A KERRYMAN who has spent almost every Christmas in Ireland since moving to Britain will this year be forced to give up on his 55-year tradition.
Daniel O’Connor, 77, from near Kenmare in Co. Kerry, has been living in Britain since 1960.
Greenford resident Mr O’Connor has come home for every Christmas but one since he moved to London at the age of 22.
“I managed to get back every year except in 2001 when the foot and mouth disease broke out in Ireland,” he told The Irish Post.
“I went home the April after that Christmas so I’ve been home every year since I moved here.”
But this year, poor health means that Mr O’Connor, who lives alone in his North-West London flat, will not be making the journey home.
And, he says, he will spend the rest of his Christmases in Britain – as the arduous journey takes a lot out of him.
Born in 1938, Mr O’Connor remained in Kerry until his early 20s after leaving school but, like many Irish people in the 1950s and 1960s, was forced to emigrate for work.
First coming to Richmond in West London, he began working with Murphy Construction Group before moving on to lorry driving.
Six years spent living in Wales saw him settle on his preferred route to Ireland — the boat to Cork from Fishguard.
Even after the Cork route closed he still followed the same modus operandi.
“I’d my own car after a few years living here so I’d drive down to Wales from London and sail across to Rosslare, then drive on home from there,” he said.
“Back then the roads weren’t as good so it’d take probably seven or eight hours to drive to Wales, through all the little villages, then another four hours home I suppose after getting to Rosslare.
“I used to go back for about 10 days when work started back up they’d expect you back.”
When he first moved here, Mr O’Connor worked in a hotel in Richmond, driving and parking guests’ cars.
With his driver’s licence in hand, he made his way to Wales where he worked on the railway — but eventually came back to London and drove for several companies, eventually driving his own lorry up and down the country.
Each year, he would book as much time off from work as he could at Christmas so he could hop in his car and head home.
Most of his family remained in Kerry and he made a conscious decision to come home to see his parents every Christmas.
After his parents passed away — his father in 1985 and his mother in 2002 — he continued to return to Kerry each Christmas and stayed with his brothers and sisters.
“I was staying with them every time I was home, I wouldn’t want to stay anywhere else anyway,” he said.
Mr O'Connor worked for Murphy's.“I went back every year though, so I think I might have some sort of record there.”
This December, Mr O’Connor will finally be going under the knife for surgery on his feet, after breaking his toes several years ago, which has left him with arthritis.
While it means his daily discomfort will be eased, it also means he will be unable to undertake the journey to Ireland.
“I’ll spend the day with a good friend and neighbour of mine,” he said. “But of course I’d prefer to be back home in Ireland.”
“I don’t think I’ll go back anymore now. It’s a long journey and the older I get, the more I dread it.
“I love being back there but the journey takes a lot out of me.”
Sadly, this means it is the end of the tradition that Mr O’Connor has dutifully carried out each year.
“I’d prefer to be in Kerry but that’s just life,” he said.
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