Clare Traveller Community to Celebrate Oral History Project at De Valera Library
Cuimhneamh an Chláir, in collaboration with Clare Traveller Community Development Programme (CDP), will host a special storytelling event on Tuesday, 10 March from 11am to 1pm in the multi-purpose room at De Valera Library, Ennis.
Titled Traveller Oral Histories: Recorded in the Clare Traveller Community, the event celebrates 18 months of work supporting members of the Traveller community to record and preserve their own stories. The initiative reflects a shared commitment to ensuring that the social history of County Clare properly recognises and includes Traveller voices.
For 17 years, Cuimhneamh an Chláir has trained people across the county to gather oral histories, enriching written records with lived experience. Through its partnership with Clare Traveller CDP, Traveller volunteers received training in interviewing techniques and technical recording skills, empowering them to document their community’s history from an insider perspective. The programme also included input from Oein de Bharduin, Traveller Culture Collector with the National Museum of Ireland.
The March 10th event will mark both a celebration of the work completed so far and the launch of the project’s next phase. Attendees will hear about the recordings gathered to date and the plans to further develop the archive.
Cuimhneamh an Chláir Project Manager Paula Carroll highlighted the significance of the initiative, saying:
“We are so proud of this project. It’s so important to have communities take ownership of their own narratives, and not have their stories filtered through anyone else’s lens. Martin McDonagh, Bridget Mongan and Martin Keenan have done wonderful work so far recording their own family members and friends. We look forward to adding to that archive and making it available to the National Museum of Ireland’s Traveller Culture Collection too.”
A highlight of the event will be a slideshow of Pat Galvin’s 1970s and 1980s photo archive of Ennis Travellers, now held at De Valera Library. Galvin, who worked with the Ennis Committee for Travelling People, remains fondly regarded within the local Traveller community. The event will also mark his donation of additional audio-visual materials to Cuimhneamh an Chláir.
Clare Traveller CDP Coordinator Bridgie Casey emphasised the importance of the celebration, stating: “We are proud of our history as travellers in Clare, and this storytelling event is an ideal chance to embrace and celebrate our culture and traditions within the county.”
Clare Local Development Company, which supports Clare Traveller CDP, continues to play a valuable role in enabling initiatives that strengthen community participation and cultural recognition across the county. By supporting projects such as this, it contributes to ensuring that all communities in Clare have the opportunity to shape and share their own narratives.
For further information, contact Paula Carroll, Project Manager, at paula@clarememories.ie or Bridgie Casey at bcasey@cldc.ie .
The project is also supported by The Heritage Council and Clare County Council.