Eamon’s Story

Parts One and Two 

Part One

Paddy’s real name is Eamon Michael Vincent Prendergast. He’s 66 years old and was born in Raheny Dublin. He should be retired by now but he has no pension so he still works three days a week on site, cash in hand. While Russian Oligarchs and Gangsters still thrive in London you’ll always be able to work “Cash in Hand”

He can’t work as hard as he use to but he can still do a full day’s work for a full day’s pay. There are still many things that need to be sorted out after “The Boy’s” have gone home or before they arrive again in the morning. Eamon is a one man cleaning crew and he’s famous throughout the building trade. Everyone knows Eamon and they know they can always rely on him to get the job done.

There are tasks such as cleaning, sweeping, and tidying making sure the site is ready, clean and safe for everyone who works there. This is not an act of benevolence on behalf of the local building firms; this is strictly a business decision. No site that Eamon has worked on has ever closed down or had an accident Eamon knows everything there is to know about building site maintenance and safety.

Although Eamon is that man to go to, he’ll soon be out of a job and forced to retire. All the building firms in London are now using agencies. A good agency can take care of twenty sites in one night and Eamon can only be in one site at a time. The agencies cut good deals with the developers their work is always guaranteed and as more unskilled workers look for work in the building industry their fees are very competitive
Eamon came over to England in June 1968 two months short of his 16th birthday. He left his home his parents and three sisters to make some real money in London. He had his eye on a little house down the road from his parents in Raheny. Eamon was going to make some money in London save half his pay every week and come back and buy that house. It was a strange ambition for a young man to want to buy a house but Eamon was a young man who thought big. He’d left school at 14 he had his leaving certificate and now he was ready to take on the world.
Eamon had been working for Mr. Casey the baker as a delivery boy, cleaner and served in the shop. When Mr. Casey was at work everyone was at work and nobody went home before Mr. Casey. The money was reasonable, the hours long and Mr. Casey was a hard boss to work for.
Eamon’s plan was to buy the house and use the back yard as a bicycle workshop, he knew how to build a bike up from scratch and there were no cycle menders in the area. Eamon had a sound business plan and enough drive and ambition to make his plan succeed. He knew that working for Mr. Casey wasn’t going to make him enough money realise his dreams, so his only option was to go to England and get a job. Eamon had seen the Irish building workers from London in town during the winter and they seemed to have money to burn. Eamon wanted some of those riches to start his business. He had some money hidden under his bed and he assumed that there was there enough to get him settled in London so he told his parents that he was off to London

“I’ll be over in England for a year maybe two Mam and then I’ll come back and buy that house”

These words or words like them were said over and over again by so many of young unskilled hard working men of Ireland throughout the twentieth Century and these young men assumed that they would only be in England for a short time. They would be like the seasonal workers of the nineteenth Century picking crops digging ditches doing physical labour and then home again with a few pounds in their pocket. England and Ireland were so close, it would be easy to come home again; it was just a boat ride but many never made it back to Ireland. The West Indians and the Asians who came to Britain for the same reasons and at about the same time knew they could never be going home and this acceptance made their integration a lot easier
Eamon arrived in Britain just three months before of the 1968 Race Relations Act. Eamon was often greeted by signs in windows such as;

‘No cats, ‘
No dogs,
No children,
No Irish,
No blacks.

Eamon realised very quickly that finding somewhere to live in London might be a difficult and finding a job might also be a challenge when he saw signs like

“Help Wanted No Irish need apply or Help Wanted No immigrants”

The British had long memories and their opinions of the Irish came from well established anecdotal history. This knowledge came from stories handed down from generation to generation. British grandparents retold the stories of the first Irish immigrants who came to Britain in the nineteenth century. The Irish they remembered always came over as families and they herded together in the Irish areas They would sub-let their homes to friends relatives and other Irish families They kept life stock in their homes, spoke only in Irish and they would hold big wild wakes for the dead. The Irish of the nineteenth century were treated in many ways like the Black and Asian immigrants in England from the 1950s until l980s. The West Indian’s in the 50’s and 60’s were sometimes called “Toasted Irish”
Eamon spent his first night in London at The Salvation Army. He slept in a heathen house and was forced to sing heathen songs for his supper and again for his breakfast before paying his bill. The next morning homeless and jobless Eamon found the Local Employment exchange. A man behind the counter gave him a phone number to ring if he wanted a job on a building site. The man got a commission for every man he sent so Eamon had to mention his name when he rang. Eamon spoke to a man called Cuddy and he was told to be outside The Crown in Cricklewood at six o’clock the next morning and maybe if they liked the look of him he’d get a day’s work.
Cuddy told Eamon that if he was chosen, he might not get paid for the first day as it was only a trial day. But if he did work hard and impressed the ganger then possibly he would get paid for his first day’s work however there was no guarantee. This was how they did things in London explained Cuddy, Eamon could take it or leave it Eamon agreed and he was outside The Crown the next day at five thirty ready to be chosen for a day’s work

It was a cold rainy day and Eamon wore his best coat to keep out the cold, he thought and he would be the first to arrive. He had slept inside a phone box that night near to Cricklewood tube station, the first bus or tube wouldn’t have got him there on time. When Eamon arrived there were already twenty other hopeful recruits waiting in line to get a day’s work. As the minutes ticked by more and more men appeared. There was very little conversation some nodded to each other and grunted a brief hello but then stood there in silence and waited for the chance to get picked. Nearly all of them were wearing Donkey Jackets big work boots and some carried their own hard hats. These were professional men queuing here and there was no reason why the Ganger would pick Eamon. A Gang Master arrived at Six fifteen and he was in no hurry, these men were waiting to be chosen by him. The employers knew that desperate men would wait there all day if they had to.

Big John got out of his warm dry van and casted an eye over the line, he then opened his arms wide and closed them slightly as he gestured to each group. He used his arms as an embarkation line to signal who could step forward and who should remain. Everyone outside The Crown knew exactly what he meant and those who stepped forward smiled as they knew there were definitely going to earn some money that day. The ones told to stay where they were, made no sound or sign of emotion; they wanted a chance to get picked the next time. Big John was only the first sub-contractor that day. There could be others on their way so everyone kept quiet and waited outside the pub for the next van to turn up. Some waited all day or at least until The Crown opened. Big John had picked his crew for that day and Eamon wasn’t among the chosen. As Big John was about to get in to leave with his van filled to bursting with grateful construction workers, he took one last look at the group and he saw Eamon. A young man in his best coat and sensible shoes he pointed to him and wiggled his index finger to beckon Eamon over

“What’s your name, young man?”
“It’s Eamon Mister, Sir!”
“Well Good morning Eamon Mister Sir and what are you doing here?”
“I’m looking for work Sir and it’s just Eamon”
“Well I’ve not been knighted yet and I don’t think they knight Paddy’s! It’s Big John and what can you do Eamon?”
“Anything you like Sir, Big John I can dig, sweep, make tea or just work hard and I want to learn all about The Building Trade”

Big John tried to hide a smile, he was Big Mean John, he was a hard sub-contractor, a seasoned foreman and a ruthless pacemaker, he had thrown many a man off building sites for not working hard, everyone feared Big John

“Get in the back Young Eamon we’ll find a job for you”

The next few months were hard for Eamon, the first couple of weeks he stood outside The Crown with everyone else and waited to be picked. His best coat and shoes were ruined and ripped, the foreman gave him work boots and some sturdy work cloths and the cost was deducted from his wages. Big John took a personal interest in young Eamon. Every day he would let him sit in the front of the van Big John would always put his hand on Eamon’s knee as they drove to the site and he would cuddle Eamon in a manly way and smile.

Eamon enjoyed the attention he got from Big John, his own father was always very distant and there were so many times as a child that he would have loved to feel the embrace of his father when he was sad or hurt but his father always kept his distance. As a child it was only his sisters that were allowed to sit on daddy’s knee Big John was different he was not scared to touch another man. Big John was a real man, a man’s man who wasn’t afraid of physical contact and no one would ever dare question Big John’s intentions.
Big John partnered Eamon with one of his oldest friends Dominick. Dominick was a trained brick layer and he was always in a good mood, there wasn’t a day when Dominick didn’t have a smile on his face. Many years ago Big John made Dominick a promise that he would have a job for life after his accident on one of Big John’s building sites. Dominick lost his hand after an unsafe wall collapsed on top of him and Big John always blamed himself for the accident. He was also grateful that Dominick never reported all the true facts of the accident to the police
On that day Dominick like every other worker on the site was working “On the Lump” No taxes, no national insurance and no safety regulations, as far as the authorities were concerned no one on that building site existed. Big John and the boys dug Dominick up out from the rubble and then carried him gently into the back of a van. Dominick was then driven to the hospital Big John then told the receptionist that Dominick wandered onto the site looking for work and tripped causing the unfinished wall to topple onto him. There was no disagreement from Dominick and no investigation; he knew that he would be looked after because men like Big John never broke their word

Dominick was still a fast bricklayer, he now had a hook and he had redesigned all his tools so the he could lay bricks like anyone else. All Dominick’s trowels had special holes drilled into then so that he could hold them steady and spread on the cement. He used his hand to lay the bricks and his trowel to spread the cement and there was never a brick out of place. Eamon was his hod carrier delivering bricks and cement at break neck speed. Dominick was no slacker and he wasn’t going to work with a slacker. While they worked together he taught Eamon everything he knew about bricklaying, from digging foundations to measuring up for windows and doors and laying bricks from the ground to the roof. Eamon was a fast and attentive learner and after six months Eamon knew that he could build a house. Big John was always there smiling at Eamon encouraging him and always putting his big hand on Eamon’s shoulder or embracing him so hard he thought his back was going to break. Every day Big John would grab Eamon by the cheeks and kiss him full on the mouth and then with a big smile tell him

“You’re my best boy”

Eamon found somewhere to live in Cricklewood. It was in the house owned by a respected man of good character and he shared a small room with six other men. These men were also navvies but they had been in England for a long time. Eamon saw and heard things going on in that house that he’d never imagined before. He had never seen or two men touching each other before, men didn’t touch each other like that or there even as a joke.

These men were not homosexuals they were just men with needs and these needs had to be satisfied by any means necessary. Eamon didn’t really know what homosexuality was until that was also explained to him. Nearly all the men in the house who spoke openly about their behavior, they all insisted that they were givers not takers and that meant that they were not homosexual, the men they had sex with might be but they were not.

“There were very few women in London that wanted to go out with an Irish building worker and those that did were not the kind of girl you would want to introduce to your mother”

That’s what the respectable man of good character told Eamon

“A lot of these women were alcoholics looking for free drinks and there was always a queue of men willing to buy them a drink for the chance of having sex no matter how many of their mates had been there before them”

There were a few Irish men that had come over to work leaving their families back in Ireland. In some cases these men would work and keep their heads down, save their money and eventually bring their families over to England. They would send Postal Orders over to Ireland every week to their wives and constantly search for somewhere local to move their family into when they moved over. There were other men who had wives and families back home but they were separated and with no divorce in Ireland they knew that they would never go back so their ex-wife’s had to fend for themselves. There were not that many Irish women coming over on their own and those that did allied themselves with the church and kept in constant contact with their family back home. If these women didn’t keep in touch with their families then the local priest would soon hear about it.

The Irishmen who came over to work in factories, shops and offices fared better than the construction workers. These men were able to make friends and establish roots find girlfriends eventually marry and settle down. The building workers couldn’t integrate, they would move from one building site to the next never being able to establish long term friendships. On the whole these Irish labourers had no work contracts and worked strictly “On the Lump” This meant no unemployment benefit so if you didn’t work you didn’t earn
Big John paid all his men by cheque this saved him from carrying around large amounts of cash every Friday. There were reasons for this method of payment one was for his own personal safety. He was called Big John but he wasn’t indestructible a blade or a bullet would stop anyone. Another reason for giving his men cheques was to exercise an extra level of control over all those who worked for him.
In England it was easier to rob a bank than it was to open a Bank account. A bank job can be over in minutes, you could go in there with a gun tell the bank teller to fill your bag with money and then leave. If you wanted to open an account the process could take months and after a long wait and a complicated application procedure they could refuse to open an account for you. A bank required two guarantors and two references written by people who had Bank accounts in England. A letter from your employer, written proof of address usually an electric bill or a phone bill in your name that would suffice of address. All this time waiting with uncashed cheques in their pockets told the Irish building workers that banks in England were not a option for them.

Some of the more canny workers managed to open Post office accounts but you could only pay into these accounts with cash. The only option for most of the building workers to cash their cheques was down the pub. Their working day was hard and The Pacemakers made sure that they put in a hard day’s work for their hard earned money. They had no real homes to speak of; just a room shared by sometimes up to ten other men, so the pub became their community centre. They had no families in England and most of them had never dared or wanted to set foot in a church not since leaving Ireland. The pub was warm, dry and filled with familiar faces, most Irish men before coming to England to work on the sites had no problem with alcohol but they soon developed one whilst living and working in a country unsympathetic to their basic needs.

Part Two

As well as being a social club the pub became a Bureau de Change cashing all their cheques. The cheques would all be deposited behind the bar at six O’clock but the pub landlord would not release any cash until closing time. This would mean that you had to be there all night to get what was left of your money. The entire night would be run on credit and every round would cost the same, no matter how many drinks were bought and the final amounts owed would be rounded up to the nearest pound and the balance paid out in cash. There was an extra charge put on to every round in order to buy the boss a drink. Nobody complained about this extra levy because they all wanted to be back on site Monday morning. The boss couldn’t possibly drink all the drinks bought for him, so this extra charge was written on a separate piece of paper and that money was shared out between the boss and the landlord
Big john took young Eamon under his wing he looked after the young man. He bought him his first pint gave him his first cigarette. Big John arranged so that Eamon could have sex for the first time, to a woman he knew very well. Her name was Vera, she was a lot older than Eamon and Vera had slept with nearly every man in Big John’s crew but young Eamon didn’t know any of this or care. Vera later that year let it be known down the pub that she pregnant. The baby wasn’t Eamon’s; in fact Vera wasn’t sure who the father was. Dermot a young labourer from Sligo took responsibility and made an honest woman of her. A year later there was a big Christening party held at the pub and Dermot left the building trade to start working for Tate and Lyle.
Big John and young Eamon they soon became an inseparable pair. Big John wasn’t a Master Builder but he was a trained brick layer and plasterer and he knew how to handle people. Every man who worked for Big John was scared and every man treated him with respect because they knew of his reputation as a hard man with as equally hard friends.
Big John didn’t need to live in a shared room in a shared house; he had bought a house of his own home, a big house in Clapham. He had restored it himself with some willing volunteers who didn’t mind giving up their weekends for their boss. The alternative could have meant unemployment and being blacklisted. Big John was married with three children and he let Eamon stay in one of his spare rooms for a nominal rent, this meant that they could spend more time together.Nowadays Big John’s behaviour might be described as “Grooming” but these were the days when gay meant happy and two men could sleep together without anyone batting an eyelid. Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise would always share a bed; grown men slept together or fell asleep together all the time. It’s what men did; they’d get drunk have a few laughs, smoke a lot of cigarettes and then fall asleep. The next morning they would get up together and go to work and talk to their mates about the night before, this was all perfectly acceptable behaviour
In their time together Big John taught his younger protégé everything about the building trade. Eamon with the help of Big John and other chosen trusted workers learnt how to lay bricks, mix cement, Plaster, put up scaffolding. He was taught everything there was to know about the 1960’s building trade.
Eamon saw the softer side of Big John as he would continue to come over to him while he worked and put his arm around his waist and draw Eamon close to him kiss him on the cheek or on the lips and then laugh. Eamon also saw the hard side of Big John as he would literally kick a man off the site for not working hard enough. Big John didn’t care where the man went or how the man got home. It didn’t matter if the man money in his pockets he was just thrown off the site with no wages and Big John didn’t want to see him again. There was tribunal to appeal to for wrongful dismissal because these workers didn’t exist. Big John was ruthless, unforgiving and on one of his sites his power was absolute.
Eamon being favoured by Big John meant that he made the tea and he was always sent to the sandwich shop to get lunch. These little pauses in the working day were always excluded from countable working hours. Any other man would have had their pay docked as soon as they left the site or put down their shovel but Eamon never lost a shilling.
At the end of the day Eamon was still allowed to sit in the front of the van with Big John and the foreman while everybody else squeezed in the back. They would drop the men off at The Crown and then drive back to Big John’s House. Shelagh would cook them a meal, clear up and put the kids to bed. Big John and Eamon would relax in the front room for a while before going down to the pub.
One night however Big John told Eamon that he wanted to take him to his private club and he wasn’t to tell anyone else about this place. They took the bus to Battersea and got off near the power station. They then walked for a few minutes to an alleyway and half way down the alleyway there was a gate. Big John opened it to reveal the back of an old building with a small neon sign saying “Private Club” They went down some stairs and Big John knocked on the door, a little hatch in the middle of the door opened and they were let in. They were greeted by a very tall very wide, West Indian doorman; he smiled at John and said

“Good evening Mr. S It’s good to see you it’s been a while”

Big John said nothing he just nodded and pointed to Eamon, the doorman totally unperturbed by Big John’s apparent rudeness opened the main door and let them both in. They entered into a large smoke filled room packed with tables. There were many men standing by a small bar or sitting at the tables drinking and saying nothing. Some of the tables were occupied mostly by older men with very much younger drinking companions. They went up to the bar and the bar maid flung her arms around Big John and kissed him full on the lips. Big John held her close and they kissed for quite some time. It was during the kiss that Eamon noticed how large the barmaid’s hands were and her hair looked a little strange. When they had finally stopped kissing Big John ordered a couple of pints and they sat down at a table. After a time the barmaid came out from behind the bar and walked towards them, it was then that Eamon realised that the barmaid was in fact a man

“She’s a bloke Big John, this is weird let’s get out of here”

As Eamon began to rise from his chair one of Big John’s powerful hands forced him back down again

“What are you doing Big John? He’s a bloke!”

Big John’s face darkened a little as he spoke

“Quiet Boy! This is not a place for names; it’s a very private club”

By now the bar tender was at their table, he sat himself down on Big John’s lap and started to kiss him again, this time he put his hand down Big John’s trousers

“You’ve missed this haven’t you Big Boy?”

The bartender then laughed and carried on kissing Big John. Eamon just sat at the table drinking his pint and stared at the bar, where a group of men were sitting drinking Guinness. They were smartly dressed and would not have looked out of place at The Crown in the saloon bar. One of the men caught Eamon’s eye he lifted his glass and shouted over to him

“Sláinte chugat”

On hearing this Eamon familiar sound from the Mother Land, Eamon relaxed a little and smiled, the man left the bar and walked over and sat down at the table, Eamon could hear his hard Dublin accent as he spoke

“I haven’t seen you here before buachaill, what’s your name? I’m Frank and it’s nice to meet you”

Frank then put his hand on Eamon’s shoulder and tried to pull him towards him Eamon immediately stood up rocking the table and a glass fell to the floor but not before pouring beer all over Frank’s trousers

“You fecken Donkey! Look what you’ve done! Come down here and lick it dry, or I’ll have your head off you”

Frank then grabbed Eamon’s head and pulled it towards his crutch, as Eamon struggled to get away as Big John stood up

“Is there a problem here Mister?”
“Yes see what this leathcheann dúr has done to me I’m soaked”

Barked Frank before realising who he was talking to

“Oh Big J I didn’t know he was one of yours I just thought he was new. I’m sorry I’m sure I’ll go back to the bar”
“And see that you do, go to the gents and dry yourself off, you look like you’ve pissed yourself again!”

Frank forced a smile and then left the table. Big John then softened a little as he looked once again at Eamon, his hand touched Eamon’s face and he pulled him over kissed him on the forehead and then ruffled his hair as he began to speak.

“I suppose you’re wondering what we’re doing here”

Eamon nodded but said nothing and as Big John continued speaking the bartender went back to the bar

“I’m not homosexual I don’t think any of us here are, we are just a group of lonely Irish men alone in a strange and unfriendly land. The British have always hated us and treated us as their inferiors. British woman, I mean, decent British women don’t want to be seen out with the likes of us. So this means that most of us are alone in need of sex and most of all some form of affection. We can’t all afford to pay for sex so we take it where we can find it. We’re not Bum Bandits we don’t take it up the arse well I don’t, but we don’t object to giving someone else one up the arse and a blow job feels the same if it’s given by a man or a woman”

Eamon, a little confused and somewhat surprised answered Big John in a whisper

“But you’re not alone Big John…”

“Just call me John!”
“Ok then, John you’re not alone, you have Shelagh and the children”
“Shelagh is a good Catholic girl and a good woman. But she can’t or won’t give me the kind of sex that I want. I do my duty as a husband at least three times a week and I try to be a good father, just like my own was. I was here for many years on my own and I learned to make do. Shelagh and me have known each other since school and she waited for me to come back and claim her. Shelagh’s Da gave me a good dowry, it paid for our house and I gave him three grand children. Shelagh and me will be together forever, as long as she leaves me be! Shelagh knows nothing about this, her only concern is that I pay the bills and keep a roof over our heads”

Eamon sat and listened, pondered and thought to himself

“Britain was a strange place; it seems that all the stories about London were true. It is Sodom and Gomorrah and everybody who lives here will be dammed and sent through the gates of hell”

“Why did you take me here John?”

Big John thought for a moment and then spoke

“I don’t know! I sort of hoped that we might help each other out now and then if one of us got a little frustrated”

Big John then gave out a nervous laugh and waited for a response , there didn’t come one for quite a while, eventually Eamon stood up and went to the bar to buy a couple of pints , he returned and sat down

“I don’t know what to say John except No! I won’t help you! It’s a sin, It’s a sin against man and against God and I won’t do it I’m not going to touch another man’s penis”

Even saying the word, penis made Eamon uncomfortable. This whole situation and evening was bizarre. Back in Ireland men were men and they got married to women. Men did not kiss or touch each other anywhere under the belt. He remembered young Ian from down the road, he was a bit of a girl but his parents shipped him off to the Jesuits, they knew that they would make a man of him. Big john’s body language didn’t change; he just smiled and went up to the bar. The bartender poured out two pints of Guinness and a couple of whiskies. While Big John was waiting for his change, a young man who looked younger than Eamon walked over to him and put his arm around Big John’s waist. The young man embraced Big John in almost the exact same way as Big John had held Eamon at the building site so many times before.
As Big John’s change was laid onto the bar, the young man picked up the money smiled and then led John to the other side of the bar area they then disappeared behind a curtain. The bartender then took the drinks and brought them over to Eamon’s table, at first Eamon was a little uneasy as the bartender approached

“Don’t worry dear I’m just bringing your drinks over, Old BJ will be back in a few minutes if he can last that long”

He chuckled put the drinks on the table and then returned to the bar. A few moments later the young man appeared from behind the curtain drying his mouth with a bar towel. He was quickly followed by Big John looking a little out of breath. John returned to the table and took a large gulp from his glass and then sat down.

“How’s it going young Eamon? This is how I relax I don’t take drugs or play the Gee Gee’s I’m always home at a decent hour and my family are always provided for, so don’t judge me, this kind of thing is perfectly legal in England and I need it now and again.”

Big John continued

“Tonight’s goings on and this club stays strictly between you and I nobody would believe you anyway. You would just look like a trouble maker spreading nasty rumours. The London building sites don’t like trouble makers they tend not to work anymore. I’m not the first builder they’ve met here and I won’t be the last I hope we understand each other young man”

Eamon nodded and said nothing he just sat there looking at the wall past Big John and drank his pint. The bar didn’t seem to have the usual pub opening hours it was just open but Eamon and Big John had work tomorrow and the busses didn’t run all night so they left the club and took the bus home. On the bus they went upstairs at the back and sat next to each other Big John smiled and grabbed Eamon’s leg like he had done so many times before. This time however Eamon didn’t feel comfortable, he felt a little sick and apprehensive.
Big John could sense Eamon’s uneasiness and this made him squeeze Eamon’s leg harder. It was like he wanted to make a point that he was still a man and he was a man who had given so much to Eamon and could so easily take it all away again They got home slept and got up for work again the next morning. Eamon as always drove in with Big John they was no more waiting outside the pub to be picked up his day’s work his working day was always guaranteed. Big John could have taken Eamon’s security blanket away without notice or warning. Big John however as well as being a hard man was a pragmatist. He had recognised a talent in Eamon for the building trade and he wasn’t one to let a good talent go to waste even if he couldn’t take young Eamon up the backside.
Big John could’ve just taken Eamon, he’d done it before but he didn’t want to do that to a young Irish boy, he had a son of his own. The young London boys were used to being just taken, with or against their consent. During the war and these two and a half decades later, these young boy’s had been taken by British and Allied soldiers American GI’s or by fleeing refugees. But as far as Big John was concerned he’d only take an Irish arse if it was offered freely.

Big John let Eamon stay with him for the next few months. Eamon knew however that he had to find himself somewhere else to live. He eventually found a Bed-sit in North London close to The Crown. It was only one room but he had a key to his own front door and somewhere to lay his head down at night. Dominick continued to teach Eamon, he taught him how to use a plummet and how to read plans He showed Eamon how to use every tool on the site. He taught Eamon how to measure accurately, at school Eamon had always been good at mathematics which was an advantage when learning the building trade. He was soon able to calculate angles and determine how the horizontal and vertical courses should be aligned. Pretty soon after Eamon didn’t have to ask anyone he just got on with the job.
In the 1960’s there was no official bricklayer education it was always a matter of learning on the job and Eamon was a fast learner. Dominick was a good man and a good teacher and he enjoyed Eamon’s company they worked well together as a team. Eamon would mix the cement collect the bricks and they would build the walls together. Once the foundations were laid there was never a problem. Eamon would start at one end and Dominick at the other and they would always meet in the middle. Dominick always got to the middle first because Eamon had to stop, take his hod and collect bricks for them both and the cement but it was still a good working partnership.
Big John wasn’t happy about their close working relationship; he would come by and often criticize and undermine Eamon’s work. Big John would point out every little flaw and on the odd occasion he would make Eamon carefully dismantle the work he had done and start again. Dominick was one of the few people on the site that could answer back to Big John; he was after all promised by the big fellow, a job for life. But he would never contradict Big John; he was after all always the boss. But occasionally he would have a quiet word in Big John’s ear and ask him to ease off a little. It was clear to everyone who knew Big John that he was jealous of Dominick and Eamon’s close working partnership and friendship. After working with Dominick for a year Eamon was allowed to start working independently. He soon had his own assistant Shane a young boy from Cork. Young Shane was the same age as Eamon, but a year in London had made Eamon feel much older and wiser. Big John had found Shane outside The Crown just as he had Eamon the previous year and now Shane sat in the front and Eamon squeezed into the back with the rest of the men
Eamon’s plan was to be in London for two years, Ireland was just a boat trip way but every month he stayed in London the distance between London and Dublin grew further. He worked for Big John for ten years and in that time he met many Shane’s because Big John grew very tired of people very quickly. He only kept Eamon around because he was a valuable asset. Eamon could lay bricks faster than anyone and he never made a mistake. He could measure up a job and work out almost exactly how many bricks they would need, how much cement they’d have to use and how many men they would need to complete the job on time. Eamon saved Big John a fortune in running costs and every pound saved was another pound in Big John’s bank account.
It was a sad day for Big John when Eamon decided to move on; there were other building firms and other Gang Masters who could use Eamon’s talents as a builder. Eamon even started his own little firm, house renovations and small building projects. He always worked for cash, no cheques no invoices, just cash in hand. Eamon was worried that if he did register as a Company then the Tax office might try and chase him for his back taxes Eamon hadn’t given a single penny to Her Majesty since the day he had arrived in Britain and he hadn’t received a single penny from her
When Eamon arrived in 1968 he wrote to his parents every week, he phoned them once a month now ten years on he could never seem to find the time to write and phoning Ireland was very expensive, so contact to his family and The Old Country seemed to just stop. He went back in 1998 for his mother’s funeral and by that time his father was in a nursing home. Eamon didn’t recognise the old man sitting in a wheelchair weeping by wife’s grave. Eamon returned home to London never to see Ireland
The only life Eamon knew now was in London and this life consisted of his work and the pub. The pub was where his mates were but some of his oldest mates weren’t coming down anymore. He would hear now again rumours of an old builder dying on a site or being found dead by one of his housemates. There were very few site workers who could afford their own homes. Site workers only needed a room and a bed, for them their world was simple! Bed, Work, Pub, Bed, Work, Pub and a shower on Friday’s, many of them shared houses or flats until the day they died.
For the next twenty years Eamon worked on his own or as part of a team or on site. He worked every day he could, he never took a holiday because he regarded being out of work as a holiday. As for intimacy Eamon never went down the same road as Big John to find sexual gratification. This was a part of London life that he felt he could never take part in. So reluctantly and sadly he remained a bachelor. Eamon slept with women occasionally but he never had a relationship, he wanted a partner but it never happened. The Irish building workers who came over to work in the 50’s 60’s and 70’s were not viewed by English women as marrying material most like Eamon, lived or will die alone and far from home

Eamon did manage to buy a small studio flat from Peabody’s in 1978 for £5000 cash, so he had a home which made him luckier than many others. Many of Eamon’s old comrades just went hungry or ended up living on the streets. Some were helped by charities set up for the Irish building workers and a few were lucky enough to be helped by Social Services.

Old Paddy as he is now known as, goes down the pub every night looking for a friendly face and sometimes he finds someone to talk to

“Are you alright there Paddy?”

“I always say hello to Old Paddy, he’s a lovely man, a hopeless drunk but he’s harmless I’ve known him for years.”

1,195 total views, 4 views today