The Changing Role of Travellers in the (Re)Creation of Irish National Identity, 1920S-1960S
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From Acceptance to Assimilation: The Changing Role of Travellers in the (Re)Creation of Irish National Identity, 1920s-1960s by Erin Gurski A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2014, Erin Gurski Abstract This thesis looks at the place of the formerly nomadic Irish Travellers in the construction of a complex folklore-based Irish national identity in the mid-twentieth century. Using the archives of the Irish Folklore Commission, this thesis argues that as the Irish government constructed Ireland’s new national identity following independence in1922, the Travellers were included in this identity based on their community’s possession of Irish folklore. In the second half of the twentieth century, however, as the importance of folklore in the creation of the national identity diminished in favour of modernization, the government gradually singled out the Travellers as a problematic minority that needed to be assimilated into the majority population. By challenging the existing historiography, this research highlights the importance of discussing the historical contingency, as opposed to inevitability, of constructions of the Traveller as ‘Other’ to encourage a more comprehensive and therefore less deterministic history. ii Acknowledgements This thesis would not exist without the advice and support of my co-supervisors. I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Professor Danielle Kinsey for her guidance, patience and ever-thorough edits without which I could not have completed this thesis so successfully. I would also like to thank co-supervisor Professor Susan Whitney who not only introduced me to the Irish Travellers but, more importantly, allowed me to find my own path, albeit with several nudges in the right direction. I would also like to thank my committee members, Professor Richard Connors, Professor Pamela Walker and Professor Jennifer Evans for both serving on my committee as well as challenging me to think of the wider implications of my work. As far back as January of 2013, my thesis proposal benefitted from the keen eyes of Professor Pamela Walker and Professor Bruce Elliott whose comments in that early stage of work were instrumental to the eventual direction of my research. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Joan White, the all-knowing Graduate Administrator of the History Department, without whom the department would cease to function as it should. I would especially like to thank Criostoir Mac Cárthaigh, the archivist of the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin and his entire staff for not only allowing me access to their vast collection but also for providing immeasurable help and advice at every turn. While in Dublin, my research also benefitted from several conversations with Professor Bairbre Ní Fhloinn whose work on the Travellers was as illuminating as her personal recollections of Pádraig Mac Gréine whom she knew well for many years. A special thanks to my colleagues in the History Department at Carleton University for all of their support, guidance, and constant efforts at confidence-bolstering. I would especially like to thank PhD candidates Ian Wereley and Meghan Lundrigan for their encouragement and patience when answering my seemingly never-ending questions about the MA process. I would also like to thank Laura Lutes, Michael Chiarello and Quinn Lanzon for never tiring of my constant requests to comment on parts of this thesis and for listening to my rather rhetorical conversations on a regular basis. Also, thank you to Lina Crompton, Arpita Bajpeyi, Sinead Cox, and Anna Kuntz for their much-appreciated appeals to my rational nature when I felt overwhelmed. Although the roster changed from year to year, my office-mates created the perfect balance between work and play which made this whole process a joy and a privilege. Finally, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to my friends and family who have stood by me through the past two years. Through all the sleepless nights, moments of writer’s block and frustrations with my lack of knowledge of the Irish language, they never faltered in their support and their belief that I was capable of this achievement. To my parents, I could not have gotten to this point without you; everything I do is a reflection of you both and all you have taught me. To my siblings, Kristen and Sean, thank you for never tiring of my constant talk of Ireland and for the pride that you displayed whenever asked why I was still in school. Words cannot express how much I appreciate all of your love and support. iii Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... iv Introduction: The Irish Travellers .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 “Communities,” Origins and National Myth ................................................................................ 8 1.2 Early Research and Representations ........................................................................................... 16 1.3 The Travellers in Irish Society .................................................................................................... 19 1.4 The Nation and Irish Nationalism ............................................................................................... 23 1.5 Travellers in the Archive: Language and Folklore ..................................................................... 35 1.6 Othering ...................................................................................................................................... 41 2 Chapter: Folklorists, Travellers and Irish Nationalism (1930-1952) ............................... 48 2.1 Folklore, Language and Irish Identity ......................................................................................... 50 2.2 The Irish Folklore Commission: A Brief History ....................................................................... 59 2.3 The National Folklore Collection ............................................................................................... 66 2.4 Pádraig Mac Gréine and Traveller Folklore................................................................................ 68 2.5 The 1950s: Seán Mac Grath and the ‘Authentic Irish’ Traveller ................................................ 83 2.6 Shifting Attitudes: From Folklore to Ethnography ..................................................................... 91 3 Chapter: Compiling a Way of Life – The Tinker’s Questionnaire (1952)....................... 96 3.1 Historical Context ....................................................................................................................... 98 3.2 The Tinker’s Questionnaire as Historical Source ..................................................................... 101 3.3 The Tinker’s Questionnaire and the Travellers ......................................................................... 104 3.4 Arguments For and Against the Questionnaire as an ‘Othering’ Tool ..................................... 113 iv 3.5 The Travellers as Well-Known ................................................................................................. 122 3.6 The Travellers and Irish History ............................................................................................... 124 3.7 Contested Terrain: The Usefulness of Travellers ...................................................................... 130 3.8 Moving Towards Assimilation .................................................................................................. 134 Conclusion: Uncharacteristic Hostility? ................................................................................. 136 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 151 v Introduction: The Irish Travellers ...a small group of brave people stood by the Travellers and literally put their arms around them as they sobbed with anger but mostly with sorrow that nothing was changing and that evictions continued to be a part of their life. - Sean Ó Riain 1 Referred to alternatively as Travellers, Tinkers, ‘gypsies’ and Pavee, depending on the source, the formerly nomadic Irish Travellers have lived as a distinct community in Ireland for centuries, perhaps longer. Once the Report of the Commission on Itinerancy was released in 1963, however, the Irish government began a systematic effort to assimilate Travellers into the larger settled population.2 Using a complex mixture of social, economic and legal measures (including evictions), the government eventually succeeded in its overall efforts to end the Travellers’ nomadic way of life and by the twenty-first century, nomadism in Ireland had almost disappeared.3 The Irish government initially argued that the assimilation of the Travellers meant that once they were housed they would happily blend in with the majority. Despite the government’s efforts, however, the