Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
‘Whidding the Gammon’
Here’s a special chat I recorded with George Kelly last week in his home in the Tighíns in The Shannon in Enniscorthy. It was recorded on my phone just as I was about to leave, and it’s a simple field recording of Gammon words that George has used throughout his life.
Here in Wexford we call the language spoken by Travellers Gammon, while in other parts of the country it’s known as Cant.
I’ve often noticed that any town with a Traveller population will have Gammon words filtering into the local dialect. You’ll hear teenagers—and now adults—using some of these words in Enniscorthy, Bunclody, and Taghmon here in Wexford, and the same happens in towns across the country.
Over the years, while working on projects with Travellers, I’ve picked up quite a few words and sayings myself. Many’s the time I’ve overheard a conversation not meant for my ears. I’m no expert on the language, but I do know that some words shift in pronunciation depending on the region—and even between different families within Wexford.
In this chat, George shares some of the words and sayings that I already know, while also introducing words for cow or bull and a cat, along with the usual terms for dog, bread, egg, milk, tea, cart, yoke, man, woman, hunger, hide, guards, window, shoes, house, child, hit, and more.
As I said, this is a field recording—but it’s real and honest. It captures a language that George feels the younger generation sadly isn’t keeping alive. During the chat, George holds his finger to his ear because his hearing aid was broken, and that’s the only way he could hear me!
It’s a lovely chat for loads of reasons and it sinks home with me as we hear so much brus about the half-remembered dialect of Yola of Wexford, and yet here we have people using these words and sayings and not a word about it. Only for conversations like this between George and myself, you'd be none the wiser.
I recorded this conversation as part of a larger Oral History Project in the Templeshannon area of Enniscorthy. Although it’s part of the wider town, The Shannon, Enniscorthy retains its own unique identity, accent, customs, and mannerisms. These interviews are being carried out in an effort to celebrate these qualities and is supported by Wexford County Council through the Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme.
Over the next few weeks I will add subtitles with the word spelling to this chat - so in the meantime - listen hard!
Text: Michael Fortune
‘Whidding the Gammon’
Here’s a special chat I recorded with George Kelly last week in his home in the Tighíns in The Shannon in Enniscorthy. It was recorded on my phone just as I was about to leave, and it’s a simple field recording of Gammon words that George has used throughout his life.
Here in Wexford we call the language spoken by Travellers Gammon, while in other parts of the country it’s known as Cant.
I’ve often noticed that any town with a Traveller population will have Gammon words filtering into the local dialect. You’ll hear teenagers—and now adults—using some of these words in Enniscorthy, Bunclody, and Taghmon here in Wexford, and the same happens in towns across the country.
Over the years, while working on projects with Travellers, I’ve picked up quite a few words and sayings myself. Many’s the time I’ve overheard a conversation not meant for my ears. I’m no expert on the language, but I do know that some words shift in pronunciation depending on the region—and even between different families within Wexford.
In this chat, George shares some of the words and sayings that I already know, while also introducing words for cow or bull and a cat, along with the usual terms for dog, bread, egg, milk, tea, cart, yoke, man, woman, hunger, hide, guards, window, shoes, house, child, hit, and more.
As I said, this is a field recording—but it’s real and honest. It captures a language that George feels the younger generation sadly isn’t keeping alive. During the chat, George holds his finger to his ear because his hearing aid was broken, and that’s the only way he could hear me!
It’s a lovely chat for loads of reasons and it sinks home with me as we hear so much brus about the half-remembered dialect of Yola of Wexford, and yet here we have people using these words and sayings and not a word about it. Only for conversations like this between George and myself, you'd be none the wiser.
I recorded this conversation as part of a larger Oral History Project in the Templeshannon area of Enniscorthy. Although it’s part of the wider town, The Shannon, Enniscorthy retains its own unique identity, accent, customs, and mannerisms. These interviews are being carried out in an effort to celebrate these qualities and is supported by Wexford County Council through the Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme.
Over the next few weeks I will add subtitles with the word spelling to this chat - so in the meantime - listen hard!
Text: Michael Fortune
