The Blackened Circle

Socially engaged project by Séamus Nolan in collaboration with members of the Clonmel Traveller community

Prototype for a monument is a monument to the temporary possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of land that has been customary for Irish Traveller community for centuries. In the past, circles of black ash and charred sticks are what remained to mark the campfires that were central to the gathering of nomadic communities along roadsides and networks of traditional camping grounds. 

The project involves working collaboratively with Traveller community members to document and share these storied sites, recounting and sustaining the connections to the land and to the communities intersecting those places. This collection joins a number of ongoing mapping projects within Traveller organisations across Ireland*, projects that focus on the sharing of collective history and centre the question of Traveller culture and land practices that have existed outside formal recognised relationships of ownership and title.

This work is developed with participants through the Traveller Health Project with coordinator Gillian Walsh, Eleanor O’Reilly (Purcell Reilly nee Casey), Mary O’Reilly (The Stars), and Kathleen O’Reilly (nee Delaney).

Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm

The project is funded by Creative Ireland and the exhibition delivered as part of STAC’s ongoing partnership with Clonmel Junction Arts Festival.