remember they were doing the thrashing up the road and I went up to get milk from the farm. Mrs. Million said come in and whilst you waiting you may as well have something to eat. So I said "yes please ". I never saw ham as thick in my life every thing that was put in front of me. I must have eaten twice as much as the workman. When Mrs. Million asked me if I wanted anymore to eat I replied "no thanks I have to go home and have my real tea. I don't know what she thought of me after eating so much!

My mother used to say to me "when you have your real tea Michael then its bed. That means it would be late before I had my tea because you did not like going to bed as a child.

I came over to England in 1958 for a holiday at Christmas to visit my father, he was working in SKF. I can remember getting of the train at Bute St. and the first thing that struck me was the town hall clock. I lay in bed listening, counting the chimes on the clock. At that time I'd never seen a clock so big.

My father was a labourer in Ireland and when he came over here it was the first time he worked in a factory, I don't know how he managed working inside. Then later on he worked at Vauxhall, I remember him coming home one evening and he said as he came through the door "I'm in one of the best jobs in England." It was quite prestigious to work at Vauxhall at that time. So he'd be sending the fiver home. I remember the letter coming on the Friday morning, seeing the postman coming up the path. Then it went up to 6 or 7 pounds. Remember, when he left Ireland the most he'd be getting would be a pound a day, and of course if you worked on a farm or worked on a building if it was raining you didn't get paid. He was probably earning 10 or 12 pounds in England and it seemed amazing.

... My first recollection of an Irish Community outside of Ireland was going to mass in the school, and of course the pubs. The Irish at that time didn't really mix, drinking in certain pubs and going to the church halls. People that they had the closest allegiance to was the West Indian people, we had a lot in common, working in the hospitals and on the buses. ...

He'd come over to visit us in the annual holiday, that was something else new to us of course, we didn't know what a holiday was, all these people coming back over in the last week of July and first week of August.

I left school at 15 and we moved to join my dad in England - Friday May 29th 1962. I traveled on the Princess Maud . It was an adventure to me, looking forward to meeting me father and opening up a door to a new life.

We lived in Luton and I got a job in a foundry Ashley Overhills, we used to make the hat blocks for the hat industry and so I became an apprentice foundry worker. I got in to the new way of life quite quickly, one day I was riding 6 miles to and from school in all weathers, the next week I was working in a foundry, I didn't even know what a foundry was before that!

My first recollection of an Irish Community outside of Ireland was going to mass in the school, and of course the pubs. The Irish at that time didn't really mix, drinking in certain pubs and going to the church halls. People that they had the closest allegiance to was the West Indian people, we had a lot in common, working in the hospitals and on the buses. I think a lot of the Irish at that time were a little bit apprehensive of the English, they weren't sure if they were welcome so what they did was keep their heads down, and again in the seventies, people didn't want you to think that they were members of illegal organisations.

My young lad was born in England and yet he supports the Irish football team. He recently went to Dublin to get engaged on O'Connel Bridge. We came from Ireland and I think our identity is going to carry on through 4th and 5th generation. I think the people that came over in the 40's and 50s are unique, they've still retained they're identity. We always talk about being an invisible ethnic minority ,it must be easier if you're a certain colour to keep your identity than its is for the Irish, for the 2nd and 3rd generation people.

I think in more recent years the Irish have realised what they have contributed to Luton in building and in business. They're more confident as a group of people, they mix more with other people and are more outward looking. We should be proud of what we have achieved and what we have contributed to the life of Luton and how we enriched the towns multicultural community. Yes it's a big change from Wilkinstown Co. Meath to Luton Bedfordshire.