Itinerant Encampment in Bourgeois Dublin

A caravan bought for £20 standing on a patch of waste ground can seem like heaven after a year in the Sherrif Street flats. That was the McCann family's verdict when they moved to the corner of Hadddington and Norththumberland Roads in January this year..

"Everyone was glad to be out," said 46-year-old Mary McCann. "I'd live anywhere rather than go back to Sherrif Street. I hardly went out all year. If you did, you never knew when you might get a belt with a stone."

The McCanns have six sons, two of school age, but they kept them from school the whole year rather than let them run the risk of an encounter with local people on the way there. "I'd go to jail before I'd let my kids get killed" she said.

The problem was that the family was well known as itinerants, though they've always lived almost entirely within the Dublin area. Eric McGragh a Counsellor for the Committee of Travelling People, explained that it is often very difficult for itinerants to settle down.

"I think Mary McCann felt that the flat would be the answer to all her problems.

She'd lost her three eldest children, who, were put to care, as a result of the life she led, he said "She also lost two hospital jobs, serving on the wards. She and her husband Thomas, also 46, were heavy drinkers. Thomas was then working as a chimney sweep. He now deals in scrap and, according to McGragh, hasn't taken a drink for months. But life in the flat only increased their problems.

"In the McCanns' case there was quite a bit of pressure from the settled people who saw them as outsiders. This is not at all unusual I could tell you of many worse cases. the McCanns at least are able to look after themselves."

But only, it seems, on friendly ground. Mary has lived in our near Haddington Road most of her adult life and said she feels safe there. The extended family currently includes herself, Thomas and their sons, three dogs, five hens, two horses, and two donkeys. "The donkeys keep the horses quiet," she said.

They've built quite a village for themselves, though not many would choose to live there. Damp and cold in winter, the caravan always has a leak or a broken window.

"When we took the flat in Sherrif Street we were told we'd be found somewhere else in a year's time. Nothing happened and we're still waiting for a house" Mary said.

So they stay on in Haddinggton Road, hoping they won't be turned off the land by a developer, as has happened often in the past.