Cork City gets its first Traveller heritage sign

Cork City’s first Traveller heritage sign was launched by Heritage Minister Malcolm Noonan at the Tramore Valley Park last week.

The heritage sign is part of the Black Ash Traveller Heritage Project, which documented the stories of Travellers who lived in barrel-top wagons in the area around the Black Ash, Tramore Valley Park, and Kinsale Road Roundabout decades ago.

The project was created by Cork Traveller Women’s Network (CTWN), a grass-roots, Traveller-led organisation. The launch celebrated Traveller music, storytelling, and craft.

These stories are available through QR codes available that can be scanned at the Traveller heritage information sign at Tramore Valley Park, which will bring you to ctwn.ie, where you can listen to the full project.

Project co-ordinator Brigid Carmody said: “We are hoping to expand the project across the city in other halting sites. For us, just to highlight that Travellers have been a part of the community for many years and for our children to see the history and the positive images of Travellers across the city.

“The main focus for us is that our children can feel proud and be able to scan our QR code and listen to something that is related to them and also for the general public to understand Travellers and where Travellers have come from,” she said.

As well as launching the new Traveller Heritage Sign, CTWN submitted an application to name the new bridge ‘An Tobar’, which translates to ‘on the road’ in Cant.

“Travellers would have parked on either side of that bridge, so we felt it was a good opportunity for us to have a Traveller culture name,” she added.

The Black Ash Traveller Oral History Project was funded through the Heritage Council of Ireland’s Community Heritage Grant Scheme in 2022 and supported by Cork Folkore Project and Cork City Council Arts, Parks and Heritage.

For more information, contact Brigid Carmody on 086 7777651.