The following research focuses on the Ardnacassa Area of Longford, a community that has frequently in the past made headlines for negative reasons, including reports of antisocial behaviour, high levels of criminality, deep-rooted social issues, and tragic loss. The area faces significant challenges such as low literacy, early school leavers, unemployment, domestic violence and high levels of addictions and poverty, all having a toll and impact on the wellbeing of diverse vulnerable families living in fear and isolation within the area. This qualitative study explores the ways Women’s Community Education (WCE) programmes can support critical dialogue by centring the often-overlooked voices of marginalised communities. Empowering the voices of both Traveller and non-Traveller participants, through the delivery of an outreach creative focus groups and individual semi-structured interviews, offering a rich and grounded account of lived experiences, cultural perspectives, and community-driven insights on planning of community spaces. The study highlights how WCE bridges the personal and the political by sharing stories, building relationships, fostering understanding, and co-creating inclusive, community-based learning spaces. It identifies the structural barriers facing women and their families, it promotes a gender balanced regeneration, advances social inclusion and above all leads collective action, encouraging collaborating partnerships among local community services for the common good. By sharing my life journey, this research offers the reader a sense of where my curiosity lies, in my personal observation from a young age to date, of an absence of the Traveller Community from local conversations and in my desire to understand this more deeply. The image of an empty chair at the table serves as a powerful image of absence, the passing of Charlie, a young Traveller child from the Ardnacassa community and as a symbol of broader exclusions often experienced by marginalised communities. This shared grief is both personal and political, forming the emotional starting point of this thesis. Speaking from the hearth in this study, I aim to slow down, truly listen and to build trust.