Their unrestrained exuberance for storytelling showed me how bearing witness to one’s own life is the core of a writers’ destiny
I was cleaning my studio last week when I found a box of old cassette recordings; stories I heard from Travellers many years ago. I became interested in Travellers when I was a young boy observing the “exotic” nature of their life in barrel top wagons along a narrow road beside the golf links.
My own mother lived lavishly among her teapots and vases of flowers, and her golf clubs poised in the garage, but she loved her children. So it was amazing, for me as a child, to realise that these Traveller women held their children with the very same tenderness. Such moments moved me because when I was a boy I felt Travellers were strange and different, but when I befriended them, it was their similarity that astonished me. And it wasn’t just about being a parent.
The Traveller woman calmly spread the tartan rug on the pavement, laid the baby safely down on it, and then picked up a turnip from the street stall and flung it through the shop window. The guards arrived and the Traveller ended up in Mountjoy for a month.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Michael Harding: The Camino only makes sense when it’s overThe weather resembled Leitrim in January. I wondered how I could have been so foolish to think this would all be fun
Read more »
Michael Harding: At one time, having a pair of binoculars on the back seat of your car in Fermanagh was unwiseMaybe I am naive but for me binoculars were a beautiful remnant of Victorian tranquillity. I’ve never thought of them as an aid for killing
Read more »
Michael Harding: I stroll around car boot sales admiring the people making up a new kind of Ireland‘One thing for certain is that young people will always fly from war on whatever life raft they can find’
Read more »
Michael Harding on the Leaving Cert: A teacher in school convinced me I was a useless lump of dungHis voice always made me shiver, but he also contributed greatly – albeit inadvertently – to my moral development
Read more »
Dublin Airport issue warning to travellers before the June bank holiday weekendThe June bank holiday weekend is almost upon us - and if you're heading off to catch some sunshine with your extended weekend you may want to pay attention to the Dublin Airport warnings
Read more »
Live news: Michael McGrath will consider 9% Vat rate; EU’s AI Act passes final hurdleBite-sized servings of the latest in business, tech and current affairs
Read more »