Originally from Co. Louth, Larry moved to London when he was 18 years old. Larry talked to us recently at the Lewisham Irish Centre as part of our heritage project recording oral histories of the Irish in Britain.
He said when he left Ireland:
“I stuffed a couple of pairs of socks in my pocket and a shirt in a bag and off I went”
Larry shares his story of first finding work cleaning train toilets, later becoming the first Irish person to operate the signalling centre at Clapham Junction train station, then ultimately looking after Victoria Station as its Station Master.
Residing between England and West Africa, Larry proudly shows off the large shamrock that adorns his gate at his Ghanaian home.
Larry's story will be one of the many recorded by our heritage project that will be stored at the Archive of the Irish in Britain at London Metropolitan University. Here it will ultimately be accessible to the public and future generations of researchers.
Our exhibition including 50 of the oral histories will be touring in November, full tour details here.
This project was made possible with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.