Changing Lanes

About the Book

This book is an account of how a boy born into a poor Irish family grew up in Ireland in the 1920s through the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s and what life and work were like. It describes how work was carried out on a small farm and the difficulties experienced that I’m sure will ring true to many who have older Irish parents or even to those who left the country of their birth. It continues on to describe how the boy that became a man left his homeland to go to England to work and the life that he built there and at times the resentment that was felt toward the immigrant. It is at times saddening to read the experiences that he had, but throughout, he demonstrates the courage and fortitude that he gained from a hard young life, which carried him through to build a life and family.

About the Author

James “Jimmy” Sherry was born into an Irish farming family in 1924. After his birth, his mother was very unwell, and he was sent to live with his uncle and aunt and their family. He lived there for the next seven years, thinking that they were his mum, dad, and brothers and sisters. He returned to his own family home at that time, only for his father to die less than two years later. At that time, his mother was left to raise James and his ten brothers and sisters. He lived and worked around Monaghan and Tyrone in Ireland for a further twenty years before he left his homeland and went to work in England. He worked in Birmingham, Coventry, and then in Kent in the southeast of England, where he settled, got married, and had a family. He lives in Kent to this day with his current long-time partner. He has two sons and one grandson.