Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
This is why I love what I do. And I love the opportunity and the chance, to spend time talking to people like this man, George Kelly, an 81 year Travelling man from The Shannon in Enniscorthy.
I'm sitting down today to edit up a much longer interview, which will take all day, but I said I will share the first four minutes with you, because it just says so much. George's grandfather was a Protestant man, called George Scott, who was from Ballinroad near Raheenduff, Oulart. He married a woman called Annie Kelly (a Catholic) and all the children were raised with his grandmother's name, Kelly and as Catholic. When old George died, his father, Paddy Kelly, was sent to work (like so many others) to ”bring home a few bob and kept his family from being sent away”.
This was the reality and the hardship so many poor people faced back then, including my own people and we often heard growing up that as farm labourers you “were never far from the road”. I love in the 1st few minutes George talks about how the people in the cottages were good to them, the farm labourers. They too were on the bottom rung of the social ladder and they could see that the poor Travelling community were worse again, so they tried to help them, if they could.
So if you have four minutes, have a listen to this as it’s a brilliant truthful piece of our history and told so well by George. Thanks George for your stories and your time.
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I recorded this conversation as part of a larger Oral History Project in the Templeshannon area of Enniscorthy. Although part of the wider town of Enniscorthy, The Shannon retains its own unique identity, accent, customs, and mannerisms. It also has a very strong community bond and deep-rooted connection to place, not found in other parts of the town. These interviews are being undertaken in a bid to celebrate these qualities and are supported by Wexford County Council through the Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme.
This is why I love what I do. And I love the opportunity and the chance, to spend time talking to people like this man, George Kelly, an 81 year Travelling man from The Shannon in Enniscorthy.
I'm sitting down today to edit up a much longer interview, which will take all day, but I said I will share the first four minutes with you, because it just says so much. George's grandfather was a Protestant man, called George Scott, who was from Ballinroad near Raheenduff, Oulart. He married a woman called Annie Kelly (a Catholic) and all the children were raised with his grandmother's name, Kelly and as Catholic. When old George died, his father, Paddy Kelly, was sent to work (like so many others) to ”bring home a few bob and kept his family from being sent away”.
This was the reality and the hardship so many poor people faced back then, including my own people and we often heard growing up that as farm labourers you “were never far from the road”. I love in the 1st few minutes George talks about how the people in the cottages were good to them, the farm labourers. They too were on the bottom rung of the social ladder and they could see that the poor Travelling community were worse again, so they tried to help them, if they could.
So if you have four minutes, have a listen to this as it’s a brilliant truthful piece of our history and told so well by George. Thanks George for your stories and your time.
.........................................................................
I recorded this conversation as part of a larger Oral History Project in the Templeshannon area of Enniscorthy. Although part of the wider town of Enniscorthy, The Shannon retains its own unique identity, accent, customs, and mannerisms. It also has a very strong community bond and deep-rooted connection to place, not found in other parts of the town. These interviews are being undertaken in a bid to celebrate these qualities and are supported by Wexford County Council through the Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme.
