Moving Voices, a set on Flickr.
A selection of the beautiful imagery from Irish Travellers personal collections of photographs
All posts in Moving Voices
Moving Voices, Memories
Audio Interview
The spoken word is intrinsic to Irish Traveller culture, their own oral language called Gammon, Cant or Shelta, has been passed down through the generations and is still used today within the community. It was, therefore, essential to record oral histories from the community, and the young participants learnt about interview techniques, using open questioning, listening and how to record so that they could interview each other and their elders. This resulted in the capturing of fascinating stories, intriguing conversations and and ultimately a deeper insight into Irish Traveller culture. View Memories film
To obtain a copy of the audio transcripts please get in touch and we will send you a downloadable pdf. And why not share your thoughts, memories and stories.
Moving Voices, Awards Ceremony
Moving Voices, has been such a success because our talented participants have embraced the project and dedicated such time, talent and enthusiasm to preserving and sharing their unique heritage and culture. This was not only celebrated through the local and regional touring exhibition,in addition, the World Museum, Liverpool hosted a special premiere and Oscar Ceremony so all our fabulous film makers could be acknowledged. This was a spectacular occasion enjoyed by one and all as the films appeared on the cinema screen and oscars and goody bags were awarded to all our talented team.
Moving Voices, Touring Exhibition
As part of the Moving Voices Project, the body of work has been toured on a local and regional level to supermarket store Asda, local primary school, World Museum and Appleby Fair. The archive will be housed with partners National Museums, Liverpool, North West Sound Archive, Liverpool Central Library, Irish Community Care Merseyside, Liverpool City Council and Cumbria County Council, as well as with our funders Heritage Lottery Fund. This means many more people will have access to this insightful resource through the digital archives and websites.
Appleby Horse Fair has taken place in the small town of Appleby, Cumbria since 1685 when King James II granted a royal charter to welcome Travellers to the town to trade. The fair is an opportunity for over 10,000 Gypsies and Travellers to meet on an annual basis to trade horses, buy and sell all kinds of items and for young people to get together and possibly meet their potential partner. Other fairs include Stow Horse Fair, which takes place twice a year in the Cotswolds, attracting serious horse traders as well as sightseers from across the country.
Lots of work has been created relating to Appleby Horse Fair, from films (History of Appleby, Horses of Appleby, Visitors to Appleby, Craftsmen of Appleby) to animation and is worth a look as an insight into this traditional fair, or better still it’s worth a visit!
To obtain a copy of the audio transcript please get in touch and we will send you a downloadable pdf.
Moving Voices, Faith and Ceremonies
Faith is important to many Irish Travellers, who are predominately Roman Catholic, although a small percentage are Born Again Christians. Therefore, religious ceremonies, such as the First Holy Communion is a very important rites of passage for the children and families.
Weddings are extremely important to Irish Traveller women, as girls look forward to their wedding day and beautiful dress. Irish Travellers often marry young, aged 16 -21 years old, and frequently meet their prospective partner through social gatherings, fairs or whilst travelling.
Often multi tier wedding cakes made for Irish Traveller weddings don’t have cake in them, but have polystyrene inside them to make them lighter, otherwise they would topple over. Some families have the tradition of a tier to represent each sibling or child they intend to have, others just like their cake to be as grandiose as possible as part of the celebration. Click here to learn more about Irish Traveller Memories.
To obtain a copy of the audio transcripts please get in touch and we will send you a downloadable pdf. Or get in touch with your thoughts, memories and stories
Moving Voices – Moving Musical Traditions into the future
The talented Doyle family are absolutely amazing, father, Simon has kept Irish Traveller musical traditions alive for future generations through his talented children playing the uileann pipes, fiddle and banjo. The family tour all over the UK and have produced a cd of their music and when asked what motivates them, mother Margaret said ‘ Irish Traveller Music is very important to me …. I want to keep the Travellers tradition of music going’
To obtain a copy of the audio transcripts, or share your memories, thoughts and stories please get in touch and we will send you a copy.
Moving Voices – Musical Traditions
Our housed Irish Traveller families are very proud of their musical heritage and the children wanted to share their great grand daddy, Felix Doran’s musical talent through a stop motion animation. The children have grown up hearing about Felix, and listening to his and his brother Mikey’s amazing tunes and so they worked together to imagine his travels throughout Ireland in his bow top caravan, before settling in Manchester, England. The children storyboarded their ideas, learnt how to make plasticine models and filmed the animation before adding their voices and their grandaddy’s wonderful Uileann pipe playing. To view the animation click here.
To obtain a copy of the audio transcripts, share your thoughts, memories and stories please get in touch and we will send you a copy.
Moving Voices – The Family Unit
The family unit is incredibly important within Irish Traveller culture. Traveller women play an important role in their immediate family and the wider Traveller community. They have the responsibility for the home, family and children. On behalf of their families they often take on leadership roles, acting as spokespeople for their communities.
Children of ethnic minority communities and indigenous peoples have the right to enjoy their own culture, to practice their own religion and to use their own language – (article 30, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child).
Young Travellers make up the majority of the population. 80% of Travellers are under the age of 25 and over 50% are under 15, 40% are under ten years of age. The majority of Traveller children live in conditions below the minimum requirement for healthy child development and the infant mortality rates are three times greater than the national average.
Click here to learn more about Irish Traveller Memories
To obtain a copy of the audio transcripts please get in touch and we will send you a copy, or why not share your own stories and memories with us?
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