We hear so much about what the Windrush generation did for the good of Britain, but never anything about the Irish, and they literally built most of post-war Britain with their bare hands.
It's because of this windrush we've a country full of black and half breed road men stabbing each other, and hundreds of thousands of single mothers sponging off the state
My Father a Limerick man was in the sheild on the Blackwell Tunnel as a leading miner in 1967 and he drove numerous headings all over the UK but his health deteriorated in his mid 50s between hard work and hard living ........a common theme for the Irish as they were poorly advised back then and exploited by there own ? What i can tell you is if the Irish were currently working on the HS2 it would be finished on time or ahead of schedule thats for sure and they'd have time for a few pints along the way also 😂😂 Im 50 now and i cut my teeth with my Connemara uncles back in the 80s myself and they made a man out of me thats for sure 💯 THE IRISH MEN & WOMEN WERE THE GREATEST WORKERS TO EVER GRACE THESE SHORES AND THEY'LL NEVER BE THE LIKES OF THEM AGAIN !!!!! RIP DAD BRILLIANT UPLOAD BTW 👏
9:50 The Irish Subbie, The Big Merc , The Big Man , The Big Ego , The Big Mouth. Lovely lads to work for. These guys had absolute contempt for their own. Treated Irish lads worse than the English ever did. A smug bastard.
You are right about the Irish sub contractors in London .They used to treat their workers with contempt.I know because I used to work in pubs in Kilburn over forty years ago before I went to Canada and then America. I used to listen to their conversations and they came across as arrogant without the education to back it up.They thought they were in " the winner's enclosure " with a bit of extra money in their pocket !! And the "guvners" of pubs were generally in the same category.There were noteworthy exceptions,Bill Collins in the Earl Derby on Kilburn High Road was a gentleman and I have good memories of working with him there. It's a different ball game here in America and the Irish are much more in tune with each other,be they the boss or the workers. The English have their good points and bad ,just like we do but you are absolutely correct that they would treat their workers better than "our own " would in similar circumstances. I am reminded ,when I think of the subbies,of the old saying ,"Put a beggar on horseback and he'll ride you to hell ". All the best !!
My father is a Tipperary man. He was in the Irish Army for 3 years, gave 6 months in Congo in 61 as a UN peacekeeper, dug trenches in the Congo. When he came back there, he finished his time in the Congo. He had previously been in England as a 15 year old in mid 50s working for Loyds foundry in Burton on trent. He went home again. After the army he gave from 61 to 69 working in Cricklewood, Kilburn, Hendon. All kinds of jobs, worked driver a dumper for a year, he said that was a handy job, got a job on a high rise painting girders, no fall arrest equipment, saw a couple of lads falling, worked under the roads digging trenches for pipes and cables. When he came home he was driving tombstones all over Ireland in a truck and worked in the Silvermines in Nenagh Tipperary as a miner up to 1980. The man worked hard all his life, still tippin away at nearly 83.
God bless the man, what a grafter wouldn't be surprised if his ancestors worked on the titanic, I worked in England in the eighties comming from Scotland, the only lads I got on with were my own jocks and the Irish.
my dad worked as a roofer until he was 73 and believe that a rare old age as a roofer.his dad my grandfather was a roofer into his 60s.hard men used to hard ways. i was the weakling of the family as i was a roofer until i retired at 50 but 31 years of that was running my own company grafting 7 days a week and 12 hour days.none of my 3 sons went into the roofing game and im glad coz my body is fu#ked with it.the moneys good but the work is hard and too hot in summer n too cold,wet and windy in the winter.
Father and his six brothers came over from Sligo, from the late fifties onwards ,not anywhere is their a statue erected to the toil of the 1 million migrant workers that rebuilt London's infrastructure ,from the ground up from the post war period .They were used and forgotten .
My brother Eamonn worked the tunnels in London. Leaft Ireland at 19yrs, I remember the day do well. Eamonn died in Critlewood at 57. Rest In Peace dear brother. Watching this has made me realise how hard it must have been for him. 🙏
It wasn't exploited its what we new . Every day another adventure have meet loads of decent people banked it and the building game had been good to 3 generations matey
I once saw , scrawled on a wall in a Glasgow pub , Down the line came McAlpine’s men , A horde of ballet dancers, One in nine served their time , The rest were f^ckin’ chancers .
My God, this brings back memories. I did this work in London in the 70s, hard grafting in tunnels, 6 by 12 hour shifts a week. Although I didn't think so at the time, they were great days, great workmates, but Irish Foremen were the worst when given a little bit of power. I'm an engineer now at the other end of the work, the design and planning, but I always respect the men who graft on the job, because I've been there!
Very interesting documentary. Made by Molly Dineen The Pick, the Shovel and the Open Road (Channel 4, 1990) - A 60-minute film about the Irish roadwork company McNicholas.
The best contractor with the best men was John Galvin They recruited men mainly from Kerry at Cricklewood lane what happened to Big Eddy, The Horse, Gambling Joe , Patsy to name a few
@raybans8712 this wall family was from co meath, I would go up the Broadway as a last resort, mainly plastering but laboring if nothing else, late eighties, then to netherland, Germany and the states, Chicago, I'm 58 and now chilling inbthailand, how all this happened I don't know, life is bizarre, great crack in kilburn/ cricklewood/ Neasden, I wishing could do it again.
@@patrickglennon7058 I loved for 35 years in Neasden by the ox and gate pub. I lived 2 years in Navan Meath as fate would have it. I’m 47 now and never did travel although I had an offer of a job (roofing) and a green card in Vancouver Canada building the Olympic village for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Grew up in Cricklewood and my father and brothers worked for green McNicolas. My father worked from Pat McN, Kevin McN father . Lots of Mayo men working for m McNicolas
Worked for Murray telecom, late 80s early 90s. 90% were Irish. Seamus Laffey was one of the agents. He made that much recovering old lead cables, he walked into Road range, Mercedes dealers in Liverpool, with a tesco bag full of money. Drove out in a brand new car, straight onto the ferry back to Dublin.
I remember actually watching this in London when it came out as I was living and working in south east London in 1991 ... went back a few times over the years since, but London isn't the same anymore - it has changed and not for the better.
Thanks for uploading this video. My father came over from Co Kerry in the 50s and was into this type of work. The building recession of the 1980s finished most of these guys unfortunately.
I don't know about unfortunately Irish in London biggest shower of gombeens Always out to do you Especially if you had a Dublin accent Young lads on sites from west exactly the same as their fathers uncles etc
I went to slough from Liverpool in 1981 as part of a government training initiative to complete a course in carpentry and joinery . Following on , I found myself in London and would often , usually from a night of drinking at biddy mulligans with some mates , would find myself the following day at The crown in Cricklewood accompanied by my toolbox and would be whisked off to a building site somewhere either in London or the home counties . I was 22 years of age .
I worked for ( brown ) mcnicholas civil engineering out of cathall road Leytonstone on the LEB contract 1993 , I only did 6 months it was proper graft digging, it made me appreciate any job after that, a lot of the boys on there were from athlone , massive respect to them all , they showed me what a proper days work was 🇮🇪
Dad had fond memories of working with Irish lads on the gas board, digging in the late 60’s/early 70’s. Allowed him to sleep off his stag night hangover in the back of the van infact. An interesting documentary. Thanks.
Hard working hard drinking honest men, I grew up mixing with Irish labourers on building sites and was always humbled by their resilience and work ethic. I doubt anyone these days works as hard as they did. Regardless of the conditions they would work and work and work. I remember them wearing old suits and in one case one of them cooking his breakfast, a full mixed grill, on his shovel over a gas ring in the canteen. One guy, John Dorian, used to sign his initials in any concrete that was laid. I also remember in the early 1880’s driving through Cricklewood in the early hours of a Saturday or Sunday morning and seeing fights outside the Galtymore dance hall. There would be times where one of them disappeared for days and then reappeared in the most awful state after going a real bender.
I worked in kentishtown in 1988 I remember him from the canteen he always sat alone at breakfast time facing the door.there were some great lads in there Dougie the Jamaican sandblaster, Martin geoghan the sign man and patsy a steel fixer from cavan they used always watch to give us a spin in from Finsbury where we were living and stevie who ran the canteen and let us put the grub on the slate till payday he kept the life in us.
Whenever there was a recession the English would be out of work but the Irish always had work and it was easy to suss out just go to an Irish pub in Kilburn and Archway and watch how many cheques were being cashed through the whole in the wall
Thanks again, very clear copy, appreciate the time and trouble you have taken to post. is this the whole programme as it seems to end suddenly, any plans to post the rest many thanks.
I am trying but because there is a copyrighted film on the version I have it keeps getting taken down. I have a couple of full DVD copies left on my ebay shop if you wanted to get one, find me under dogchelsea_0
Joseph Shovlin sorry not your fault but I had them on sale for three months for a poxy tenner which didn't even cover my costs and I had a few people watching it but not one would pay. So I've washed me hands of it. They've missed out big time too as now the company has been sold they will be collectors items!!!
Pits closed 86 left school headed London every day Streatham Irish club "Frank McAvaeny" days work back to club £70! Brilliant my dad was on £250 week pals on £25 week YTS I between that constant night work for landlord "Ashin n Angik" yep London was paved in gold and yuppie cash! 🏴🙏🏴👊
Oh the paddy man can graft, but by fuvk they can drink, picked up at the same pup in the morning they were dropped aff at the night before, full wage due to the bar maid every week,
Dog eat Dog as a ganger or Foreman you had to be tough with the subbies or the job wouldn’t get done and you were out yourself. The lads that done the best were the ones who stayed awAy from the Drink and the Irish clubs once you got your feet under you.
Hard times and good times, good when you got a job and get paid properly. You would not believe how things changed, those hardworking Irish men do not exist in London town anymore
Well, we laid it in a hollows and we laid it in the flat And if it doesn't last forever, sure I swear, I'll eat me hat Well, I've wandered up and down the world and sure I never felt Any surface that was equal to the hot asphalt The other night a copper comes and he says to me, McGuire Would you kindly let me light me pipe down at your boiler fire? And he planks himself right down in front, with hobnails up, till late And says I, me decent man, you'd better go and find your bait He ups and yells, I'm down on you, I'm up to all yer pranks Don't I know you for a traitor from the Tipperary ranks? Boys, I hit straight from the shoulder and I gave him such a belt That I knocked him into the boiler full of hot asphalt
Spent 3 months in 89 in docklands had enough of the place…. The paddy’s in London would rat each other out on the jobs no good for their own… glad I left the hole of a place … live in the USA nowadays
I went to london age 18 and stayed 30 years and i did 1 day in construction and thought screw this. I don't think i ever worked with another irish man. I did various jobs until a friend helped me bullshit my way into railway maintenance. I had my fair share of drink and women but i did what most didn't and i travelled the world. No point working hard just to piss it on a pub wall 7 nites a week. Lots made it but lots more didnt. Its very sad but thats the way it goes. But without paddy and the black men london would still be a swamp
Just come across this on RU-vid, I also worked for brown macs in east London, there was also another depot in the south, Brixton I believe both sides were on LEB cable contracts, I never forget it though it was proper graft
When they talk about Irish people doing this sort of work what do they mean exactly? Are they groundworkers? Carpenters? Plumbers? I'm no expert on construction but I just feel curious
If these jobs was advertised in say the Job centre, what would they say? Would it say groundworker/labourer? Or would they’re be a different (sorry for all the questions, I won’t keep asking)
Liam lll no worries I’ve worked on construction for 25 years and am still learning :) ground workers and labourers are usually advertised at the same time, although they are slightly different. Groundworkers are more experienced / skilled and usually command a slightly higher wage. But they need labourers to help them.
Mostly construction labourers, but skilled trades as well, far as I remember, bizarre culture trap, even in the 80s when I came to London, boys with education were drawn into these jobs, Irishness became exaggerated I think, deeper accents more drinking, more swearing, more second hand suits even, going back in time to identify with each other
"Oh as down the glen came McAlpine's men, with their shovels slung behind them , ... " "McAlpine's Fusilliers" by Dominic Behan (Made famous by Ronnie Drew & the Dubliners. *"The Dubliners - McAlpines Fusiliers" (lyrics)* ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xEk37t4LWp0.html
