Family with Cork roots funds archive honouring Irish emigrants who 'built Britain'

The project is being funded by a London Irish company that was set up by a West Cork man who went to Britain to make his fortune in the 1950s.

Denis 'Joe' O'Donovan with his wife Kathleen, and their children Michael, Caroline, Anthony and Jacqueline. 

A new historical archive tracing the lives of Irish men who spent their lives working in construction in Britain is set to open in London. 

Funded by the O'Donovan family, who have links to Cork, the London Irish Centre is undertaking the huge task of creating a digitised collection of the stories and history of Irish emigrants who helped to rebuild Britain after World War II.