Fire wood man Len kept Rosbercon fires going
LEONARD (LEN) HARRIS was a man very few people could understand, but he found his way into the hearts of the people of his adopted home town through his warmth and the warmth of the kindling he supplied locally for decades.
From Leyton, London, England, Len spoke with a profound cockney accent, his words running into one another in steady torrents.
Born in 1922, he was the youngest of 14 boys and the last surviving member of his family. All of Len’s uncles fought in the Great War and inspired by their stories of heroism he also tried to join the British Army but was denied entry because of his poor hearing. He arrived in New Ross, where he had family, in 1961 and quickly became one of the town’s characters. He worked on the railway and met Bridget Doran who was to become his wife. The couple lived at Robert street and Len, being a self sufficient man, always made a few shillings by using found wood to make logs and kindling.
He moved to 8 Assumption Terrace, Rosbercon and could often be seen pushing a wheelbarrow on Rosbercon Hill.
His good friend and neighbour Patricia Richardson said: ‘Len was great craic. I was reared across the road from him and he latched onto our family. In later years he would come in for tea and a chat. There was never a dull moment with Len. He was one of a kind and you’ll never see the like of him again.’
Len was devastated when Bridget died 28 years ago. Patricia recalled: ‘When she was sick he and I would thumb to Wexford general in the pitch dark to see her. She was blind and bed bound in later years and he looked after her. He was never the same after she died.’
Len maintained his business selling kindling from his house.
‘Whenever he found a pallet he would think it was his birthday. The simple things in life amused him. He loved growing rose bushes and could make the most beautiful bushes by taking slips off one. He would be always pottering around his garden in his overalls for work. He took great pride in his garden.’
Len enjoyed a social life well into his years, playing pool at the Three Bullet Gate and enjoing a few rock shandies at home on Christmas night. Len enjoyed good health up until last September. Defying doctor’s grim predictions he lived on until August 16.
A large crowd attended Len’s funeral Mass at The Church of The Assumption, Rosbercon, on Saturday, and his burial afterwards in St Stephen’s Cemetery.
May he rest in peace.