Oein DeBhairduin on Traveller Pride, folklore, and cake bread

RTÉ News​

7 days ago

Author, activist and educator Oein DeBharduin spoke with Sínann Fetherston about the importance of celebrating Traveller Pride and the traditions he holds dear.
"I didn't want to write a book about Travellers," says author Oein DeBhairduin, "because I thought that's what Travellers had to do; we were forced into a corner and had to write about ourselves."
Instead, the activist and educator created a series of books capturing the spoken word stories passed down through generations of his family and community.
"The larger community are largely ignorant of the stories," he explains, "which is such a loss because a lot of our stories are about origin myths."
Across Ireland, for example, many people associate robins with departed loved ones (I myself think of my grandad every time I see one), but not many know why these red-breasted birds are seen as spiritual messengers.
"If you don't know the story, you've lost that connection," he insists. "Thankfully, we're one of the people that kept that story."
DeBhairduin's book, Why The Moon Travels, delves into 20 tales rooted in the oral tradition, while Twiggy Woman looks at some of the more ghostly folktales, and Weaves shares stories inspired by the eight festivals in the wheel of the year.
The full story of the spideog can be found in Weaves, but he kindly shared the following message to briefly explain the spiritual status of robins:
"One Samhain in the Inagh valley, an old woman was mourning the loss of a great love, her grief summoned the curiosity of a robin—the Spideog. The bird, so touched by her grief, set out to find her departed beloved. It traveled through all sorts of haunted landscapes and went to the island of Teach Doinn, where the dead are said to dwell.
"After much effort, there, it found the spirit and carried his whispered message, a part of his very essence, back to the living. The old woman on meeting the robin again, felt the presence of her loved one and knew the message in her heart, and from that day and every day since the Spideog has being a sacred bridge between worlds."
Irish Travellers, or Mincéirí, are known for their rich culture of music, craft, trading, family, songs and, of course, storytelling. With most of these stories being passed down orally, they have likely changed and developed over the years, but DeBhairduin insists that only adds to the magic.
"Stories grow and change," he muses. "If I told you a story and you told me the exact same story back, you haven't embraced it, you've just dictated it."
When we speak, DeBhairduin is Cork-bound, set to take part in an event as part of Traveller Pride Week - a time dedicated to celebrating the culture and heritage of his community.
Officially recognised as a distinct ethnic minority group in Ireland in 2017, DeBhairduin says that he hopes that the Mincéirí can be better understood through celebrations like Traveller Pride, and conversations can become more varied.
"Can we have a conversation about beauty? Can we have a conversation about our strengths, and connection, and resilience? And fun! I think that's really important, otherwise, we're always on that campaign block rather than sharing the joy in life."
Overall, the author says that Traveller Pride is a wonderful time to embrace and celebrate his community ("With all the sweetness and sourness in the world, isn't it just great to be who we are together), but also a great time to whip up some griddle bread, better known as cake bread.
"When we make bread, we rarely make it for ourselves," he explains. "It's about breaking bread, and sharing bread, and coming together."
"The idea is that when people come, you feed them," he continues. "It's such a simple thing and such an Irish thing, but it's really observed in our community. This is the bread that our ancestors made, and this is the way they made it."
With initiatives like Traveller Pride, DeBhairduin hopes to see a revival of Mincéirí traditions, and insists that everything from herbalism and metal crafts, to the functional and fashionable beady pockets, can be embraced in 2025.
"Often people think of tinkers and they only ever discuss men, but we have a history of women who, believe it or not, could pick up a hammer," he deadpans.
"There's a revival now around copper work where women are creating pieces of art that can be sold, or exchanged, or can just be a celebration of this skill that largely fell away."
Rings made from spoons, and homemade beady pockets - a type of flat handbag that ties around the waist - are just two examples of traditions that can be embraced today because, as Oein correctly points out, "in the modern world, most women are still struggling for pockets".
When it comes to the younger generations, the advocate and co-founder of LGBT Tara, says that social media has become a fantastic way to share insights into different types of lives and experiences.
"When people think of Travellers, they think of extreme poverty or they think of this 1950s version of people, this real stereotype," he says.
"People talk about us in a retrospective way, but we're contemporary people living contemporary lives. All communities have grown and changed."
DeBhairduin hopes the wider community will take part in the variety of events happening as part of Traveller Pride this week - you can see the full programme at Traveller Pride Week 2025.
"This is a shared celebration for us all to connect," he insists. "I would love to see it extended to at least a month and become a part of the culture calendar."
Additionally, he hopes that seasonal traditions like May Day (tying ribbons to hawthorn bushes on 1 May), and the Mummers (a group of masked individuals visiting homes to perform songs, dances, and skits at Christmas time) can continue to reemerge across the country.