[Rytwyng]

Some more info on Irish Travellers --

Irish Travellers

Apparently, they aren't Gypsies/Roma at all -- they are native Irish who became nomadic long ago.

[telltaleheart]

hmmm. Being from the Black Dutch (actually Black German, since the anglos in this country thought "deutsche" meant "dutch") nomads, I am leery of the negative stereotyping of the travellers. Some are tumbleweeds, some put down roots. Like in any ethnic group, some are opportunistic viruses, some are healing herbs.

[Lil'freeper]

How very interesting! These must have been for the nomads in some of Anne McCafferey's fiction (Pern).

[Aquinasfan]

Very interesting. My Welsh grandmother used to always say, "you little tinker" as in "you little rascal."

[Ghengis]

Apparently, they aren't Gypsies/Roma at all -- they are native Irish who became nomadic long ago.

I have a hard time believing this. I have had a bit of contact with both Gypsies and Travellers. Their languages have distinct similarities. The pictures on the link you provided show horse drawn wagons just like the Gypsy wagons of generations ago. Both Gypsies and Travellers also used to use tents with an almost identical hoop configuration as the wagons they used.

IMO, there is ample evidence that they have a common background that split many generations ago.