A few years ago, a dear friend and fellow photographer told me he was going to photograph the “Irish Travellers” and asked whether I would like to come along. My first reaction was to wonder why he thought I would be interested in photographing a tap dance troupe (like Riverdance) given my usual focus on vanishing cultures. Luckily, I tried to educate myself a little before answering him, (saving myself from embarrassment) and found out that the Irish Travellers are in fact an ethnic group and belong to a culture that could indeed be disappearing. Though I could not make it at the time, this year, as I spent part of my summer in London, I decided to hop up to the heart of Western Ireland and meet some of the Travellers.
For those like me who did not know about the Irish Travellers (and I will feel better if there are many of you), here are a few facts about them. Also called the Travelling People or Tinkers, they have been nomadic for generations, travelling the countryside in horse-drawn carts and wagons, presumably because of the limited demand for work at any one place. Though they were initially known for their tinware, they ended up doing any work that came their way: cleaning chimneys, buying and selling horses and donkeys, picking crops, sharpening knives, and whatever was needed to survive. Most families traveled and camped on the roadside, seldom remaining in one place for more than a couple of weeks. Of course, “gypsies” and Roma” come to mind when hearing about this lifestyle, but recent genetic testing has shown that the Travellers are native to Ireland.
The Travellers began to suffer in the 1970s as the demand for their work decreased significantly. With plastic replacing tin and the development of larger urban centers, the Travellers started to camp near cities on the roadside creating complaints among the locals. A movement emerged to settle travelling families on “sites” where they would have basic services and the children could go to school. Today the Travellers are no longer nomads, the vast majority live in houses or in caravans (trailers) on official “halting” sites. Although there are still approximately 30,000 living in Ireland they are clearly at the bottom of Ireland’s social and economic ladder.
I was curious to see how this evolution to a stationary life was working for them, particularly for the young ones who haven’t been on the road. Will they still identify with their culture? Of course, I was only able to spend a brief time with them so I certainly do not have full answers, but it was great to finally spend a little time with a new generation of Irish Travelers.
Children are easy to find at the halting sites. The Travellers are religious (Padre Pio has a strong presence there), and large families are the norm. My last day was spent with two families that had 8 children each, and in one of them, the oldest child was 10 and the youngest just 4 weeks old. I also met a 52-year-old man who had 29 grandchildren and a grandmother with 79!
The halting sites are basically concrete slabs on which residents can locate their caravans, so there is very little green on the sites per se. To earn a little money, some of the Travellers collect scrap metal and old cars kept near their caravans, and these junk heaps often become the children’s playgrounds. Yet, the Travellers have also kept their connections to nature by keeping horses nearby (which they also sell at Horse Fairs), raising dogs, especially greyhounds, and there are LOTS of puppies, and in some cases also chickens. Boxing has been a sport where the Travellers have excelled even representing their country at the Olympics so punching bags are also a common sight.
Probably the most striking thing to notice about the children is how clearly gender roles are defined even for the youngest children. When being photographed, the young boys always show their tight fists and take a fighting position. The girls quickly take a provocative pose, putting their hands on their hips and pouting their lips, (looking at a 2-year-old taking this pose make you want to burst into both laughs and tears). Most girls have long hair and wear jewelry and make-up starting at a very young age. Though they look very girly, they seem just as good at boxing as the boys.
In this short visit, it was clear that the Travellers are a proud group who value their identity but who are struggling to foresee their future (and it is probably not tap dancing J). More on their struggle (plus horses!) in my next post.
France
P.S. You can follow me on Instagram at franceleclerc
P.S.S If you are interested in learning more about the Irish Travellers’ history and challenges, I recommend the following book written by two anthropologists who actually lived among the Travellers and went on the road with them in the early 1970s and returned to visit in 2011. It is a fascinating read.
“Irish Travellers, the Unsettled Life” (2014) by Sharon Bohn Gmelch and George Gmelch
And for more pictures of the Travellers from a collective of photographers, you can visit the Irish Travellers Photo Gallery on Facebook.
24 Responses
Great story telling France, both in images and words. And a great focus on the younger generation. Such an interesting culture!
Thank you Ivy. It is an interesting culture, I agree. And from my brief time with them, it is very hard to predict whether the culture will survive and at what cost. It is hard to know what is best for them. Kind regards, France
Love the Travellers!! So glad you visited them.
Thank you Michele. I understand why you love them. And I am sure they love you. Best, France
France, how fascinating! No, I have not heard of the Irish Travellers before. Hope you’re doing well. Luis
Luis, so nice hearing from you. Glad to hear you did not know about the Travellers, so I am not the only one in the dark 😉 Things are good here, hope things are good in your part of the world as well. I’d love to hear updates about your various efforts at making the world a better place at some point. Kind regards. France
Fascinating, France. Thanks for the great backgrounder on this interesting ethnic culture and the wonderful photos to really paint the picture of the Travellers.
Thank you Janet. Interesting culture, indeed. So glad you like the story and the images. Warm regards. France
FACINATING indeed!
And exceptional photographs. Your skill at relating to humans is remarkable. And that, I suppose, is how you render such storytelling and personality in your photos. I will stick to birds, I’m afraid…
Just returned from a month in Zimbabwe and the animals were very cooperative!
XO,Elise
Thank you Elise. Birds do not really cooperate with me so we each have our own skills, I guess. Zimbabwe sounds great, it must have been a fabulous trip. Best, France
Fascinating children, and your photographs captured their many moods, from the provocative to the playful, from the tough to the vulnerable. I had to look up Padre Pio (…not a Catholic, obviously) and that was interesting as well. Thank you for once again opening my eyes to a community with which I was unfamiliar!
Thank you Kathy. Yes, I learned many things as well. It also made me realize that one does not need to go far to experience a new culture and that I should look around more when I am home. Warm regards, France
Fascinating! I’d not heard of the Irish Travellers, though I’m well familiar with the word, and occupation, of tinkers. I wonder if there is a similar group in England. Wonderful photos as usual. Heart broken about the gender stereotyping, but what can you do.
Alison
Thank you Alison. Yes, there is a similar group in England, as the Travellers have immigrated to England (and also to the US and Australia, I was told). Interestingly, in England they apparently mixed with the Roma (which they have not done in Ireland as you can see from their hair and skin colors). Yes, sadly the gender stereotyping is not going away there, quite the opposite.
Great story and great images.
Thank you Brian. Glad you like the story. Kind regards, France
Great images and storytelling France. You are a master at capturing the essence of a place!
Thank you Bob, and this particular adventure (and blog post) all started with you so thank you for that as well. Warm regards, France
[…] « The Irish Travellers who No Longer Travel […]
Hi France, I work for Traveller rights group in Cork city. the photos you took at Spring lane site are very impressive. Could you email us about the possibility of using some? I have included our email in the required fields above. Louise
Louise, Of course you may use them. I’ll be in touch soon. Best, France
Great post!!!
I like all your posts, but this one is really fantastic, as I could never imagine a group of people so special and different in Europe. We usually think that differences are just in Asia or Africa, but they are more closer than we can imagine.
Congratulations.
Altamiro, Thank you very much for your kind words. And yes, I so agree with you. There are interesting groups of people just around the corner from us but we often don’t take the time to hear their stories or to look for them. It is a challenge because the differences are more subtle than what we experience in Asia or Africa but I think their stories should be heard too. All the best, France