'An emotional rollercoaster' - Limerick Traveller woman after graduating from UL

Graduating from university is a massive standalone achievement for any person, but when 13 women from the Travelling community graduated from University of limerick, it made headlines across Ireland.

The 13 women made history when they graduated with degrees, and Margaret O'Brien was one of those inspirational women.

As well as media attention, this huge milestone for the University of Limerick and Travelling community sparked major interest from many other women of the Travelling community who found inspiration and the desire to go into education as a result.

In an exclusive interview, Margaret O'Brien shared her journey of being a Traveller woman in Limerick and graduating this week with a diploma in Psychology.

Margaret decided to go back to education when she was 44-years-old as a single parent to two young children, and described it as "an emotional rollercoaster to say the least."

"As a member of the Traveller community, education wasn't really a priority for me or our community at the time, and I didn't have the opportunity to go to college at an earlier age.

"So as a mature student, I decided that I wanted to go back and pursue my career and to get education."

One of the main motivational factors for Margaret was because it is very empowering to graduate from university as a Traveller woman, and also to clear the pathways for other Travellers to follow suit behind her.

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One of the main barriers for Margaret was her own self-doubt and worry, being a mature student and single mother of two children.

"I was kind of thinking, geez, at this age in my life, what am I doing, am I mad....and I was asking myself will I be able for it?

"It was very challenging because my kids were young, trying to juggle everything...it was an emotional rollercoaster to say the least, because, like I said, I was a single mother, I was working, I had kids.

"There were points throughout it, I was kind of questioning myself, saying 'am I able for this, can I keep going?' so I think it's very, very important to have somebody there in your corner to kind of give you that emotional support.

"I was able to link in with the Traveller care coordinator, Edel O'Donnell, and she was brilliant support to me throughout my whole educational journey. I'm very grateful for her.

"She was with me every step of the way and was extremely supportive and fully understanding of the Traveller community and the barriers that came with that."

Margaret is now doing a Masters in sociology and community development, youth and regeneration in UL at the moment and wants to also get a PHD after that.

She is also one of the co-founders of Limerick Traveller Network and she said that the organisation has seen a spike in interest since the 13 Traveller woman graduated from UL.

"There's been a huge interest and a lot of people contacting the network, asking could they go back to college and how would they go about it and what qualifications would they need. It's really ignited a whole new passion and desire within the community.

"Especially when they could see that 13 Traveller women all together graduated...they were all middle-aged women, some were grandmothers, some were mothers, so I suppose they can see that they can juggle their life with committing to education, and they can see the importance of it."

Some of the women are now working in the community.

Margaret said: "It's just proof that education does pay off and it does change lives for the better, and it gives women that additional empowerment and independence."