Tag Archives: Traveller

GROWING up as one of 12 children in a Traveller family who were always moving from place to place, Margaret Donovan received almost no education as a child, barely spending any time in school. Even the basics of literacy were not something she was given the opportunity to learn, and so she reached her late 30s without any education and, it seemed, little likelihood she would ever read or write. She was finally pushed to begin learning, however, when she wasn’t able to help her beloved little daughter with her homework and at 55, Margaret is living a rather different life to what she was on course for as she approached 40. She is now literate and wants to continue learning. She has held a job for many years. She drives a car and has a full license. She has taken several holidays and lived in a house for 12 years having always called a caravan home before that. Very …

MEMBERS of the Garda Armed Response Unit assisted Clare County Council with an inspection at a site in Ashline on the Kilrush Road in Ennis today. Council officials inspected the site  where there are six burned out housing units. While the site has been used for Traveller accommodation in the past, Clare County Council are planning to put a new social housing development in place there.  The local authority is currently seeking a High Court injunction against Bernard and Helen McDonagh, which would compel them to leave the site.    

A homeless Clare family, whose previous residence burned down, have launched a High Court challenge aimed at compelling Clare County Council to provide them with accommodation. The action has been brought by David Mongans, his wife, Margaret Lisa Mongans and their four children, who the High Court heard are living in a caravan on the Kilrush Road in Ennis. The Traveller family say their current living conditions are unsuitable for their needs, particularly as some of their children, who are all young, suffer from significant health issues. The Mongans say their previous accommodation at Knockaneen was burnt in 2015 and that they have been homeless ever since. The have resided at different locations in the Ennis area and with relatives and have also spent time living in a shed. They are currently living in a caravan. They are on the local authority housing list. In their action against Clare County the family seek various orders including one compelling the council to …

People young and old turned out for a very special exhibition of living history in Ennis recently. As part of Travellers Pride Week, Waterpark House was transformed into a scene of Traveller life from the 1950s. According to organisers, the event wasn’t just about showcasing times past, it was also about promoting positive mental health. Dr Siobhan O’Connor, co-ordinator Ennis CDP Primary Health Care Programme for Travellers in the Clare/Ennis CDP Education Peer Support Project explained, “From the Ennis CDP Primary Health Care Programme’s perspective it was a day invoking positive mental health. Travellers could position themselves as part of the history of Ennis, Clare and Ireland. There was a sense of belonging and ownership of the space and history of Ireland. This was particularly strong in the drama that was performed talking about the role of Travellers in the 1916 Rising, when Travellers transported messages and hardware between the volunteers at great risk. “From a mental health perspective, it …

A video, in which a woman claims to have been asked to leave the church in Ennistymon ahead of last Saturday’s First Holy Communion ceremony there, has been posted online. Thousands of people have now viewed the footage in which a woman claims that she is being denied entry to the church because of what she is wearing. She accuses the Parish Priest, Fr Willie Cummins, of making a scene. During the video Fr Cummins does not respond to the woman. She claims she is being discriminated against because she is a Traveller and that the priest allowed “settled women with a lot shorter clothes” to enter the church. A statement from the Parish of Ennistymon, released through the Galway Diocese, of which it is part, stated it has a dress code specifying “reasonably modest attire”. “Together with many parishes and similar institutions throughout the world, the Parish of Ennistymon has a dress-code for participants in liturgical celebrations. The code is not onerous and is …

FIVE local women, all members of the Travelling community, have enrolled as third level college students for the first time in their lives in a collaboration between Ennis CDP, Limerick Institute of Technology and the HSE. And while they admit there is a sense of trepidation, there is also plenty of excitement with all of the women looking forward to facing the challenge ahead. Margaret Gannon, Mary Frances Joyce, Bridget Mongans, Bridget McDonagh and Mary McDonagh met with one of their lecturers from LIT, Dr Frank Houghton, this week. Dr Houghton, the Director of the newly established Health & Social Research (HEALR) Group in Limerick Institute of Technology, delivered a four hour session on “Primary Health Care and its impact” in Ennis to the new students who proudly hold their LIT student cards. The students will also be going on campus to attend a number of lectures and to join in with the wider student population of which they are …