Joe Cusack, from Westport, was actually heading towards Birmingham on the train but didn’t have enough money so got off at Leicester.
He first lived in a flat in B+B in Saxby St
because he had seen the vacancy sign in the window. He then moved to Mere Rd.
He met his wife, Lily, one night at The
Corn Exchange dance and she was living on Mere Rd with Elisabeth Grimes from
Castlebar.
He saw an advert for a job labouring in the
engineering on Abbey Lane. He later went to City of Leicester to take his exams
to be a Capstan’s Inspector. At home he had worked in the catering trade.
They married and in 1958 bought a house at 8
Dore Rd. for £1,600. They later moved up to Wigston Magna and Jo moved to
work for Northbridge Engineering, Vicking Rd.
In the 1949/50 Jo was called up but had
gone down to Cornwall to avoid going to Korea. The police found him in Penzance
but he didn’t pass the medical. He was given an X-ray in a mobile van and
it showed a shadow on his lung but a check later in Leicester proved this to
be an error.
His brother, Jim, had a second hand/bargain
shop on Charnwood St. and a music shop, Power Music, on Green lane Rd.
Another brother, Padraig, had been in the
RAF, Palestine police, and he came to Leicester afterwards.
Jo only went home for funerals or back to
stay with Lily’s family
Jo and Lily have 3 sons, Tony, Jimmy and
Paul. They went to Sacred Heart, St. John Fisher and Corpus Christi.
The Emerald Centre, Gipsy Lane, Leicester. LE5 OTB
Click here to view a map of The Irish in Leicester.
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