Biddle Rd

Susan Quilter was born in Leicester to an English mother and Irish father.  Her father, William Greally (called Bill in Leicester) was born in Roscommon in 1922. He was the eldest  of 7 brothers and a sister.

The family moved to New Parks from Moira St in 1961. Mum, Dad, Pete, Sue, Maggie, Dette and Gez moved to 145 Biddle Rd when Sue was 14: her younger brother Paddy was later born here.  Her father Bill had had an accident down the mines in the late 60s and was pensioned out.

Bill Greally's pit tag.

With the money he got he bought a van and rented a shop selling second hand clothes, bric-a-brac etc. He also had a stall on Leicester Market.


Maggie Greally's birthday at Biddle Rd. Gez, centre left in a stripy dress, Dette centre right, blond hair,
Susan the older sister at the back.

Ann Morrisey and Maggie Greally st Biddle Rd.

Later the family moved to Beatrice Rd to a 4 bed house with a shop attached so he gave up the first shop but kept the van and stall on the market. Sue remembers playing hide and seek and skipping with her friend Linda Illiffe.

Sue had married in 1969 and became Susan Quilter but divorced in 1995. She later met her own Irishman, Pat Cullen in 1998 and they have been together ever since.  She was in The Standard having a drink when they got talking and it turned out that Pat knew Sue’s Dad and her uncles. He took her to an Irish music session at Molly O’Grady’s and the rest is history!

Pat had come over himself from Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon in 1963. He says “I came here on the Saturday, I was 18 on the Sunday and I started work on the Monday”

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.

Moira St

Susan Quilter was born in Leicester to an English mother and Irish father.  Her father, William Greally (called Bill in Leicester) was born in Roscommon in 1922. He was the eldest  of 7 brothers and a sister. His grandparents had a small farm but, although there was plenty of work to be had at home, the money was better in England. He first came over with three or four other fellas when he was 17 in 1939.They came to Reading where he got a job as an apprentice electrician. This was a reserved occupation which meant he was not conscripted when war broke out.

He later moved up to Leicester to work in the mines at Desford and had rooms at 2 Moira St.

Bill Greally's pit tag.

Susan’s Mum, Irene Lismore, had come to Leicester with her family when they moved from Bisceter, Oxfoshire. They lived at 4 Moira St!

Bill and Irene met and were courting for about 2 years before they married in 1944.

Irene’s parents moved back to Oxford and, after they had married at Leicester Registry Office, Irene and Bill lived at no. 4. They had 5 of their 6 children here: Pete, Sue, Maggie, Dette and Gez. It was a 3 bedroom rented house and Irene’s Mum came back to live with them after she was widowed.

Pete Greally in the backyard of Moira St.

 The older children, Dette, Sue and Mags went to St. Patrick’s school on Harrison Rd and Sue later won a scholarship to go to Wyggeston Girl’s school.

There was one other Irish family on the street called Quinn, and Kathleen Quinn went to St. Patricks School too.

Sue can remember Griffith’s shop; potatoes in sacks, sweet jars full of collar studs and buttons, slabs of cheese and bacon. She says “Even though they might be closed you could always knock on the door and they’d serve you.”

The family used Our Lady’s Church on Harrison Rd. which is now a Hindu temple. She remembers the May Day procession which went down Moira St, along Melton Rd, up Canon St and back along Harrison Rd to the church.

The picture below is taken on Coronation Day, 1954 under an archway on Moira St. There had been a street party to celebrate the Coronation with tables set out in the street. Unfortunately it started to rain and the women pulled the tables in out of the wet. Susan's mother, Irene, is left of centre wearing a swagger coat and expecting Maggie.



Moira St. Coronation day 1954.

Her uncles followed their brother Bill over and would often stay with the family. They might then find their own rooms or even go back to Ireland and come back again. Sue remembers that her Uncle Pat, known as “Black Pat” would pawn his suit on a Monday morning and get it out again at the weekend. “He’d come round on a Friday night with a steak to be cooked and a tin of Lucky Numbers sweets.”

Bernard Greally's Travel Identity card.

Click through for more about the original St.Patrick's school on Royal East St.

 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.

Jermyn St

Chris Moloney was born in County Limerick and came to Leicester in 1964. He had been working in London “in the shoe” but had two children and was looking for somewhere better to live. He was on 3 housing waiting lists in London and was trying to buy a house in Luton when his boss persuaded him to talk to the Company Director. At the time he worked for Curtis Shoes which, along with 6 other companies, was about to become part of the British Shoe Company and Chris was offered a job in Leicester.

He looked at buying a Jelson house off Braunstone Lane, with the promise that it would be ready by Xmas that year. It was not ready until March so the company set him up with temporary accommodation in Jermyn St, off Melton Rd and his wife, Kay, and the children joined him later. This was a shared terraced house and the family had access to the upstairs floor through a front corridor. BSC may have paid the rent for a couple of months to get them started and gave him £750 moving allowance.He only intended to stay in Leicester for a few months but the housing situation made it an attractive proposition. He remembers the lady downstairs offering to babysit so that he and Kay could go out and they went to see the Sound of Music at the pictures!

 He worked long hours and caught a bus into town to get the work’s bus up to the new factory at Leicester Forest East. The original BSC building had been built to provide work for the young women of New Parks and Braunstone He didn’t have the time to get to the barbers but remembers having a good crew cut that would last a while, somewhere near the Clock Tower.

Kay did know a little a bit about Leicester before they came up: she had come over from Leamington Spa and knew that Leicester had a Speedway and Banger racing. She worked as A Nursing Auxiliary at the Royal Infirmary at weekends and was working at Foxes Glacier Mints, Oxford St. when they moved up to Braunstone.

Chris would go back to London every 6 weeks to see friends.The M1 was still a dual carriageway and only reached as far as Luton. He remembers his 4 yr. old son calling it “Stinky London” and so decided that the family would stay in Leicester. They finally moved to the new Jelson Estate and have lived there for 22 years.

Chris remembers tea dances at The Grand Hotel.

He is a life member of the Braunstone Victoria Working Men’s club.

In the 70s Chris acted as an agent for a transport agency. He would be helping up to 3 families a week to move back home, mainly to Mayo and West Cork.

Mrs. Walsh ran a licensed boarding house, 47-49 Highfield St, facing the Catholic Club

Chris and Kay’s children went to Christ the King and Winstanley.

His grandchildren go to English Martyrs.

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.