Voices of The Men Who Built Britain
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- Опубліковано 6 гру 2014
- Voices of The Men Who Built Britain
Ultan Cowley, author of The men who built Britain, has released a compelling CD, VOICES OF THE MEN WHO BUILT BRITAIN, featuring first-hand accounts of life in Britain’s construction industry in the last century. Taken from interviews recorded in the nineteen nineties these voices convey a vivid picture of the lives of Irish emigrants both before and after leaving Ireland.
The finest men that ever lived and worked
I’m a south London bricklayer in my 36th year now. I have many a good memories working with the Irish back in the eighties mainly. Good honest hard working men. Sadly it’s all Eastern European now. Not the same as the old days. Regards from south London England
I worked in the London Buildings in the 80's and did all the Camden Town queuing. Back then London was full of Irish and some trades were exclusively Irish, like Steel-Fixing, Shuttering and Ground works.
I did know Irish Bricklayers and there were a good many London Brickies as well , Trades like Scaffolding and Plastering were done by Londoners more I found, they dominated those.
All in all I had great time in London and enjoyed the work and the money back in the 1980s
Never realized the E Europeans had taken over as I left in 1990.
My father a dublin man worked in London in the 60s and managed a dart team full of mainly London lads, he had a great love for English people all his life.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h anam.
Definitely mate
My dad worked in Cricklewood area in the 60s
Best man to work for in England was a English man
I'm London born n bred, in the late 80's. Mater and Pater were both from Mayo, but actually met in Manchester in the mid 70's. Both moved to London to find work. My aul fella and 2 of his brothers worked on the sites together for a good 15yrs. Jaysus, some of the stories my Mam tells me about them, back in the day. It'd finish off a Priest.
3 of my Mam's brothers came over, too. Worked on some good sites. Houses of Parliament, Ritz and Savoy hotels, to name a few. Worked like fuckin dogs.
Got rakes of maternal/paternal family, as well as in-laws that worked themselves to the bone. No days off. No doleites.
My aul fella had two fingers gone cos of work. Also had a deep tar burn/scar all up the inner/calf area of the right lef. An uncle lost an eye. My aunties husband sustained a head injury that essentially rewired his brain. Never the same after. Childlike in some ways. Another uncle, who died this past November developed serious lung problems due to absestos.
I left LDN in 2018. Had to come back for family reasons, due to Covid and I'm sickened by the place. The country. What's it turned into. The people it walks on eggshells for, mollycoddles and gives false praise.
We don't get a History Month. We were the first to be colonized. There's no rememberance for The Great Famine. All we get is a half hearted fuckin Paddy's Day. And it's fuckin dreadful.
And now we've got the loud, aggressive, violent work shy eejits telling me about my 'privilege'.
Get to fuck.
Yup
too true
Well said so well said👍
No statues for the Irish in London.. The real people that built Britain back up.. No nonsense or lies, just facts..
America too
October is officially Irish History Month❗️🍀🇮🇪
A whole range of people built Britain. Irish people of course made an extraordinary contribution too. All groups of people should be remembered.
And yes, I look forward to seeing some monuments remembering these extraordinary people who quite often suffered atrocious working conditions and prejudice.
And yes, I look forward to seeing some monuments remembering these extraordinary people who quite often suffered atrocious working conditions and prejudice.
I was born in South London from a Kerry Mother and I used to do that work. Sometimes if we were working far away we didn't get home until very late because the Lads would be stopping off at every pub on the way.
Great times.
Pure Hell ,old bean. I lived in London in the 70 ,80s 90 s on and off but avoided the Navy scene .Lining up for work in Camden or Kentish town to be abused by fellow Irish ganger men .No thanks .
Lived in Kilburn in the 70s back over in the 80s worked for Patsy Murphy Walls Brothers on a concrete gang drank in the Prince of Wales Willesden Lane met great people from all parts of Ireland forget the bitterness remember the good times god bless
I worked on the sites in London in the 80s. Just walk on and ask for the start. Might take 4-5 days going to dozens of sites but eventually you'd get taken on. Can't do that now with all the security and fencing. Harry Bonello and Dick RIP.
makes me cry.
Those men ended up with serious injuries and illness but they were abandoned by their so called employers and British and Irish governments.
what you say is true.
My husband is from belmullet still working hard in London and Oxford, he is a hard working man
Nice words Diana :-)
My father was an Andy Connors from Tipperary, worked in London during the 60s
My parents were from outside belmullet and my father and brothers worked on the roads during this time
The Men Who Built Britain 🇮🇪🇬🇧❤️
🇮🇪 love it the Irish built Britain
As sure as leprechauns is leprechauns 🤓
The Irish lads did all the work in England
The Irish and very good at digging holes….other than terrorism….they are no good at anything else.
Love the Irish. Their men are soo luscious!
And we have big mickeys
👍🇮🇪
At Kingsbury roundabout there is a Newsagent. In 1968 an advert in the window for room rental said "No Blacks, no Irish, no dogs." In 1990 in the same shop window they advertised for an assistant "Must be Gudjurati speaking." How times change!
Am part of a large Irish family,my Father & Mother bought a second house in N.London in the 60's when he put an ad in the local shop to rent a room he put "Only Irish" need apply! (We had heard about the advert you mentioned)
No way to treat heroes ohhh that's right they weren't just leeches off a British mans blood but do disagree with the no dogs policy
Worked in reading and slough in the eighties.those were the days..
My dad came over in the fifties and my mam's side came over to build the Manchester Ship Canal. It was bloody bonded slavery. We were lucky.
Good hard working stock
Worked there in the eighties and nineties on the green duct real tough work 3:30
My parents came over from Ireland as teenagers in the '50's and despite unbelievable hurdles,they brought up 6 kids as decent, loving, hard-working people who now have our own families here in England. We have them to thank for everything we have. I can never forgive the way the British government (and a lot of the British people) treated the Irish back then and continues to ignore the plight of elderly single Irish men who (due to lack of money) had no choice but to stay here, despite giving their working lives to building England/Britain.
I have family in Ireland still and I feel we missed out on the sense of belonging and closeness that they have with their large extended families there.
Did my time in Cricklewood late 80s.
The extra counties of Ireland. Cricklewood, Kilburn, Willesden, Camden/Kentish Town
ARCHWAY AND HOLLOWAY ROAD as well begorrah !!1
How lovely is that!
Or a Tipp man. When my father came back from the Congo. Left the army and off to London. Digging trenches under the road.
October is officially Irish History Month 🍀🇮🇪
Dont forget Galvins at Cricklewood lane, probably the best contractor that left kerry
Those were brutally hard-working days, you may not get paid, some contractors would try to trick you hard earned money, and poor lodgings, you would be looked down by seme and be called a Paddy when often you may be far smarter than the person who was insulting you. Those were hard times and yet they were better than being unemployed in Ireland
My wife is from belmullet great woman on the shovel to.
My father and his brothers came over from Sligo in the late fifties ,and sixties ,yet nowhere is their a statue erected to thank the Irish for rebuilding the infrastructure of post war damaged Britain ,?????
I am from/living in Liverpool ... we in Liverpool have Irish connections, so we welcome the Irish.
I have one observation to mention here ...
The Irish came to Britain looking for work, as there was None in Ireland, many stayed here so they chose to live here and marry have kids and have the use of our N.H.S. benefit system and housing.
As I said, I embrace The Irish yet the Question is This ... All the things they have here, they Did Not Have in Ireland and that makes you Question Ireland itself ???
I take your point,but the only ones who benefited were their descendants.Poor housing, working conditions and out and out racism and contempt by many in British society, made them feel lost here. Having their own families,meant for many that they were tied here.The Irish/British governments could have and should have set up schemes and support to help those who wanted to return home.
@@miger1824 The point has been missed ... Ireland was an economically inactive rural outback (I blame De Valera for that) yet ignorant people voted for the man who set up Michael Colins to die ... (I'm more of a James Connolly - Irish Citizen Army person). No Industrial Commercial Plan in The 26 Counties, hence the people went West to Britain or crossed over to North America. Even Now with the two Constructional Referendum votes, Ireland Still has negative "Magdelen Sisters" undertow !!! ... That is The Ireland I Hate.
I love your Land ... yet I have many disagreements on The Nations Psyche - Body Politic.
I am irish and working in South East of England I am a modern day version of these men and could even be thrown back in time and would be comfortable working in them trenches with them boys but difference is I get paid better and I bring it home every Fri night and come back for work early Mon mornings these poor boys never got paid so much that they could travel home every weekend 👍🇮🇪
Are you at east anglia
They got paid plenty. But mostly drank every pennie.
@@dannykelly7159 In fairness they only had the digs at night staring at four walls , so they went to the Pub and got a drink problem , which only the wages on a building site could keep going. They were brought over and had no family or houses to call a home- I mean you could not finish work early and tidy up your garden or build a shed etc, you only had the digs and you were not staying long and you had to travel light as you were carrying it in between jobs.
In my 20's I had a bag of tools and a sleeping bag/ bag of clothes' and that kept me going.
Only got a car when I was 27 and settled down married at 30.
All the time prior was working and drinking, and I consider myself lucky that I got out when the chance arose.
I would not blame anyone that was not so fortunate.
@@Gommerell I agree. As I’ve been working away since 18. I moved to oz for 5 years then have worked in England and Scotland in bad digs this past 6 years. I love a drink. But deffo couldn’t afford to drink in bars every night of the week like these boys. Lol. If I could I’d have a farm bought in Ireland 😀😂
@@dannykelly7159 To give you an idea of my own experience ; The basic rate at Camden Town in 1988 was £30 in the hand for days work (some would try to get it for £20, usually if it was a small builder and they got their job done they would give you a drink as well maybe £40 all in. ) For that you could get a meal in a Cafe for £2-£3 say and a pint was a £1.50 .
I tired of laboring and chanced my arm at Shuttering and they pay doubled to £65 a day- did get sacked a good few times for being a chancer though.
Eventually got the hang of it and I worked on Canary Wharf for 18 months getting £400 a week clear with overtime. That was digs at £50 a week (a room in a shared house) and travelcard was £10 .)
You could easy save £100- £200 a week with a good Saturday night as well.
A Farm in Scotland was about 100k then so a good motivated lad could save 5k in a year easy.
A House would be £30k, so you could definitely work on the buildings a few years , have a good few pints at night and still save towards something.
I don't think wages and houses are in the same sentence now.
Good luck
i thought there would be an Irish Accent in there some where sure they built Britain and America and Australia.
And paid for the Breweries.
You took the words out of my mouth. Grafters. My dad and mum worked in and lived in Camden and had three kids. Mum worked two shifts a day, sometimes she had to take me (her youngest) with her to clean shopping centres.
They eventually took us back home to be raised in Ireland.
And the only reason the Pubs started open this far 🤣
Good Historic,
Early 70s, Slough< > Reading stretch: railway ballast dropped from bellies of hoppers yellow chalked X every 60 ft. for shovelling level with sleepers.
London separated the men from the boys spent the 80s there, tben Berlin. But London was a blast found out a lot about my peers, when u down in london u down deep down. Learned my pocket was my friends true friend.Anyway life is kind and good and London made me. Now2018 i happy not healthy have bucks, Bottom line we learn as we pass through. If it not be for London theres so much id have missed PS reason 4 going was 2 miss the police
@rue de bac Depends on the individual
I'm from Dublin and actually worked for a Loyalist Scotsman in Hastings
Treated me like a Brother
We all work. Never mind where from
These Irish sub contractors were very bad to their own còuntrymen
dead right james i was in London in 80's i found the English treated me better i was 19 whn i wnt over but i enjoyed myself
In the main, very true
I remember just loving having continuous strenous work because otherwise it was just macho bullying by foremen , luckily I never succeeded, and so my limbs and lungs are still alive 40 years later. It was a humiliating culture trap and most of them are dead I think. A waste of the creative human brain.
Worse kind was your own ..
If you ever get the chance to have an Irishman as your foreman…run it’s not worth you time he will absolutely break you up with the amount of lifting and the speed you have to do it at. No excuse not even a snowstorm would stop and Irishman from getting paid. I know from experience as an Australian who worked many different Irish foreman and they treat you the exact way they were treated. But they are a great laugh and very good drinkers
I still don't mind a pint though...
I lost my ol man to work in England. He came home twice a year , Easter and Christmas, until he stopped coming home. So I grew up quick and I grew up mean , 😂😂😂😂😂 but I wasn't called Sue. I went over in later years and patched things up, as best we could. Ah sure, that's life.
them times are long gone no machinery that time only all shovel work and thick irish ganger man shouting into ur face all day getting dogs abuse
Irishmen in Britain who most decidedly didn’t have their hands in their pockets.
A title that could've said those that fought for it ohhhhh but it wouldn't an the reason is- hmmmmm
…a
I was there I know about them men are talking a lot of shite dose he not know there are more places in donegal than gewdoweer what about the inishowen men that could work
Willie Caldwell
I worked with lots of Irish men all over the country when they came to Wales they thought they were hard cocky full of stuff about how hard their lives were notice to Irish weve been through more shit your country has ever been through never heard the same when i worked in England i offered two paddies out on the same night not so hard both declined im Welsh ive no argument with anyone but if you come to any part of the UK doesnt matter where you come from you will get a fight paddies are nothing special believe me 😂
Rocky😂
You live in dreamland irish fighting British occupation for 800 years u Welsh love being English.... don't remember Welsh standing up to them u have a government that might as well not be there anything important Westminster decides your outcome
@@Irish780 And the EU decides yours
@stephendavies925 I would rather be in than out look at the millions wales lost because of brexit ...... offcourse Boris said at the time not to worry .. England will make that up 😆 you know the rest
@@Irish780 its the Labour party in Wales thats killing Wales not Brexit
I think the british built Britain.
*Leprechauns didn't build Britain*
*Capricorns did*
The Irish Did! 🇮🇪🍀
Irish built it. Hard working men. 🇮🇪
Irish built Britain 🇮🇪
well done to Paddy....