Galway Traveller Movement pays homage to the old way of life for Culture Night – ‘We don’t want it to die’
Arts and music will echo across the country on Culture Night this Friday. Galway will be no exception, with the Galway Traveller Movement presenting Living in History: Rekindling Traveller Traditions at a former Traveller campsite.
Paying homage to the community’s heritage, the event will offer an evening of song, dance, crafts, and storytelling, recreating a traditional Traveller experience for all in Galway.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Winnie Mongan, one of the organisers, explained: “It's something that's been going on in all areas. All communities do something on Culture Night but what we do is relive the traveller traditions. The area where we're setting up the campsite, in Terryland in Galway, years ago, travellers used to live there, so it's kind of going back to that time.”
Highlighting aspects of traditional Traveller life, Ms. Mongan said, is a way to ensure the culture endures.
“Culture is a big thing for Travellers, and we don't want it to die out. The children of today are interested in learning stuff because they have been brought up completely different than the way we would have.”
Mongan and her team play an active role in events throughout the year with the Galway Traveller Movement – not just in setup and takedown, but in keeping the culture visible and accessible to the wider community.
In preparation for this autumn’s programming, the Movement hosted eight creative workshops under the title If Hazel Could Talk. Artists and participants were invited to create artworks from hazelwood, a material symbolic of wisdom, protection, and shelter in Traveller culture. Hazelwood was also traditionally used to build the tents in which Travellers lived.
At Culture Night, a traditional tent will be displayed alongside an open fire, once the heart of the community, where women shared stories, cooked meals, crocheted blankets, and plaited hair. Around the fire, the Cant language will be spoken, griddle bread baked, and crafts revived.
The Traveller game of horseshoes will also feature. "What makes it fun is the noise of when the horseshoe does hit," said Mongan. "Here in Ballinasloe, we have Traveller men and men from the settled community that play it every day, here in our estate."
The goal, Mongan explained, is to bring attendees back to earlier days, when community roots were deeply planted in land and service to one another.
“We just love to see people enjoy it. I love to sit down; there's an open fire there. Just to sit and even stare into that, it brings back so many memories. Memories of our older people and it is rekindling, because if you're sitting there, you're reminiscing in your own head about what it was like for my parents and their parents doing this.”
“It’s very passionate for us, it really is, our culture. We just want everybody to enjoy it. We want the young people to see what it was like living at the side of the road. living in a tent, having the open fire, everybody shared everything at that time.”
Mongan is also involved in other upcoming events put on by the Galway Traveller Movement, including the Misleór Festival of Nomadic Cultures in Galway City (September 25–28) and the Ballinasloe Horse Fair on October 5.
Now in its seventh year, Misleór brings together a variety of Indigenous and nomadic communities. The 2025 theme, Tending the Flame: On the road to Justice and Reparation, will be reflected through visual arts, music, panel discussions, and dialogue, with contributions from Traveller, Romani, Sámi, Inuit, and other communities.
The 2025 programme explains the theme further: “As nomadic peoples, we are the steadfast guardians of our rich and vibrant identities. Across nomadic cultures, many have faced displacement, discrimination, and the denial of our right to live freely, with dignity and spirit.”
“Misleór is our sanctuary: a place to gather, to celebrate, and to raise our call for justice and reparation. In this unique festival, we tend the flame that lights the path to equality and freedom.”
Another project Mongan is excited about is a miniature architectural display showing the evolution of Traveller dwelling sites.
With support from Kath Gorman and Promenade, which provides mentorship and training to multi-disciplinary artists, funding has been provided for this project. "We’re starting from the beginning, from living in a tent, to living in a wagon, to living in a caravan or a trailer. We’re doing those three different scenarios," she said. While careful not to reveal too much creative detail, she hopes the project will be completed in time for next year’s Misleór Festival.
Ms. Mongan wants to see everyone take interest in this old way of life and apply it to the celebration of the traditions still practiced today.
For Mongan, the heart of these efforts is ensuring Traveller heritage is respected and preserved:
"What I'd like people to take from it is—this is our culture, and we like to be respected in our culture, we don't want to be treated differently."
"I'd like for this to go on to my grandchildren, great grandchildren and we don't want it to die because it is our culture and it's something that our ancestors have lived from for years upon years. We don't want it to die."
The Living in History experience will take place as part of Galway City’s Culture Night on Friday, September 19, starting at 6:00 p.m. The event is free.