My name is Mary Teresa Hutchinson. Everybody calls me Mary. I am a settled member of the Travelling Community. I was born on the 19th of December in 1960 into a Travelling family who lived on the roadsides in North Tipperary, travelling between Roscrea and Thurles. Because we were travelling I got very little education, so I cannot read or write. On the 24th of May in 1977 I married Patrick (Paddy) Hutchinson, who is a member of a large Traveller family, whose roots over several generation are around Roscrea. Together we have reared eight children. Our early family life was on the roadside between Birr and Five Alley. When the Birr Traveller and Settled People’s Group was set up 30 years ago I became an active member along with other members of the Hutchinson, Doyle, McDonagh and Tuohy families. When the first Halting Site for Travellers was built in Birr on the Roscrea Road we were given a bay and we stayed there for two years. Then because Paddy was a qualified car mechanic we were able to buy our own house in Crinkle and we have lived there ever since.
These days I care for three members of my family, my husband, one son and one grandson. Both my son and my grandson were born with chronic conditions and Travelling was very difficult for health and hygiene reasons.
When members of the Travellers in Ireland did so well in Boxing in the Olympic Games in London I thought it would be a good idea to have a Boxing Club in Birr. Birr Traveller and Settled People’s Group supported me and with help from members of the Settled Community a Boxing Club in Birr was started in 2014. It has been very successful, except for during COVID-19. I am a woman member of the Group of ‘Three Wise People’ who are there to assist the Boxing Club if any disagreement should break out among the members of the Club. I am also a Traveller member of an Inter-agency group established by the Offaly Local Traveller Accommodation Advisory Committee of Offaly County Council. In 2022 I became a Director of Birr 20|20 Vision as a Traveller representative.
