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Moving Voices | Twin Vision Moving Voices - Discrimination faced by Irish Travellers

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Moving Voices – Discrimination faced by Irish Travellers

‘We are all human if you cut us we all bleed the same’ , Simon Doyle, musician and Moving Voices participant.

Perhaps because so little is known about the Irish Traveller community, many members are subjected to racism on a systematic basis due to institutionalized racism and racial prejudice. As a cultural group, Irish Travellers have a long shared history and values system, making them a distinct ethnic group. They have been recorded as separate within Irish society for thousands of years, all of which leads to restricted opportunities within a wider society, where rules and laws are increasingly jarring with the traditions within the Traveller community. The mechanisation of agriculture in post-war Britain and the introduction of plastic rendered much of the work traditionally undertaken by Travellers, as obsolete. Many Travellers were forced to migrate to towns and cities where they faced economic and social marginalization from the settled community.  As with Aboriginal and Native American communities, when the culture is challenged and removed through laws, and impacts are felt from a more powerful other, this has a detrimental effect upon the community.  Tragically family member Johnny Delaney was killed in a racist attack, to learn more click here.

To obtain a copy of the audio transcript or share your own memories, thoughts and stories please get in touch

Moving Voices – A Brief History

Irish Travellers are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in Britain with figures varying from 300,000 to 500,000. It is estimated that one quarter are living continuously on unauthorised encampments as there are no other places for them to reside. There is very little record of Irish Traveller Heritage as there is very little statistical information available. Moving Voices, Irish Travellers aims to redress this imbalance by giving a unique insight into Irish Traveller Heritage on Merseyside.

Irish Travellers have a long history in Ireland. There are nomadic peoples mentioned within pre-Christian oral stories such as Táin Bó Cuailnge. Some Irish Travellers call themselves Minciers, or Pavees, and the Cairds or Nawkins are said to be descended from the Ancient Picts, the earliest known inhabitants of Ireland.  The Irish Traveller community have their own oral language called ‘Gammon’ Cant or Shelta, and this has been passed down through the generations and is still used today within the community.

The Irish Traveller community has links with Liverpool stretching back to the beginnings of Liverpool’s 800 year history. Liverpool City Council set up the present Irish Traveller site in 1974. There were 21 pitches created in Tara Park, Liverpool. Some of the same families who resided there in its infancy are still resident there today and many of the Irish Travellers who came and moved on to different locations around the country in the intervening years, have come to reside again in Tara Park

To obtain a copy of the audio transcripts, or to share your memories, thoughts and personal stories please get in touch.

Moving Voices – An Introduction

Twin Vision in collaboration with Merseyside’s Irish Traveller community have created a resource, which celebrates and archives the traditions, heritage and culture of Irish Travellers. Moving Voices is the first resource of its kind, providing an insight into the lives of generations of Irish Travellers who have chosen Liverpool as their home. The project celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the Irish Traveller community encompassing traditions of living through a unique archive of films, animations, oral histories and photographs passing on the knowledge as a rite of passage for the next generation to continue their cultural heritage.

The Irish Traveller sites in Liverpool have changed over time, and, as occurred in many places after the Caravan Site Act was rescinded in 1994 members of the community were encouraged to move into bricks and mortar accommodation. The Moving Voices project reflects the heritage not only of the residents residing in Tara Park but also that of Irish Travellers living in tiled accommodation throughout Merseyside.

Twin Vision would like to thank all contributors who embraced this worthwhile project and shared their heritage through personal stories and photographs, that have so carefully been passed down from generation to generation and might otherwise have been lost – Delaney, Doran, Doyle, McCann, O’Driscoll, O’Hare, Purcell, Sheridan, Toohey and Ward Families.

Twin Vision would like to thank our funders Heritage Lottery Fund and Liverpool City Council, and our partners Irish Community Care Merseyside and National Museums Liverpool.

To obtain a copy of the audio transcripts or share your memories, thoughts and stories, please get in touch.

Moving Voices, Appleby Fair Animation

Our talented animators who live in sited accommodation, Liverpool, have formed a creative production team to research, draw, design and narrate this 2D animation that explore’s the UK’s most famous horse fair.

Appleby Fair from Twin Vision on Vimeo.