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Ireland’s Traveller Women

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Ireland, it’s a place that has been long associated with religion and conservative values, but over the last few years, the country has reinvented itself as a new and progressive Ireland. In 2017, the Irish government extended this spirit of inclusivity to its traveller population, who were now to be recognised as a distinct ethnic group within the nation of Ireland. Now in the year 2020, we are three years on but has anything really changed?

In this BBC Our World Special we meet three young women fighting to bust the myths about their community and make their dreams a reality. The film opens in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, where we meet the O’Reilly family who have lived here for the last four years, they currently live on family-owned land in a makeshift halting site with no toilet or shower and there are currently no men on the site. We hear from Noreen, who’s father and eldest brother are both in prison, they are well known in the community as the rubber gang. The family say police attention has always been intense, but this is not just a problem faced by the O’Reilly’s it’s something the entire traveller community has felt.

Directed by : David Howell

Irish Traveller culture to be promoted through school curriculum

  • Published 5 March 2023

Irish traveller cart

"It's a monstrous thing, because we've always been here."

That is one Traveller's take on what he sees as the omission of his community's culture in the Irish school curriculum.

But that could soon change after research this week presented a possible framework of how such history and culture could be introduced to education.

First commissioned by former minister Richard Bruton in 2018, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) study outlines its ambitions for future teaching.

'Beautiful and boring'

Oein DeBhairduin works with the National Museum of Ireland, having previously been the first Traveller to work in the Oireachtas (Irish parliament).

He said there was very little evidence of Traveller history being taught in Irish schools, saying it was a "monstrous thing".

"We want to make sure the curriculum is reflective of the society we live in," he said.

And according to him, that involves community input and core groundwork to any future teaching.

Oein DeBhairduin

"If we're going to engage with the subject, we need to ensure the schools and teachers are appropriately supported.

"What do you actually know about Travellers?

"Chances are the source of the information is not coming from community exposure to us.

"We're over 40,000 people, we're a very diverse community group… we're just as bright-minded, as wild and beautiful and as boring as everybody else."

Traveller boy on horse

A spokesperson for the Department of Education in Ireland - which provided funding - said the report aimed to provide an important resource to support teachers, practitioners and students in understanding and appreciating Traveller culture and history.

Irish Travellers 1980s Ireland

NCCA said the research was an important first step that aimed to provide an overview of what was currently known and had been recorded about the different aspects of Traveller culture and history.

Topics include family structures, nomadism and the impact of racism and discrimination on Travellers as well as storytelling, music and language.

"It will be used to inform the review and updating/redevelopment of curriculum specifications and the development of new specifications as part of ongoing work across sectors," the report said.

"It will also provide a basis for the development of resources and materials for teachers/practitioners, and inform our thinking around intercultural approaches to education more broadly."

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NCCA's research recommends the study of Cant, also known as Gammon or Shelta, an indigenous language used by Irish Travellers.

Considered a Creole language based on pidgin elements of Old Irish, but also incorporating English and other languages, it is a highly flexible dialect unique to certain communities.

It was added to Ireland's National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2019 - a list of living practices and customs that the Irish government has agreed to protect, promote and celebrate under Unesco's guidance.

Mr DeBhairduin recommends a nationwide survey to begin truly documenting the language.

"It has to do more than survive, we need to be in a position to let it prosper," he said.

  • Irish Travellers 'mental health crisis'
  • Irish travellers 'least likely' to enter university

Patrick Nevin

Others are taking a harder stance.

"Our language is due its rightful place. It would be as easy as standing up in the Dáil [lower house of Irish parliament] and giving it state recognition… Leo Varadkar [Irish prime minister] could do that tomorrow," said Patrick Nevin.

He said the Traveller Cant was every bit as key as other languages on the island of Ireland - pointing to the success in protecting Irish Gaelic and Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland - and should be recognised with equal status.

Mr Nevin is the manager of the Tallaght Travellers Community Development Programme and has been fighting for Travellers' rights for nearly 25 years.

His organisation and several others recently presented research to the Dáil which further indicated that racism and consistent discrimination contribute towards alarming suicide figures within the Irish Traveller community.

In 2021, an Irish parliamentary committee reported that 11% of Travellers in Ireland die by suicide.

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Irish Traveller Mags Casey lost 28 family members to suicide

It has been six years since former taoiseach (prime minister) Enda Kenny officially recognised the distinct ethnic group in Irish parliament.

Steps have been taken since then for the inclusion of Irish Travellers' culture and history within many aspects of society in an effort to ease racial discrimination.

Mr Nevin welcomed the prospect of Traveller history being introduced to schools but said it needed to be an "absolute partnership" that would see Travellers engage with the education system, "laying ownership" to their own identities.

This may take time yet, with research showing young people from the Irish Traveller community are the least likely to enter higher education in the UK , with similar statistics presenting in the Republic of Ireland.

"We really do want to be a part of society," he added, "We are a part of what makes up the modern Irish state."

Related Topics

  • Republic of Ireland
  • Race and ethnicity

More on this story

Irish Travellers recognition 'historic'

  • Published 1 March 2017

There was a standing ovation as Enda Kenny made the announcement in parliament

'Mental health crisis' afflicting Irish Travellers

  • Published 18 April 2022

Mags Casey

Irish Travellers 'least likely' to go to university

  • Published 7 July 2022

Lecture theatre

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  • Australia edition
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Headstones in Ballyhaunis cemetery, County Mayo.

‘A clash of cultures’: Irish opinion split over Travellers’ elaborate headstones

Community representatives say a ‘good sendoff’ is a religious necessity, but others say it introduces a competitive element

T he latest addition to Ballyhaunis cemetery in Ireland’s County Mayo towers over neighbouring headstones in a blaze of white marble and ornamentation. Rose-wreathed pillars frame a tableau of statues showing Jesus, angels, cherubim and biblical scenes, including an engraving of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.

Marble tablets express bereavement in gold letters, a photo of the deceased gazes from a carved stone bench and lanterns with diamond-shaped bulbs and electric sensors flank the central slab.

It is the headstone of a beloved wife and mother – and the latest flashpoint in a dispute over aesthetics, culture and tolerance that has split public opinion in Ireland .

Members of the Traveller community have in recent years erected large, elaborate headstones that, depending on perspective, are moving testaments to grief and loss or garish spectacles of one-upmanship.

Statues in Ballyhaunis cemetery.

Some sprout flags and have fake jukeboxes, others have marble depictions of vehicles, football jerseys, pets, beer bottles, boxing gloves and dartboards.

Such displays were expressions of love from a marginalised community with shockingly high mortality rates, said Martin Collins, a co-director of Pavee Point , which represents Travellers and Roma. “They are remembering the person who has just passed. It really is important that Travellers are seen to be given a good sendoff. It’s not a materialistic thing, it’s a very religious, holy thing.”

The monument in Ballyhaunis has set a precedent of sorts by becoming a tourist attraction. “We heard about it in the pub and couldn’t leave without seeing it,” said Paul Walsh, 34, who braved icy winds to visit the cemetery last week. “I was in the Vatican recently and this is giving me a Vatican vibe.”

His friend Niall Prenty, 34, said it was impressive. “Certainly more extravagant than I had expected. It’s over the top and there’s something outrageous about it but it doesn’t bother me. Fair play to them.”

Detractors, however, say extra-large headstones violate planning rules, overshadow other graves and introduce an element of competition.

“They’re getting bigger and bigger,” said Michael McCullagh, 84, who has objected to Galway county council over headstones in Creagh cemetery outside Ballinasloe, about an hour’s drive from Ballyhaunis. “The Ballinasloe graveyard is not an exhibition centre. It’s a serene place, a sacred place for our ancestors. Once we’re under the ground, we’re all equal.”

McCullagh’s daughter, parents and grandparents are buried at Creagh and he has a plot earmarked for himself and his wife. “Is the suggestion of that edifice,” he said, indicating a black marble headstone with swirling pillars, “that they have more love for their dead than we do?” The auctioneer said he had no animus against Travellers but that some headstones verged on “monstrous”.

Some recent monuments were reputedly installed with cranes at night. Galway county council said it received 11 complaints about one at Creagh and wished to question the contractor.

Controversy has extended to Sheffield in England where the city council is under pressure to remove a 37-tonne mausoleum erected in Shiregreen cemetery in 2022 to honour Willy Collins, an Irish Traveller “king” and bareknuckle boxing champion who died in 2020 at the age of 49.

His widow, Kathleen, told reporters: “There have been vicious comments on social media from those who hate the Traveller community and they have left the whole family feeling very hurt and angry. People are threatening to pull the monument down or damage it, while the council is saying we may have to change it, but if that happens there’s going to be war.”

Martin Collins, the Traveller representative, said Traveller families should respect planning rules but urged the settled community to show tolerance and understanding. “What’s happening here is a clash of cultures and cultural values. There has to be some accommodation to respect everyone’s traditions.”

He said prehistoric burial sites such as the famous Newgrange monument and tombs of illustrious figures at Dublin’s Glasnevin cemetery dwarfed Traveller headstones.

At Ballyhaunis graveyard, one woman said she had no objection to big monuments as long as they did not come too close to her son’s grave. Fahed Kezze, 39, who was visiting the Muslim section, said families should be able to erect large monuments, though that was not his family’s preference. “My mother is in a simple grave but we built two wells in India that are named after her,” he said.

Most viewed

The Other Irish Travellers

From docuwiki, [ edit ] general information.

Culture Documentary hosted by Fiona Murphy , published by BBC broadcasted as part of BBC Storyville series in 2012 - English narration

[ edit ] Cover

Image: The-Other-Irish-Travellers-Cover.jpg

[ edit ] Information

Documentary which takes a personal look at the history of Ireland's vanished Anglo-Irish classes through the quirky family of filmmaker Fiona Murphy. The director follows her father and his four siblings back to the estate in County Mayo where they grew up in the newly-independent Ireland of the 1930s, to trace lives rich in contradiction. While the siblings wrestled with their Anglo-Irish identity, their father carved out a successful career as a diplomat at the height of the British Empire. Tracking the family's fortunes from Cromwell's times, through first-hand accounts of the Civil War and mass exodus of the Anglo-Irish under Eamon de Valera, the film explores how this individualistic family tried to hold on, despite the odds.

[ edit ] Screenshots

[ edit ] technical specs.

  • Video Codec: x264 CABAC [email protected]
  • Video Bitrate: CRF 20
  • Video Resolution: 832x468
  • Video Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Frame Rate: 25 FPS
  • Audio Codec: AAC-LC
  • Audio Bitrate: 128 Kbps ABR 48KHz
  • Audio Channels: 2
  • Run-Time: 59 mins
  • Number of Parts: 1
  • Part Size: 638 MB
  • Source: PDTV
  • Encoded by: JungleBoy

[ edit ] Links

[ edit ] further information, [ edit ] release post.

  • MVGroup.org (torrent)

[ edit ] Related Documentaries

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[ edit ] ed2k Links

BBC.Storyville.2012.The.Other.Irish.Travellers.PDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.mkv (638.21 Mb)

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Categories : Culture | Fiona Murphy | BBC | BBC Storyville | 2012 | English | Name Fiona Murphy Language > English Name Publisher > BBC Publisher > BBC > BBC Storyville Series Subject > Culture Year > 2012

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Farming: Celebration as Irish grass-fed beef gets all-Ireland EU status

  • Published 3 days ago

Cows in Ireland - stock image

An event to celebrate Irish grass-fed beef getting special EU recognition is to be held later in Lifford in the Republic of Ireland.

The protected geographical indication (PGI) designation will apply on an all-island basis.

It is an indicator of a premium product which helps sell the product in continental markets.

Cattle included in the status must spend at least 220 days a year on pasture.

They must also derive at least 90% of their feed intake from grass.

Only certain higher-grade beef animals are eligible.

Beef joins three other products to share all-island PGI status - Irish Poítín, Irish cream and Irish whiskey.

  • New generation 'embracing' the ancient but notorious spirit

Three other products from Northern Ireland are registered: Comber New Potatoes , Armagh Bramley Apples and Lough Neagh Eels.

The Republic of Ireland has five products with the award: Clare Island Salmon, Timoleague Brown Pudding, Connemara Hill Lamb, Waterford Blaa and Sneem Black Pudding.

Connemara Hill Lamb

The PGI award is open to products which must be produced, processed or prepared within the specified geographical area and have particular features, qualities or a reputation attributable to that area.

The Northern Ireland minister for agriculture, environment and rural affairs joined the agriculture, food and the marine minister for the Irish government at the event in Lifford.

It was the first time Andrew Muir and Charlie McConalogue have met since Mr Muir took office.

Andrew Muir and Charlie McConalogue

Speaking at the event on Friday, Mr Muir said this is "a massive day of celebration" that PGI status has been granted for Irish grass-fed beef.

The minister said the recognition "opens the doors for so many opportunities".

"We're putting this product on an international stage up there with other products that have received similar status like champagne, and also Irish whiskey.

"This is a really, really positive opportunity but also it's also a recognition of the benefits of north-south cooperation."

Minister McConalogue said PGIs are "really well known" particularly across Europe, but also the world .

He said the new status now means they can actually "enhance the brand" of Irish grass-fed beef and "make sure it's at the top of shelves internationally".

Related Topics

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More on this story

NI beef farmers to benefit from EU special status

  • Published 15 November 2023

Cattle

IMAGES

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  12. Irish Travellers

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    He has Irish Traveller roots on his father's side and is also distant cousins with Shayne Ward. Shayne Ward (born 1984), English singer and former winner of X Factor, whose parents are Irish Travellers who settled in England; Athletes. Francie Barrett (born 1972) represented Ireland at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996.

  15. Irish Travellers say racism is causing a suicide crisis

    Irish Traveller Mags Casey has lost 28 family members to suicide over a 10-year period, one of whom was her 13-year-old cousin. ... The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

  16. Pontins served 'unlawful act notice' over discrimination against Irish

    Chris McDonagh, the campaigns officer at Friends, Families and Travellers, said: "It is deeply saddening that Irish Traveller people have become so used to hate and prejudice that the Pontins ...

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  19. 'A clash of cultures': Irish opinion split over Travellers' elaborate

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    Irish Travellers speak English as well as their own language, known variously as Cant, Gammon, or Shelta. Cant is influenced by Irish and Hiberno-English and remains a largely unwritten language. According to the 2016 census, there were nearly 31,000 Irish Travellers living in the Republic of Ireland, representing 0.7 percent of the population.

  21. The Other Irish Travellers

    Culture Documentary hosted by Fiona Murphy, published by BBC broadcasted as part of BBC Storyville series in 2012 - English narration. Documentary which takes a personal look at the history of Ireland's vanished Anglo-Irish classes through the quirky family of filmmaker Fiona Murphy. The director follows her father and his four siblings back to ...

  22. List of Irish Traveller-related depictions and documentaries

    Pavee Lackeen: The Traveller Girl (2005) — a film directed by Perry Ogden that tells the story of an Irish Traveller girl (Winnie Maughan), her family, and her struggles in life. Most of the characters are played by the Maughan family themselves, including Winnie, the youngest daughter. [8] Strength and Honour (2007) — film dealing with a ...

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