‘I got 550 points in my Leaving Cert. I’ve always had this feeling that I had a purpose in life’

This article is part of a series curated by students and recent graduates from colleges and universities in Ireland
I was the only Irish Traveller in my primary school in rural Roscommon and I knew I was a tiny bit different from everyone else. The first time I realised this for sure was when I made my First Holy Communion. My community has a tradition of big Communion dresses. I also had a Hummer on the day. Nobody else in my class had a Hummer.
I grew up with a lot of barriers in my life but I’ve used them as motivation. I got 550 points in my Leaving Cert and was the first member of my family to go to third-level education. I’m 19 and have just started second year in college, studying law at University of Galway. My grandmother was married at 15, and my mother got married at 17. They didn’t have the same opportunities I have now. My grandmother always urged me to concentrate on education and said it would lead to a better life.
What I love about my culture is that family is so important. My grandparents, who have been married for 55 years, were like a second set of parents. My mother lived in a trailer but had moved into a house with my father, who was from the settled community, by the time I was born. I grew up as an only child until my sister Tulisha was born when I was 10.
Life growing up was difficult. There was domestic abuse. Because of the situation at home, school always felt like a safe space. I was the kind of child who couldn’t wait for holidays to be over so I could get back to school. I think because of everything I experienced growing up, I knew I’d need a backup plan, and that was education. I’ve just always had this feeling that I have a purpose in life and that feeling has driven me forward.
Another reason I was so driven was because of a health scare as a child. At the age of nine I started suffering with migraines. It turned out I had a tumour growing on the left side of my skull bone. I had open biopsy surgery to have the tumour removed in Beaumont Hospital. After the surgery I was diagnosed with fibrous dysplasia; it’s a disease that weakens all the bones in the body. When my surgeon was doing my operation he asked me if I had any questions and I said, “when can I get back to karate?” I’ve been going to karate since the age of four, I have a black belt. The sport has got me through so many tough times. In my teenage years I had mental health struggles because I’d spent so much of my childhood in fight-or-flight mode. Thankfully, when all that deep trauma came up, I got help from Pieta House.
I’m proud to be Irish. That pride is one of the things I love about being from this country. The first time I experienced it was when Katie Taylor won Olympic gold. I loved seeing the whole country so excited for her, celebrating that success. I like the everyday things about being Irish. The chats I had with older people in my village as a child. A big plate of bacon and cabbage. The way my nanny would still do the tea in the old-fashioned way. She puts all the tea bags into a huge pot and sets it down to draw on the range. It makes me smile. You could be waiting 20 minutes or half an hour for a cup of tea but it’s a very nice cup of tea when you get it.
What I don’t like about Ireland is the discrimination. Whether it’s against women or immigrants or people of colour or people like me from the Traveller community. I got a lot of encouragement at school from teachers and friends but there were some of my peers who called me a k****er. The sad thing is that we’re all tarnished with the one brush, like if one Traveller breaks the law, the whole community is blamed. That’s unfair. There are plenty of settled people that do bad things but the whole settled community is not judged or stigmatised. And that’s as it should be because we’re all individuals.
[ ‘It means a lot to me’: Traveller who brought primary healthcare to her community to be honouredOpens in new window ]
I do think things have improved in the last decade. Having Eileen Flynn in the Seanad and public figures such as Martin Beanz Ward helps a lot. The community is branching out too. Fifteen years ago you would have had very few Irish Travellers openly being part of the LGBTQI community. Also, the number of allies is increasing. When my friend Emma Ward and I launched our podcast with Spun Out, Mincéirs: Paving the Way, about the Traveller experience we got just as much support from the settled community as we did from our fellow Travellers. That’s one example of progress.
I’m an ambitious person. I’ve always got stuck into extracurricular activities. I’m curious about the world, about everything from climate change to the legal system – eventually I’d like to work in family law. I’m also dipping my toes into politics. The plan is to put my name down in the local elections for 2028, campaigning on issues such as mental health, Traveller and women’s rights.
We don’t live in a fair society. Some people have to work much harder than others to overcome the circumstances they are born into. I want to break that cycle. I know that with hard work and dedication I can have a fulfilling and successful future. I’m a domestic abuse survivor, someone with mental health struggles, a woman from an ethnic minority but I don’t want to be defined by labels. At the end of the day I am Latisha. I’m going to make sure I reach the places I want to go in life. Hopefully, along the way, I can help make Ireland a better place for everybody.
In conversation with Róisín Ingle. This conversation, part of a series, was edited for clarity and length. Listen to Latisha McCrudden’s podcast Mincéirs: Paving the Way, co-hosted with Emma Ward, via spunout.ie