On the building sites of London
THE scribe recently visited England and made the usual attempt to seek out and chat to the Irish who worked in the building sites of London from the 1950s to the ’80s. Sadly, they are getting ever more thinner and difficult to find.
Many of these good hardworking people have passed from this life. During their working lives they very much stuck together, living and socialising in communities such as Kilburn, Camden Town and Cricklewood.
Today, the Irish emigration situation sees more and more people travelling to England with third level education qualifications and the laptop has very much replaced the pick and shovel. They are well qualified and independent and don’t seem to stick together as much as those who did in days of yore as they can embark on a wide variety of work.
However, the scribe had the great privilege to meet one such person who worked in the building sites of London, now retired.
He is Den Murphy of Chapeltown, Valentia Island, whose family were long time neighbours of my own family here in Valentia. When I visited Den at his comfortable home in Rusthall Avenue in the pleasant neighbourhood of Chiswick, west London, he was sitting at his table reading The
Kerryman, which he said he regularly purchases at a shop nearby. He was in the company of his daughter Eileen, her husband Doug Jackson as well as his grand-daughter and baby greatgrand-daughter.
Den, who will be 89 on July 4, emigrated from his native Valentia Island in 1952 to work in the building sites of Birmingham. He worked in many areas of England and finally London. He worked with well known and long established companies such as McAlpine and John Lang and the Murphy brothers of neighbouring Renard.
He also referred to a number of Valentia Islanders with whom he worked but, unfortunately, they were all dead. His English born wife, Ivy, passed away in 2013.
Den Murphy’s parents were Michael (Mikey) and Ellen Murphy of Chapeltown, whose other children were as follows: Kit (Birmingham), Nell (RIP, Valentia), Joan (RIP, Listowel), Nancy (Sister Brendan, Birmingham), Bridie (RIP, Birmingham), Pat Joe (Birmingham), Michael (RIP, Birmingham) and John (The West Country, England). All good wishes from Valentia are extended to Den.