From 1965 to 1970, the Travellers of Ireland, a people thought to be “descendents of a mixture of nomadic craftsmen and those who had literally taken to the roads... for a variety of reasons,†welcomed Dublin-born photographer MacWeeny (Spaces for Silence
) to their campsites outside his hometown. His quest to publish the photos, stories and music he took with him is at last realized in this spare but lovely book, a stirring cultural miscellany from a community that remains invisible to many—in both the general public and the historic record. As MacWeeney notes, “Theirs was a bigger life than mine, with its daily struggle for survivalâ€; in page after page of beautiful black-and-white photos, that struggle is captured in the Travellers' faces, by turns despairing, hopeful, joyous and solemn, but also belied in scenes of celebration, laughter and music-making. MacWeeney sees in these portraits “a dignity, a raw beauty, a deep uncertainty and perhaps a stripped-down Irishness,†a sentiment deepened by the lyricism and sly humor of songs (“The Old Hag's Deathâ€) and stories (“The Grey-Headed Norrisey's Skullâ€) transcribed throughout, and also captured on an enclosed CD. If there's a fault to find, it's in the volume's brevity; like the Travellers themselves, it's gone before you're ready to stop looking. B&w photos. (Sept.)
