Contentious Spaces

Explore belonging, creativity & public space through Traveller perspectives and experiences, asking what it means for a place to be genuine.

Developed in collaboration with Pavee Point Traveller & Roma Centre, this gathering explores belonging, creativity and public space through Traveller perspectives and experiences, asking what it means for a place to be genuinely shared.

Speakers include:

Thomas McCarthy, Leanne McDonagh, Joanna Corcoran, and Dr Rosaleen McDonagh. Moderated by Kathleen Lawrence, with an introduction from Martin Collins (Co-Director of Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre).

Speaker Biographies:

Kathleen Lawrence is a graduate in Sociology and Law from Maynooth University and now works as a primary school teacher. Kathleen took part in the prestigious Washington Ireland Programme as a student and worked on Capitol Hill. She has worked with Rosaleen McDonagh - reading Rosaleen's writings for radio and other. Kathleen has been a part of Traveller activism over many years and has worked with Pavee Point in a variety of positions including health and gender equality.

Thomas McCarthy is originally from Birr in Co Offaly and is a well known singer and winner of the TG4 Gradam Award in 2019. He learnt many of his songs from his mother, Mary McCarthy. Thomas’ music career has taken him all over the world. Thomas worked with documentary maker Pat Collins on two films Songs of the Open Road (2022) and Songlines (2024). Songlines is based on a song collecting project with the Travelling community in conjunction with the Irish Traditional Music Archive. Thomas now lives in Dublin and London.

Leanne McDonagh is a visual artist who graduated from the Crawford College of Art and Design. Leanne’s work has featured in a variety of group shows in galleries such as The Glucksman, Cork, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin and The Hugh Lane, Dublin. She has also had solo shows at the Sirius Arts Centre and her current show 'Community and Connection' is on at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre in Skibbereen and will travel to Limerick City Gallery. She has also won awards for her illustrations of the Oein de Bharduin book ‘Why the Moon Travels’.

Joanna Corcoran is a member of the Traveller community who has worked with Galway Traveller Movement (GTM) for over 15 years now. Joanna has been an active committee member of Misleór Festival of Nomadic Cultures since the very beginning. Misleór, which means ‘wanderer’ in the Irish Traveller language Cant (aka Gammon) is an annual festival , organised by GTM, that celebrates and connects nomadic peoples from around the world, exploring nomadic identity through the lens of creativity and cultural action for change.

Rosaleen McDonagh is an acclaimed writer, playwright, performer and a member of Aosdána. Her debut novel 'Contentious Spaces', published this year by Skein Press, gives its name to this gathering.  Her plays include The Baby Doll Project, She’s Not Mine, Rings, The Prettiest Proud Boy and Mainstream. Her most recent commissions were Walls and Windows, followed by Backbone for the Abbey Theatre and Context for Pavee Point, which loosely documents the forty-year history of Pavee Point. She is part of the Navigator Series by Fishamble for 2026. She is  also the author of Unsettled (Skein Press, 2021.  Rosaleen holds a BA, two MPhils from Trinity College Dublin and a PhD from Northumbria University. She was reappointed a Human Rights Commissioner in June 2025 and is a member of the Arts Council of Ireland.