Roadside Camp, Watery Road, Ennis. A family in their roadside camp. It was living conditions such as this that led to the setting up of the Ennis Committee for Travelling People. In the mid 1960s, Travellers were living out the Ballygriffey Road but by 1967, when the Committee was set up, the Travellers were in Ernagh beyond Drumcliffe. Gradually the Travellers were moving closer to town as they lost their traditional roles in the countryside as extra farmhands and tinsmiths due to modernisation on farms and as people began to replace broken buckets with new ones. They moved on to Lee's Road, nearer the town, but when local farmers placed boulders on the roadside to prevent them halting, they then moved to the Watery Road.
Roadside camps on Watery Road, Ennis. About 20 Traveller families lived in roadside tents and wagons on the Watery Road, Ennis during the 1960s and 70s. One of the first tasks the Ennis Committee for Travelling People took on was to buy green waterproof covers to make tents. Usually used for covering lorries, the covers fitted over the barrel wagons, and cost the Committee £11 at the time.
Roadside camp, Ennistymon. In the 1960s, most Travellers were living in tents at the side of the road. It was this sort of poverty that moved some settled people to set up the Ennis Committee for Travelling People to do something to improve the conditions of Travellers.
Ennistymon Site. Two trailers on the site near Ennistymon, made available by the Sisters of Mercy. Around 1970, the Ennis Committee for Travelling People got an agreement with the County Council to provide four sites in Ennis, but only got three (Drumcliffe, Ashline and Gaurus). They got a fourth site in Ennistymon from the Mercy Sisters who were always very helpful towards Travellers. The site accommodated two families.
Horses grazing in a garden in Ennis. Travellers' horses were causing problems with the settled community, particularly since Travellers had moved into towns, and their horses were trespassing on peoples' land. This created a lot of bad feeling, Travellers were being fined regularly, and were being forced to get rid of their horses.
Caravan beside House. A Traveller caravan parked beside a house. Settled people sometimes allowed Travellers to park their caravans beside their houses, as in this case in Castleisland, Co. Kerry.
Drumcliff Site. Clare County Council provided three sites near Ennis in 1970. This one was at Drumcliffe, just beyond the cemetery. The other two sites were at Gaurus, off the Tulla Road, and Ashline on the Kilrush Road. Two families occupied each site.
Halting Site, Tippereary. A new Traveller halting site, Tipperary town, Co. Tipperary. This site has been designed with some sensitivity to Travellers' culture
