In this interview James gives details of his parents' backgrounds, the village in Galway, Ireland where he was born in 1906 and why he came to New Zealand. James describes leaving Galway in 1929 and his impressions of Invercargill on arriving in 1930. He describes working at the Fortification sawmill before labouring on buildings in Invercargill. He describes working on the Te Anau to Milford highway in very difficult working and living conditions. He notes that three hundred men worked on the team. He describes work `stumping' (pulling out tree remainders). He meet his wife Kathleen Lardner in Riverton and he talks about their marriage and children. He describes joining the prison service in 1940 and working at Mount Crawford, Arohata and Invercargill. He mentions also working at the Ocean Beach Freezing Works and Kew Hospital.