Quirke-y story of man’s life in Calne (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Quirke-y story of man’s life in Calne

7:00am Sunday 14th June 2009 in

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Irishman turned Wiltshire resident Joe Quirke hopes a book about his life in Calne will raise more than £500 for Cancer Research.

Mr Quirke, 85, was devastated when his wife Jean died from cancer last July, and has since spent many hours penning his first book, The Wiltshire Irish Man, in a bid to raise money for other people suffering from the disease.

He said: “When Jean died I thought ‘I cannot work like I used to’ so I started to write.

“I like rhyming things and I can tell a story but I never thought of putting them in a book before. I just got a pen and scribbled in a note book – every night I added a bit.

“I will cover the publishing costs, but any other money raised will go straight to Cancer Research because they do so much to help people.”

The grandfather-of-two, from North Street, left Black Rock in County Dublin 65 years ago to look for work, and has not returned to his home country for 40 years.

“I come from a big family and when I moved here I could hardly spell my own name,” he said.

“There was not much work over there so I came here and joined the air force as a driver. I loved England as soon as I stepped off the plane and it is my home now.”

Although it is not due to be published until this week, Mr Quirke has already taken 100 orders from friends in Calne and as far away as America and New Zealand.

Mr Quirke, a former president of the Calne Allotment Association, says he fell in love with Calne because of the opportunities the town has offered him.

“I have met a lot of interesting people living in Calne,” he said. “And I will talk to anyone I meet so I have ended up getting involved in lots of different things.

“For example, there were big fields up the road and the owners did not use them for anything, so I went up and asked if I could have one. When they asked what for I said I wanted chickens, and soon enough I had 600 of them.”

In the book Mr Quirke has looked at how Calne has changed over the decades. “I remember a time when there were more than 40 shops in the town,” he said. “Now all the shops are closing down.”

Copies of The Irish Wiltshire Man cost £4 and are available from Mr Quirke.