Project Documents Stories of Traditional Traveller Camp Sites
Galway 29 July 2024: Galway Traveller Movement (GTM) has secured funding to create an online interactive map of traditional Traveller camp sites in Galway city and county. The mapping project seeks to gather and document the rich stories of Travellers’ lives on the road in this region.
The ‘Reimagining Life on the Road’ project will be celebrated at the University of Galway at 11am on 21st August, as part of National Heritage Week. The event will feature a public interview with GTM spokesperson, Nora Corcoran about her memories of living on a campsite as a child.
GTM were awarded a Community Heritage Grant from the Heritage Council of Ireland for the mapping project. It is being run in partnership with the Department of History, Centre for Creative Technologies and the University of Galway. It will use audio and visual methods to map and archive traditional Traveller camping sites on both a physical and digital map.
“The Traveller Community is the largest indigenous ethnic minority in the country,” says GTM spokesperson Nora Corcoran. “We are a diverse population with a rich and vibrant history. ‘Reimagining Life on the Road’ celebrates the Galway Traveller community’s way of life. It ensures that beautiful stories of times past are not lost and our contributions to Irish culture and history are protected and respected.”
Story collectors within the Traveller community will be trained to collect and archive oral histories about the sites and their material culture. The online map will be interactive, providing a platform where Travellers can contribute and share community centred history.
The launch in August represents the third phase of a Traveller Heritage programme, which first looked at creating a physical map. The aim was to add existing locations to the map, and gather additional site data, explains Nora. “Then the map was enhanced with rich multimedia content, such as photos and audio recordings from the local Traveller community.”
A second phase of the project expanded to include more existing and new locations. “Each of these sites came with their own tapestry of stories and memories to add to the digital map,” says Nora. This phase was supported by Ann Lyons, Community Knowledge Initiative and Dr Catherine Cronin, of the ‘Just Knowledge’ project. It was delivered in conjunction with The Open University and GO-GN – a global graduate research network.
“The Heritage Council funding in this final phase will enable us to archive valuable audio and visual recordings. These capture the essence of old Traveller camp sites. They are not mere echoes of the past. They are vibrant, living testimonies of a nomadic heritage of the local Traveller community”
The project is overseen by artist Seamus Nolan, and supported by Oein De Bhairduin,
Traveller Culture Collections Development Officer at the National Museum of Ireland.
‘The project is a collaboration between Galway Traveller Movement, the Centre for Creative Technologies, the Department of History and the College of Arts at the University of Galway. Supported by the Heritage Council under the Community Heritage Grant Scheme 2024.’
