Music and singing form a very important aspect of the Traveller culture and historically traditional songs have been passed down in families and carried around the country by Travellers who helped keep the songs alive. Supported by Creative Ireland Waterford, Waterford City & County Council, the Waterford Traveller Community Development Project and the Waterford Traveller Interagency Group worked collaboratively with local Travellers to produce Mincéirí Ag Canadh – Travellers Singing.
This project presents recordings of six Traveller people singing traditional Traveller songs and other ballads to celebrate Traveller Pride 2022. The Waterford Traveller Interagency Group identified and recruited six Travellers to sing a mix of traditional songs and Ballads. A series of six professionally produced recordings were produced and feature Lily Flynn, Kaitlyn Stokes, Mai Mai Flynn, Nora (Girlie) O’Reilly, Rosemary Stokes, and Stephen Faulkner.
This project connected with the Traveller customs and gives the wider community a chance to appreciate the songs sung by members of their community. The six recordings can be found on https://minceiriportlairge.ie/ in the Heritage and Culture section and are there for present and future generations of the Traveller community and the public to enjoy.
All six singers felt they had achieved their full potential in singing their songs and all were looking forward to their songs being uploaded to the website for the purpose of public enjoyment, this gave each of the singers a sense of pride in their recordings. The songs mean a lot to the Traveller community, it is their history and culture.
The song I will be singing is dedicated to the memory of my deceased grandfather on daddy’s side.
I recall my grandfather singing it to me ever since I was a little girl and up until just before he died.
