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Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (
Shelta Shelta (; Irish: ''Seiltis'') is a language spoken by Rilantu Mincéirí (Irish Travellers), particularly in Ireland and the United Kingdom.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press ...
: Mincéirí), are a traditionally
peripatetic Peripatetic may refer to: *Peripatetic school The Peripatetic school was a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece. Its teachings derived from its founder, Aristotle (384–322 BC), and ''peripatetic'' is an adjective ascribed to his followers. ...
indigenous ethno-cultural group in Ireland.''Questioning Gypsy identity: ethnic narratives in Britain and America'' by Brian Belton They are predominantly English-speaking, though many also speak
Shelta Shelta (; Irish: ''Seiltis'') is a language spoken by Rilantu Mincéirí (Irish Travellers), particularly in Ireland and the United Kingdom.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press ...
, a language of mixed
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
and Irish origin. The majority of Irish Travellers are
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
, the predominant religion in the Republic of Ireland. They are one of several groups identified as " Travellers", a closely related group being the Scottish Travellers. They are often incorrectly referred to as " Gypsies", but Irish Travellers are not genetically related to the
Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
, who are of Indo-Aryan origin. Genetic analysis has shown Travellers to be of Irish extraction, and that they likely diverged from the settled Irish population in the 1600s, likely during the time of the
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland w ...
. Centuries of cultural isolation have led Travellers to become genetically distinct from the settled Irish. Traveller rights groups long advocated for ethnic status from the Irish government, succeeding in 2017. Irish Traveller communities can be found in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
. As of 2016, there are 32,302 Travellers within Ireland. They represent 0.7% of the total population of the Republic of Ireland. There are different estimates about the size of the total population of people with Traveller ancestry, because many people of Traveller descent do not declare themselves Travellers. The United Kingdom alone is believed to be home to up to 300,000 Traveller people.


Nomenclature

Travellers refer to themselves as Mincéirs or Mincéirí or ''Pavees'', or in Irish as ("the walking people").


Origins

There are numerous theories and oral histories surrounding the origins of Irish Travellers as a distinct group. Research has been complicated by the fact that the group appears to have no written records of its own, with
oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and Culture, cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Traditio ...
through storytelling being the primary method through which the Traveller community disseminates its own history and culture. Deeper documentation of Shelta and the Travellers dates to the 1830s, but knowledge of Irish Travellers has been seen from the 1100s, as well as the 1500s~1800s. Many decrees against begging in England were directed at Travellers, passed by King Edward VI around 1551; for example the "Acte for tynckers and pedlers". The culture of Irish Travellers resembles the culture of other itinerant communities with regard to self-employment; family networks; birth, marriage, and burial rituals; taboos; and folklore. They worked with metal and travelled throughout Ireland working at making items such as ornaments, jewellery, and horse harnesses to earn a living. As a result, they (along with other itinerant groups) were referred to as "
tinker Tinker or tinkerer is an archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils. Description ''Tinker'' for metal-worker is attested from the thirteenth century as ''tyckner'' or ''tinkler''. Some travelling groups and Romani p ...
s" or "tinklers" (meaning " tin smiths"), terms regarded in later years as derogatory.


Origin theories

Many different theories have been put forward to explain the origins of Ireland's itinerant population. It has been suggested Travellers are related to
Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
due to a similarly itinerant lifestyle, but genetic testing has shown no evidence for a recent ancestral component between Irish Travellers and Romani Travellers. Another theory is of a pre-Gaelic origin, where Travellers are descended from a community that lived in Ireland prior to the arrival of the Celts. Once Ireland was claimed as a
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...
homeland, this group was seen as lower class. There is also a theory that an indigenous, itinerant community of craftsmen are the ancestors of Travellers, and unlike the Celts, they never settled down. Other speculations on their origin are that they were descended from those Irish who were made homeless during the Cromwellian conquest in the 1650s, or made homeless in either the 1741 or the 1840s famine, or due to eviction. According to Helleiner (2003), current scholarship is investigating the background of
Gaelic Ireland Gaelic Ireland ( ga, Éire Ghaelach) was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the late prehistoric era until the early 17th century. It comprised the whole island before Anglo-Normans c ...
before the English Tudor conquest. The mobile nature and traditions of a Gaelic society based on
pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands ( pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The anim ...
rather than land tenure before this event implies that Travellers represent descendants of the Gaelic social order marginalised during the change-over to an English landholding society. An early example of this mobile element in the population, and how displacement of clans can lead to increased nomadism within aristocratic warrior societies, is the displacement of the Clan Murtough O'Connors after the
Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the C ...
.


Population genetics

Genetic evidence reported in 2000 regarding Irish Travellers supported Irish ancestry; several distinct subpopulations; and the distinctiveness of the midland counties due to Viking influence. In 2011, researchers at the
Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...
in Dublin and the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...
analysed DNA samples from 40 Travellers. The study provided evidence that Irish Travellers are a genetically distinct Irish ethnic minority which has been distinct from the settled Irish community for at least 1,000 years: The report claimed that Travellers are as distinct from the settled community as
Icelanders Icelanders ( is, Íslendingar) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation who are native to the island country of Iceland and speak Icelandic. Icelanders established the country of Iceland in mid 930 AD when the Althing (Parliament) met f ...
are from
Norwegians Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic peoples, North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians a ...
. In 2017 a further genetic study using profiles of 50 Irish Travellers, 143 European Roma, 2,232 settled Irish, 2,039 British and 6,255 European or worldwide individuals, confirmed ancestral origins from within the general population of Ireland. An estimated time of divergence between the settled population and Travellers was set at a minimum of 8 generations ago, with generations at 30 years, hence 240 years and a maximum of 14 generations or 420 years ago. The best fit was estimated at 360 years ago, giving an approximate date in the 1650s. Irish Travellers are not an entirely homogeneous group, instead reflecting some of the variation also seen in the settled population. Four distinct genetic clusters were identified in the 2017 study, and these match social groupings within the community. Irish Travellers, particularly those that experienced a life of nomadism prior to the 2002 Irish legislation that altered living conditions, exhibit distinct gut microbiota compared to other Irish citizens, which is comparable to gut microbiomes observed in non-industrialized societies.


Genetic disease studies

Genetic studies by Miriam Murphy, David Croke, and other researchers identified certain genetic diseases such as galactosemia that are more common in the Irish Traveller population, involving identifiable
allelic An allele (, ; ; modern formation from Greek ἄλλος ''állos'', "other") is a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at the same place on a long DNA molecule, as described in leading textbooks on genetics and evolution. ::"The chrom ...
mutations that are rarer among the rest of the community. Two main hypotheses have arisen, speculating whether: * the prevalence resulted from marriages made largely within and among the Traveller community, or * suggesting shared descent from an original Irish carrier long ago with ancestors unrelated to the rest of the Irish population. In their conclusion Murphy, McHugh, ''et al'' write that: :The fact that Q188R is the sole mutant allele among the Travellers as compared to the non-Traveller group may be the result of a
founder effect In population genetics, the founder effect is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population. It was first fully outlined by Ernst Mayr in 1942, us ...
in the isolation of a small group of the Irish population from their peers as founders of the Traveller sub-population. This would favour the second, endogenous, hypothesis of Traveller origins." More specifically, they found that Q188R was found in 100% of Traveller samples, and in 89% of other Irish samples, indicating that the Traveller group was typical of the larger Irish population.


Language

Irish Travellers speak English and sometimes one of two dialects of
Shelta Shelta (; Irish: ''Seiltis'') is a language spoken by Rilantu Mincéirí (Irish Travellers), particularly in Ireland and the United Kingdom.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press ...
—Gammon (or Gamin) and Irish Traveller
Cant Cant, CANT, canting, or canted may refer to: Language * Cant (language), a secret language * Beurla Reagaird, a language of the Scottish Highland Travellers * Scottish Cant, a language of the Scottish Lowland Travellers * Shelta or the Cant, a la ...
. Shelta has been dated back to the 18th century but may be older. Cant, which derives from Irish, is a combination of English and Shelta. writes that the Irish Traveller Gammon
vocabulary A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the ...
is derived from pre-13th-century Gaelic
idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language ...
s with ten per cent Indian origin
Romani language Romani (; also Romany, Romanes , Roma; rom, rromani ćhib, links=no) is an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities. According to '' Ethnologue'', seven varieties of Romani are divergent enough to be considered languages of their ...
vocabulary. Since Shelta is a mixture of English and Irish grammar, the etymology is not straightforward. The language is made up mostly of Irish lexicon, being classified as a grammar-lexicon language with the grammar being English-based. Gaelic language expert Kuno Meyer and Romani language linguist John Sampson both asserted that Shelta existed as far back as the 13th century, 300 years before the first Romani populations arrived in Ireland or Britain. Shelta is a cryptolect (secret language). Irish Travellers do not like to share the language with outsiders, named "Buffers", or non-Travellers. When speaking Shelta in front of Buffers, Travellers will disguise the structure so as to make it seem like they are not speaking Shelta at all. There is fear that if outsiders know the entirety of the language, it will be used to bring further discrimination to the Traveller community.


The Irish state and Irish Travellers

There was no specific state focus on Travellers prior to the creation of an independent Irish state in 1922. Issues with traditionally travelling groups came under loosely defined vagrancy laws, from when Ireland was part of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
. In 1959 the 1959–1963 government of Ireland established a "Commission on Itinerancy" in response to calls to deal with the "itinerant problem". This was made up of senior representatives of the Irish state, judges, Gardaí (Irish police), religious organisations and numerous farming lobby groups such as
Macra na Feirme Macra na Feirme (; officially meaning "Stalwarts of the land") is an Irish voluntary rural youth organisation. The organisation provides a social outlet for members in sport, travel, public speaking, performing arts, community involvement and ag ...
. The commission had no Traveller representatives, and while attempts were made to consult Travellers, these were "bizarre" unannounced visits which resulted in little input into the report. The commission had the following terms of reference:
  1. to enquire into the problem arising from the presence in the country of itinerants in considerable numbers;
  2. to examine the economic, educational, health and social problems inherent in their way of life;
  3. to consider what steps might be taken—
    1. to provide opportunities for a better way of life for itinerants,
    2. to promote their absorption into the general community,
    3. pending such absorption, to reduce to a minimum the disadvantages to themselves and to the community resulting from their itinerant habits and
    4. to improve the position generally; and
  4. to make recommendations.
The commission's 1963 report defined "itinerant" as "a person who had no fixed place of abode and habitually wandered from place to place, but excluding travelling show-people and travelling entertainers". It recommended
assimilation Assimilation may refer to: Culture * Cultural assimilation, the process whereby a minority group gradually adapts to the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture and customs ** Language shift, also known as language assimilation, the prog ...
of Travellers by settling them in fixed dwellings with the ultimate aim being that of essentially ending Traveller identity, viewing the Netherlands' approach to its travelling minority as a model. This assimilation was to be achieved by the effective criminalisation of nomadism, and the report paved the way for an increasing state emphasis on criminal laws and penalties for trespass. At the time, about 60% of Irish Travellers lived in barrel-roofed horse-drawn wagons, with almost 40% still using tents in summer (fewer in winter). The Travelling People Review Body (1981–1983) advocated integration rather than assimilation, with provision for serviced halting sites. The Body's membership included Travellers. The Task Force on the Travelling Community (1993–1995) moved to an
intercultural Cross-cultural communication is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures. Intercultural communi ...
paradigm. On 30 May 2019 the
Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais): ** Dáil Éireann ...
(Irish parliament) established a joint committee "on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community". In May 2021, the Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, published a report that was highly critical of the standards of accommodation provided for Travellers, describing some accommodation issues as "deplorable".


Population

Irish Travellers have a higher
fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were ...
than the general Irish population; the Central Statistics Office of Ireland recorded in 2016 that 44.5% of Traveller women aged 40–49 had 5 or more children, compared to 4.2% of women overall in this age group. This gap has dramatically reduced over time; in 1987 the Irish Traveller birth rate was at 5.3 children per woman compared to the general Irish population's 2.3, while in 2008 the Irish Traveller birth rate was at 2.9 children per woman compared to the general Irish population's 2.1.


Ireland

The 2016 census in the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...
reported the number of Irish Travellers as 30,987, up from 29,495 in 2011. In 2006 the number was 22,369. A further 1,700 to 2,000 were estimated to live in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
. From the 2006 Irish census it was determined that 20,975 dwell in urban areas and 1,460 were living in rural areas. With an overall population of just 0.5% some areas were found to have a higher proportion, with high Traveller concentrations in Clare, Dublin, Galway and Limerick. There were found to be 9,301 Travellers in the 0–14 age range, comprising 41.5% of the Traveller population, and a further 3,406 of them were in the 15–24 age range, comprising 15.2%. Children of age range 0–17 comprised 48.7% of the Traveller population. Following the findings of the All Ireland Traveller Health Study (estimates for 2008), the figure for Northern Ireland was revised to 3,905 and that for the Republic to 36,224.


Diaspora


United Kingdom

In 2011, for the first time, the census category "Irish Traveller" was introduced as part of the broader Gypsy/Traveller section. The self reported figure for collective Gypsy/Traveller populations were 63,193 but estimates of Irish Travellers living in Great Britain range are about 15,000 as part of a total estimation of over 300,000 Romani and other Traveller groups in the UK. The
London Boroughs The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at t ...
of Harrow and Brent contain significant Irish Traveller populations. In addition to those on various official sites there are a number who are settled in local authority housing. These are mostly women who wish their children to have a chance at a formal education. They and the children may or may not travel in the summer but remain in close contact with the wider Irish Traveller community. There are also a number of Irish Traveller communities in the
Home counties The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often included ...
.


United States

An estimated 10,000 people in the United States are descendants of Travellers who left Ireland, mostly between 1845 and 1860 during the Great Famine. However, there are no official population figures regarding Irish Travellers in the United States as the US census does not recognise them as an ethnic group. While some sources estimate their population in the US to be 10,000, others suggest their population is 40,000. According to research published in 1992, Irish Travellers in the US divide themselves up into groups that are based on historical residence: Ohio Travellers, Georgia Travellers, Texas Travellers, and Mississippi Travellers. The Georgia Travellers' camp is made up of about eight hundred families, the Mississippi Travellers, about three hundred families, and the Texas Travellers, under fifty families." The largest and most affluent population of about 2,500 lives in Murphy Village, outside of the town of North Augusta, South Carolina. Other communities exist in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...
,
Hernando, Mississippi Hernando is a city in, and the county seat of, DeSoto County, which is on the northwestern border of Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,090 at the 2010 census, up from 6,812 in 2000. DeSoto County is the second-most-populous count ...
, and near White Settlement, Texas, where the families stay in their homes during the winter, and leave during the summer, while smaller enclaves can be found across Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Irish Travellers in the US are said to speak English and Shelta, a form of Cant. The Cant spoken in the US is similar to the Cant spoken in Ireland, but differs in some respects in that the language has transformed into a type of
pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...
English over the generations. They typically work in asphalting, spray-painting, laying linoleum, or as itinerant workers to earn their living.


Religion

Travellers have a distinctive approach to
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
; the vast majority of them are practising
Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and they also pay particular attention to issues of
healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells ...
. They have been known to follow a strict code of behaviour that dictates some of their moral beliefs and influences their actions.


Education

In 2004, it was reported that Traveller children often grow up outside educational systems.''Social work and Irish people in Britain: historical and contemporary responses to Irish children and families'' by Paul Michael Garrett (2004). doi:10.2307/j.ctt1t8935r Traveller children were reported in 2017 to leave education at a younger age than children in the settled community, with 28% leaving the education system by age 13. One of the causes identified is the historical marginalisation of the community within the educational system. The segregation of Traveller children from their settled peers led to worse outcomes in regards to undertaking state examinations, and levels of numeracy and literacy. The
Irish Traveller Movement The Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) is a national organisation for members of the Travelling community and Traveller organisations in Ireland. History The Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) was founded in 1990 and incorporated in 1998, with Catheri ...
, a community advocacy group, promotes equal access to education for Traveller children. In the Census of Ireland 2016, 167 Travellers are enumerated as having a third level educational qualification, a rise from 89 in 2011. In December 2010, the Irish Equality Tribunal ruled in favour of a Traveller child in an anti-discrimination suit which covered the admission practices of CBS High School Clonmel in
County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after ...
. In July 2011, the secondary school in Clonmel successfully appealed the decision of the Equality Tribunal that its admission criteria were indirectly discriminatory against children from the Traveller community.


Sports

Irish Travellers have a long history of bare-knuckle boxing. Toughness and the ability to fight are viewed as particularly important among Traveller men, and their involvement in boxing has extended to traditional
amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...
and
professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
. Irish Traveller
Francie Barrett Francis Barrett (born 7 February 1977), commonly known as Francie Barrett, is a retired Irish professional boxer, who represented Ireland at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Background He was introduced to boxing by trainer, mento ...
represented Ireland at the 1996 Olympics, while Andy Lee fought for Ireland at the 2004 Olympics and later became the first Traveller to win a professional boxing world championship when he won the WBO middleweight title in 2014.
Tyson Fury Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title since defeating Deontay Wilder in 2020, and '' The Ring'' magazine title from 2020 to August 202 ...
is of Irish Traveller heritage and defeated long-reigning
Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in uk, label=Ukrainian is, Володимир Володимирович Кличко, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko, . ( uk, Володимир Вол ...
in 2015 to become the unified heavyweight world champion. In the Traveller community, bare-knuckle boxing is seen as a way to resolve disputes and uphold family honour, as shown in the 2011 documentary ''
Knuckle The knuckles are the joints of the fingers. The word is cognate to similar words in other Germanic languages, such as the Dutch "knokkel" (knuckle) or German "Knöchel" (ankle), i.e., ''Knöchlein'', the diminutive of the German word for bone ( ...
''. This can lead to injuries, notably "fight bite" where, when punching an opponent, a tooth may cut the hand and bacteria in the opponent's mouth may infect the wound. Such infections can lead to permanent disability if left untreated. Apart from boxing, Irish Travellers, including women, are involved in sports such as football (soccer) and
Gaelic handball Gaelic handball (known in Ireland simply as handball; ga, liathróid láimhe) is a sport where players hit a ball with a hand or fist against a wall in such a way as to make a shot the opposition cannot return, and that may be played with two ( ...
.


Health

The health of Irish Travellers is significantly poorer than that of the general population in Ireland. This is evidenced in a 2007 report published in Ireland, which states that over half of Travellers do not live past the age of 39 years. (By comparison, median life expectancy in Ireland is 81.5 years.) Another government report of 1987 found:
From birth to old age, they have high mortality rates, particularly from accidents,
metabolic Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...
and congenital problems, but also from other major causes of death. Female Travellers have especially high mortality compared to settled women.
In 2007, the Department of Health and Children in the Republic of Ireland, in conjunction with the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland, commissioned the
University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...
's School of Public Health and Population Science to conduct a major cross-border study of Travellers' welfare. The study, including a detailed census of Traveller population and an examination of their health status, was expected to take up to three years to complete. The main results of the study were published in 2010. The
birth rate The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
of Irish Travellers has decreased since the 1990s, but they still have one of the highest birth rates in Europe. The birth rate for the Traveller community for the year 2005 was 33.32 per 1,000, possibly the highest birth rate recorded for any community in Europe. On average there are ten times more driving fatalities within the Traveller community. At 22%, this represents the most common cause of death among Traveller males. Some 10% of Traveller children die before their second birthday, compared to just 1% of the general population. In Ireland, 2.6% of all deaths in the total population were for people aged under 25, versus 32% for the Travellers. In addition, 80% of Travellers die before the age of 65. According to the National Traveller Suicide Awareness Project, Traveller men are over six times more likely to kill themselves than the general population.


Marriage

Marriage among Travellers in their late teens is common. As of the Census of Ireland 2016 58.1% of Irish Travellers were under the age of 25, with 31.9% of this age group married. As of 2016, 201 enumerated Irish Travellers aged 15 to 19 identified themselves as married, down from 250 in 2011. Irish Travellers generally marry other Irish Travellers. Consanguineous marriage is common among Irish Travellers. According to
Judith Okely Judith Melita Okely (born 1941) is a British anthropologist who is best known for her ethnographic work with the traveller gypsies of England. She is an Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Hull and Research Affiliate of the S ...
's work on Travellers in Britain in the 1970s, "there is no large time span between puberty and marriage", and the typical marriage age was 16–17 for females and 18–19 for males. Irish Travellers lived as cohabiters who "married at one time without religious or civil ceremony." Into the early 20th century about one-third of Irish Travellers were "married according to the law." According to Christopher Griffin, sociology and anthropology lecturer at
Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Australian university named after a woman. Gaining unive ...
, arranged Irish Traveller marriages in the early-21st century "safeguard the girl's by securing a man who won't mistreat her." According to Julie Bindel, in '' Standpoint'', some Irish Traveller females in the UK are forced into marriages, but Bindel points out that data is difficult to obtain because "the line between an arranged marriage and a forced one is not always clear."


Social conflict and controversies


Discrimination and prejudice

Travellers are often reported as the subject of explicit political and cultural discrimination, with politicians being elected on promises to block Traveller housing in local communities and individuals frequently refused service in pubs, shops and hotels. A 2011 survey by the Economic and Social Research Institute of Ireland concluded that there is widespread ostracism of Travellers in Ireland, and the report concluded that it could hurt the long-term prospects for Travellers, who "need the intercultural solidarity of their neighbours in the settled community. ... They are too small a minority, i.e., 0.5 per cent, to survive in a meaningful manner without ongoing and supportive personal contact with their fellow citizens in the settled community." The general prejudice against Travellers hinders efforts by the central government to integrate Travellers into Irish society. Because Travellers are a minority group within Ireland and the United Kingdom, they have always faced discrimination on the basis of their ethnicity as Travellers. They experience discrimination in not having equal access to education, being denied service in pubs, shops, and hotels, and being subject to derogatory language. In 2016, the USA's
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are annual publications on the human rights conditions in countries and regions outside the United States, mandated by U.S. law to be submitted annually by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor ...
for the United Kingdom stated that Irish Travellers reported receiving discrimination on "racial or ethnic grounds" in the country, and stated that the High Court had ruled that the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
had illegally discriminated against Travellers by unlawfully subjecting planning applications to special scrutiny.


Work and income

According to the 2016 Irish census, 4,524 of 9,055 Travellers over the age of 15 (50%) were "Unemployed having lost or given up previous job". While 10,653 Travellers were in the labour force, the vast majority, 8,541 (80.2%), were unemployed. Almost 1 in 8 Travellers (11.3%) stated that they were unable to work due to a disability, which was almost three times the rate of the general population (4.3%). Many Travellers are breeders of dogs such as
lurcher A lurcher is a cross-bred dog resulting from mating a Greyhound or other sighthound with a dog of another type, commonly a herding dog or a terrier. The lurcher was for hundreds of years strongly associated with poaching; in modern times it ...
s and have a long-standing interest in horse trading. The main fairs associated with them are held annually at Ballinasloe (County Galway), Puck Fair (County Kerry), Ballabuidhe Horse Fair (County Cork), the twice yearly Smithfield Horse Fair (Dublin inner city) and Appleby (England). They are often involved in dealing scrap metals, e.g., 60% of the raw material for Irish steel is sourced from scrap metal, approximately 50% (75,000 metric tonnes) segregated by the community at a value of more than £1.5 million. Such percentages for more valuable non-ferrous metals may be significantly greater. Since the majority of Irish Travellers' employment is either self-employment or
wage labour Wage labour (also wage labor in American English), usually referred to as paid work, paid employment, or paid labour, refers to the socioeconomics, socioeconomic relationship between a workforce, worker and an employment, employer in which the w ...
, income and financial status varies greatly from family to family. Many families choose not to reveal the specifics of their finances, but when explained it is very difficult to detect any sort of pattern or regular trend of monthly or weekly income. To detect their financial status many look to the state of the possessions: their trailer,
motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of people or cargo. The ...
, domestic utensils, and any other valuables.


Social identity

Irish Travellers are recognised in British and
Irish law Law of Ireland or Irish law may refer to: * Early Irish law (Brehon law) of Medieval Ireland * Alternative law in Ireland prior to 1921 * Law of the Republic of Ireland The law of Ireland consists of constitutional, statute, and common law. ...
as an
ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
. An ethnic group is defined as one whose members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry. Ethnic identity is also marked by the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness and by common cultural, linguistic, religious, behavioural or biological traits. The
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
Committee of Enquiry on Racism and
Xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
found them to be among the most discriminated-against
ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established fo ...
groups in Ireland and yet their status remains insecure in the absence of widespread legal endorsement.''Traveller, Nomadic and Migrant Education'' by Patrick Alan Danaher, Máirín Kenny & Judith Remy Leder Travellers are often viewed by settled people in a negative light, perceived as insular, anti-social, 'drop-outs' and 'misfits',"Divided society: ethnic minorities and racism in Northern Ireland" (''Contemporary Irish Studies'') by Paul Hainsworth (1999) or believed to be involved in criminal and
mendicant A mendicant (from la, mendicans, "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many inst ...
behaviour, or settling illegally on land owned by others.


Violence and crime

In 1960 a government body was set up to conduct research into the Travelling Community in the Republic of Ireland. The Commission on Itinerancy operated under the auspices of the Department of Justice, the persons were appointed by the Junior Minister Charles Haughey. One finding was: that "public brawling fuelled by excessive drinking further added to settled people's fear of Travellers". Furthermore "feuding was felt to be the result of a dearth of pastimes and filliteracy, historically comparable to features of rural Irish life before the Famine." A 2011 report, conducted by the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain, ''Voices Unheard: A Study of Irish Travellers in Prison'' (Mac Gabhann, 2011) found that social, economic and educational exclusion were contributing factors to the "increasingly high levels of imprisonment" of Irish Travellers.


Travellers' sites in the United Kingdom

The passing of the Caravan Sites Act 1968 safeguarded Travellers' right to a site, but the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 repealed part II of the 1968 act, removing the duty on local authorities in the UK to provide sites for Travellers and giving them the power to close down existing sites. In Northern Ireland, opposition to Travellers' sites has been led by the
Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
. However, Travellers make frequent use of other, non-authorised sites. These include public
common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has ...
and private plots such as large fields and other privately owned land. A famous example was the occupation of
Dale Farm Dale Farm is a plot of land situated on Oak Lane in Crays Hill, Essex, United Kingdom. Until October 2011, it was the site of one of the largest Traveller concentrations in the UK, at its height housing over 1,000 people, along with the adjace ...
in Essex in 2010. The Travellers claim that there is an under-provision of authorised sites. The Gypsy Council estimates an under-provision amounts to insufficient sites for 3,500 people.


List of Travellers' organisations

The following are some of the Travellers' representative organisations formed since the 1960s: * Cork Traveller Visibility Group Ltd. (founded early 1990s) * Friends, Families and Travellers * Irish Traveller Community (1960s) *
Irish Traveller Movement The Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) is a national organisation for members of the Travelling community and Traveller organisations in Ireland. History The Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) was founded in 1990 and incorporated in 1998, with Catheri ...
(founded in 1990) * Itinerant Settlement Committee (1960s–1980s) * Justice 4 All Women & Children (founded in 2015)

* Minceir Misli (1983–85) * Minceirs Whiden Ireland, the all-Traveller Forum (Minceirs Whiden is Cant for "Travellers talking") * National Traveller Women's Forum * The Traveller Movement * Travellers' Rights Committee (1981–83) * Travellers' Education and Development Group (founded in 1984) * Pavee Point (founded 1985)


Depictions and documentaries

Irish Travellers have been depicted, usually negatively but sometimes with some care and sympathy, in film, radio, print, and television. Shows like '' The Riches'' (2007–2008), the American television series featuring
Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...
and Minnie Driver, take a deeper look into the Traveller lifestyle. The documentary series ''
Big Fat Gypsy Weddings ''Big Fat Gypsy Weddings'' is a British documentary series broadcast on Channel 4, that explored the lives and traditions of several British Traveller families as they prepared to unite one of their members in marriage. The series also feature ...
'' (2010, 2011, and 2012) has been commercially successful in the United Kingdom, offering glimpses of Traveller life as viewed at real-life weddings. A 1997 American film, ''
Traveller Traveler(s), traveller(s), The Traveler(s), or The Traveller(s) may refer to: People Generic terms *One engaged in travel * Explorer, one who searches for the purpose of discovery of information or resources * Nomad, a member of a community wit ...
'', starring Bill Paxton and
Mark Wahlberg Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, businessman, and former rapper. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Mark Wahlberg, multiple accolades, including a B ...
, also explored the Travellers in America. In his 1993 documentary "Rules of the Road" German filmmaker Oliver Herbrich portrayed the Travellers in Ireland and the UK as a nomadic ethnic group forced to adapt to settled lifestyle.Press release documnetary film ''Rules of the Road, 1993''
Some of the main characters in the Irish sitcom, " Derry Girls," encounter a group of Travellers in an episode that aired on 19 March 2019.
Brad Pitt played the role o
Mickey O'Neil
a bare-knuckle boxer, in the movie Snatch.


See also

* Environmental inequality in Europe * Halting site *
King of the Travellers ''King of the Travellers'' is a 2012 Irish revenge drama written and directed by Mark O'Connor. Plot The story follows John Paul Moorehouse on his destructive quest to uncover the truth about the killer of his father twelve years ago. John Pa ...
; Similar groups: * Camminanti * Mercheros * Reisende/Skøyere *
Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic Itinerant groups in Europe, itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have Ro ...
* Romanichal Travellers * Scottish Travellers * Travelling Showmen *
Voyageurs The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including th ...
* Welsh Kale * Yenish Travellers


Explanatory notes


Citations


General and cited references

* * * * Collins, Laura Angela (2019) ''The Tinker Menace; the diary of an Irish Traveller'', independently published, * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * .


External links


Traveller Equality Project, Irish Chaplaincy in Britain

Traveller Heritage and Photo Site from Navan Travellers Workshops

Irish Travellers' Movement

Pavee Point Travellers Centre

Involve

Traveller and Roma Collection at the University of Limerick
* Oliver Herbrich
Rules of the Road
(film website)


London Gypsy and Travellers Unit, Representing Traveller's issues in North and East London

Friends, Families and Travellers. Advice and Information for Gypsies and Travellers

"Ireland's biggest minority group"

When is 'I do' taboo?

'The website of Cork Traveller Visibility Group Ltd'

'The Facebook page of Spring Lane Site Solidarity Group'

Office of the Children's Ombudsman report, ''"No End in Site - An investigation into the living conditions of children on a local authority halting site"''
{{Authority control 2001 United Kingdom census Ethnic groups in Ireland Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom Indigenous peoples of Europe Irish culture Irish diaspora Nomadic groups in Eurasia