Inspirational new poetry collection by Cloughjordan native Helen Hutchinson

Pictured above are members of Tipperary ETB staff attending the recent launch of Helen Hutchinson’s poetry book, From the Dirt Lane Back to the Open Roads, recently held at the Abbey Court Hotel in Nenagh. Back Row: Deborah Ryan, Eoin Costello, Lavinia English, Mary Roche Cleary, Philip Bourke, Lorraine Treacy, Nicola O’Carroll, Colin Cummins and Brian Donnelly. Front Row: Michael Brophy, Mary Jo Kennedy-Deegan, Kaye Mullaney, Helen Hutchinson, Fiona Bolger, Marian Browne and Ester Mackey.

Tipperary Education and Training Board (ETB) hosted the launch of a new book of poetry by one of its adult learners and Cloughjordan native, Helen Hutchinson, at the Abbey Court Hotel in Nenagh recently.

Helen, who spent much of her early life in Cloughjordan and now lives in Nenagh, has written From the Dirt Lane Back to the Open Roads, a collection of poems offering an insight into the history and culture of Travellers, as well as the pain experienced through assimilation.

A long-standing community activist and proud Traveller woman, Helen has developed her voice to become a writer for her generation and tribe. 

Helen’s poetry draws on her earliest memories of storytelling around the camps and the revelries of yarns told and songs sung by the wagon, close to the fire. 

Despite the pains her family experienced as a result of state policies of assimilation and the isolation that came with it, Helen’s family kept the tradition of storytelling and musical entertainment alive.

Always a dreamer, Helen began writing, riddling and rhyming in later life. 

She wrote for herself and never imagined it would be anything other than a personal process. 

Helen found writing poetry to be therapeutic, helping her to come to terms with family suicides as well as make sense of the conditions experienced by Travellers. 

Her poetry is powerful and stark, touching on the tragic suffering of one family and moving then to the collective pain of discrimination against an ethnic minority.

The book was formally launched by Dr Rosaleen McDonagh. Dr McDonagh spoke of the heart wrenching stories and struggle for Traveller rights at the heart of Helen’s poetry.

 Describing Helen’s poems as “a gift to our community and our young people,” Dr McDonagh said it was essential to have literature written by Travellers, not just about them.

 Concluding, Dr McDonagh said that she was absolutely thrilled to see Helen’s poetry flourish and called on the art world to support Traveller artists so they can express the reality of Traveller lives.

Designed by Éilís Murphy of Folded Leaf, From the Dirt Lane Back to the Open Roads is a work of art – a book that is beautiful in its creation. With just 200 copies of handmade books, these limited-edition copies are sure to be to be collector’s item in years to come.

To conclude the event, Helen Hutchinson called on young Travellers to pick up a pen and paper to write about their everyday experiences.  Their lives today will be the history of tomorrow. She asked parents to encourage their children to write about who they are and what it means to be a Traveller.