A growing collection of stories that celebrates Irish Traveller culture, past and present.
The Mincéirí Archives/ Traveller Archive website is Ireland’s first peer led collection of lived experiences, told by the Mincéirí/Irish Traveller community Elders themselves. Together with the National Museum of Ireland, Ireland’s Travelling Community, and a team of expert historians; the forgotten history of the Mincéirí has been recorded. Hundreds of hours of recordings from Mincéirí all over Ireland have then developed into a series of lessons for Ireland to uncover and this collection is now available and made increasingly accessible via the Mincéirí Archives website.
The Mincéirí Archives is a growing collection of stories that celebrates Irish Traveller culture, past and present. Staying true to tradition, each chapter is told aurally by an individual from the Travelling community. The content covers a wide range of topics within the community such as tent making, metal work, marriage traditions and ghost stories. The content is a celebration of Mincéirí/Irish Traveller culture and is positive in tone. Much like Irish Travellers, these archives are ever-changing, never still – a collection that will grow and develop over time.
The aim of this project is to affirm Irish Mincéirí/Traveller history, as national history. We’re proud to say that these are among the first lessons for primary schools to be made by Mincéirí Elder for the children of Ireland and provides a wide scope for discussion and inclusion within the national curriculum.
This collection is spearheaded by members of the Mincéirí community, Oein De Bhairduin, Traveller Cultural Collections Officer at the National Museum of Ireland and activist Martin Warde as well as the 10 interviewees from the Mincéirí community across Ireland.