The Irish in Leicester Trail.

On your way to work over the next few weeks, or on an evening stroll, look out for the symbol below. To celebrate St Patrick's Day key streets in Leicester will be adorned with QR coded posters telling the story of where the Irish lived when they came over from Ireland. Each poster will link through to this blog  and will tell the story of a different person each time; why they came to Leicester and where they lived. Many Irish lived in and around Highfields in those early days of the 50s but some ventured out along Melton Rd and others up to New Parks, Clarendon Park and Eyres Monsell. 

The posters will up on the streets by St. Patrick's Day, March 17.

You will need a QR reader on a Smart phone or tablet and you're set to go. 
Take a stroll around Leicester and see some of where the Irish in Leicester lived when they first came over.

                                                 The Irish in Leicester

  In and around Highfields: 
Bakewell St, Berners St, Brookhouse St, Dronfield St, East Park Rd, Evington Rd, Evington Valley Rd, Gopsall St, Gotham St, Haddon St, Hartington St, Hobart St, Kent St, Kimberley Rd, Laurel Rd, Lincoln St, Maidstone Rd, Medway St, Mere Rd, Myrtle St, Porter St (as was), Saxby St, Severn St, Shellard St, Sparkenhoe St,St. Peter's Rd, St. Saviour's Rd, St.Steven's St, Tichbourne St, Upper Conduit St (as was), Upper Tichbourne St, Vulcan Rd.

                                     …around Leicester Prison and New Walk:
                                            Lower Hastings St. Princess Rd, Tower St, Turner St, 

                                              …around Clarendon Park:
                                               St. Leonard's Rd, Cecila Rd, Victoria Park Rd.

                                                   …Fosse Rd North, Biddle Rd

                                            … Harrison Rd,Moira St, Bardolphe St.

                                                        …and Henray Avenue.

                               
                       Not to mention other areas and various places of work across the city.

If your family are not yet represented here on the blog and you would like to tell their story please do get in touch.

If you'd like to be involved contact us on 0116 276 9186 

or pop in to: The Emerald Centre, Gipsy Lane, Leicester. LE5 OTB

We're now also on Twitter: follow me on  @irishleicester or join The Irish in Leicester group on Facebook.

Click here to view a map of The Irish in Leicester. 

St Leonard's Rd.

Alice McCreesh outside the Victoria Park cafe.

Alice McCann came over to Leicester in 1957. Her boyfriend, Gerry McCreesh, was already over here working on the building with his two brothers.Alice and Gerry were both from South Armagh. Alice was 17 ½ and Gerry was 25. Although there was a bit of an age gap Gerry was a neighbour and the families knew each other well. 

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As they were not yet married Alice first shared a house with Donegal people in Leicester. She had gone to the Tourist Information office looking for accommodation and they’d given her a list to choose from. One advert said “Irish preferred” so that made up her mind! The house was on St. Peter’s Rd and she shared a room with 2 Donegal girls and shared a bed with one of them. While she was living here she worked first at Woolworths and then at John Bull. 

“You could look in the Leicester Mercury and have your pick of the jobs.”

Gerry was living on Lower Hastings St and they went home to Armagh to get married in 1959.

Gerry McCreesh working on Newmarket St near The Craddock.

After they were married they lived together in a top floor flat on Saxby St: it had a living room, bed room, kitchen and bathroom and they paid £2 a week. Their eldest child, Caroline, was born while they were living here. Alice remembers dances at St Peters where they had great bands. However they didn’t have dances on a Sunday night like they did at home and this made her very homesick.

Alice and Caroline at De Montfort Hall Gardens

For a while in the 1960s, Alice worked with Etta Grady selling tea towels, mist clothes soaps etc on behalf of the blind and disabled. The work was door to door, 6-9 in the evenings: they were paid £3 a week but had to, at least, sell that amount of stuff. After that they were on commission. 

“We would call to the council houses at the weekend, when they had money, and the private ones in the week.”

St Leonard's Rd

 Alice and Gerry later moved to St. Leonards Rd. Their 3 children Caroline, Collette and Barry went to St. Thomas Moore school and then to English Martyrs.

Caroline McCreesh (left) and her friend making their Holy Communion at St. Thomas Moore's school.

Barry McCreesh (left) and his friend making their Holy Communion at St. Thomas Moore's school.

 As Leicester got bigger new shops began to pop up. Alice especially remembers Brierly's on Belgrave Gate which was the first of the "pile 'em high" type shops that we are so used to now.

For more pictures of Alice see Victoria Park

 If you'd like to tell your own family's story contact us on 0116 276 9186 or pop in to:

The Emerald Centre, Gipsy Lane, Leicester. LE5 OTB

We're now also on Twitter: follow me on  @irishleicester

Click here to view a map of The Irish in Leicester.

Victoria Park



Car park entrance, top of Regent Rd/Granville Rd.



 From where I lived on Upper Conduit St,Victoria Park seemed a long way away and I actually have no memory of going there at all as a child. But the pictures below show how well used and important it was to many of the Irish community living in Highfields. The classic "lungs of the city" Victoria Park was originally a racecourse, (doesn't that make sense!) and New Walk was laid out partly to provide access to it from the town.

My secondary school was Collegiate Girl's on College St and I would often go up to the park with friends during the dinner hour (or even during lessons). I later went to Leicester University and lived on Clarendon Park Rd where Vicky Park became an integral part of my everyday life.

Josie Silk with Martin and Gabrielle.

What do you remember of Victoria Park?

Did it give you that space and time to forget the mines, the buildng sites, the factories and the offices?

Did it give your children that precious green space to run free?

Greta Holt

If you'd like to be involved contact us on 0116 276 9186 or pop in to:
The Emerald Centre, Gipsy Lane, Leicester. LE5 OTB

Click here to view a map of The Irish in Leicester.