“The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”

In 2017, Traveller activist Katie O'Donoghue and the Lord Mayor of Cork planted a hawthorn tree (a native species in Ireland that symbolises love and protection) to mark the year that the Irish state began recognising Travellers as an ethnic group with a unique and valuable heritage, language, identity, and culture (Cork Travellers’ Women's Network and Traveller Visibility Group, 2021: information brochure, Traveller Pride Trail Cork).

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Katie O'Donoghue was a trailblazing Traveller woman who, until her death in 2020, was a rock of wisdom and support to the two Traveller organisations here in Cork. She was a founding member of Cork Travellers’ Women’s Network and campaigned for Traveller cultural and human rights for over 40 years (see Cork Travellers’ Women's Network and Traveller Visibility Group, 2021: information brochure, Traveller Pride Trail Cork; and  Irish Traveller Movement and Traveller Women’s Forum, 2013). Some of her children continue to be involved in Traveller rights. Network members of Traveller Visibility Group and family members shared the following about Katie: 

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Katie was a very inspiring woman. She always encouraged us to stand up for who we are and what we are and to never forget where we come from. (N. Cash, personal communication, 8 March 2024). 

She was one of the Traveller women of her time who could read and write which was vital in her supporting other women. She actually taught herself how to read, it wasn’t like she got this massive education. Travellers in Katie’s time would have only attended school for religious sacraments. She inspired other Traveller women to want to be able to read. This was the start of a very long journey around activism. I think Katie’s role within the community wasn’t just as a Traveller activist, she was like a matriarch to the women that surrounded her. She never forgot her cultural roots and fought very hard to hold on to them as long as she could (B. O’Donoghue, personal communication, 8 March 2024)