irish travellers and dogs

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What it is like inside a tightknit, reclusive community of Irish Travellers

Photographer Mary Turner has spent years documenting a tightknit, reclusive community of Irish Travellers. Fueled by curiosity about how they were living their lives, she continues to document them to this day. Turner recounted her experience working on the project to In Sight below.

On Oct. 19, 2011, the British government began the mass eviction of 86 families of Irish Traveller heritage from their homes on a former scrap yard known as Dale Farm in Southeast England. Although the Travellers owned the land, the surrounding community would not tolerate their presence, and after a long legal battle they were eventually refused government permission to stay. The result was the largest eviction in U.K. history.

On a bleak day in January 2009, I first approached the disputed site in Essex. The site had long been the subject of a land dispute between the Traveller families, the Sheridans, who were living on the converted scrap yard, and Basildon Council. As it was not far from where I grew up, I decided to go along and see if I could meet the families and perhaps come away with a few photographs.

Looking back, it was as ignominious a start as I could possibly have hoped to make. I parked my car at the end of the winding, potholed road to the site and walked nervously up to the first lane of trailers. I stood in the rain and looked around at row upon row of closed trailer doors, a small group of children playing with stones in a yard and an elderly man eyeballing me as I tried to look casually as though I belonged there. Within less than 10 minutes, I was retreating hastily to my car followed furiously by a pack of possessed dogs. By the time I got home, I had promised myself I was never going back to Dale Farm.

But I did go back. Again and again. And over the next few years, that scene was to become as familiar to me as my own home.

It was a long road getting to know the deeply private families at Dale Farm. With good reason, they are deeply mistrustful of the settled community, especially those carrying cameras or notebooks. So for months my camera lay untouched as I sat in their busy trailers drinking tea, reading letters for the largely illiterate community, helping to make doctor’s appointments and decoding complex eviction notices from the local council.

But somewhere along the line, I was fortunate enough to meet Barbara and Jean Sheridan, two extraordinary women who have allowed me to document their lives and that of their families as they grow up.

Gradually, as the weeks turned into months, the Dale Farm Travellers stopped being my subjects and became my friends, and the minutiae of their everyday lives lost its novelty and became part of the fabric of my own life. I will never be able to speak for them as a Traveller, but as our lives have become peculiarly entwined, I have taken part in and photographed their eviction, communions, weddings, hope, grief and happiness.

There have been countless moments that you could not make up — the day they tried to get me to buy a Shetland pony on the Internet, the day they did my makeup “Traveller style.” It has never been less than entertaining.

I have been witness to the gradual introduction of more regular schooling, cellphones and the use of the Internet and Facebook into the lives of a largely illiterate community. These things are beginning to change their lives forever.

Although the eviction of Dale Farm reached its peak over a period of a few months in 2011, it was in fact the culmination of years of legal argument and a long battle over the property. The first Irish Travellers had moved onto the site in the early 2000s when they bought the yards from its owner, Raymond Bocking, who was running a scrap yard on the site for the Basildon Council.

Within a short time, more Sheridan family members arrived, thinking they had found a place to stay with their family members. But the surrounding settled community was becoming increasingly unhappy with the presence of a large number of Travellers living nearby. Gradually, over the years, the local people and the Sheridan families of Dale Farm became embroiled in the bitter battle that led, ultimately, to the devastating mass eviction in October and November 2011.

As eviction loomed, the deeply private community became a media sensation, with journalists arriving from all over the world to see it. As the Travellers’ final summer on the site turned to autumn, a group of young activists determined to halt the eviction set up a camp on the site, with eager journalists trying to infiltrate the group and find out its battle plans.

Meanwhile the Sheridans tried to get on with their lives. They are the most resilient people I have ever known. Although they were not used to such attention or such unusual people on their doorstep, and were nervous about the publicity, they welcomed the activists and their support. In private, though, they confessed that it all seemed a bit strange. They called them “the hippies people” as they watched them pitching tents and singing around campfires.

On Oct. 19, 2011, the eviction began at 5 a.m. Riot police poured down the hill behind the site and broke through the activists’ meager defenses within minutes, and then into Dale Farm. Photographers and camera crews rushed to the site as the Travellers opened the doors of their trailers in their pajamas and started to watch the destruction of their homes. I can still hear Nora’s voice as, pushed up against their long riot shields, she shouted over and over: “My home, this is my home; get away from my home.” And tiny Michelle Sheridan standing in her dressing gown in front of a group of riot police, their helmets and shields assembled, mobbed by news photographers, and saying through her tears, “You young men should all be ashamed of yourselves; your mothers would be ashamed of you all.”

The eviction of Dale Farm had begun. Over the coming days and weeks, police were a constant presence at the site. Bailiffs patrolled the yards and dug up the land around us. I stood and watched as Jeany’s mobile home, where her family had known so many happy times and where I had taken the first photograph that I was remotely happy with, way back in 2009, was loaded up onto a pickup truck and taken away to be disposed of. By the end of November 2011, there was nothing left of Dale Farm.

After Dale Farm

It seemed back in 2011 that no one believed the Dale Farm families really had nowhere else to go. But I knew them, as I know them now, and I have seen that this is the reality of their situation as the years pass.

In the first few weeks after the eviction, the Travellers pulled their trailers onto the road outside their old home and began attaching generators to get them through the winter. A year on, most were still there, parked on the potholed lane I had first run down years ago, chased by a pack of dogs.

Barbara and her small family are still there to this day. Sometimes when there is space in a family member’s yard on the legal side at the front of Dale Farm, which always existed, she is able to rent what they call a “camping closet” there, a yard to park her trailer on for a while.

Barbara is fortunate in this respect, at least. It means that her three sons, John, Richard and Dennis, still attend Crays Hill school, just down the road from Dale Farm. But for Jean, who had to move on, this was not the case.

Jean and her children, like many of the families, eventually decided that they could not live on the road at Dale Farm forever and set out to try to find permanent places to stay.

It is neither practical nor legal for modern Travellers to live permanently on the roadside. Jean talks constantly of how she wants her children to be educated. In 2011, she spoke to me about her hopes for her children’s future.

“I grew up on the side of the road. But I want for my Viviana what I hadn’t got. I want her to learn how to read and write. There is no such thing as living on the side of the road anymore. It’s different. Everything is Internets now and computers and texting, and everything like that. In probably another 10 years down the line, it’s going to be even more advanced. Everything is going to be computers and chips and that sort of thing. So you can’t live on the road. You’ve got to look into things from your children’s point of view.”

But Jean’s children — Viviana, John (“Button”), Richard and David — have been forced to do precisely that. Jean has never found anywhere permanent for her small family to live, and every couple of weeks she is forced to look for new places to stop. She and her family are traveling in France, where I have plans to visit them in the coming months to see the children who I have known for so long, and who are now becoming adults.

Staying with them on their journey around the United Kingdom or in temporarily rented yards, constantly hawking for work and looking for a place where they might be at last able to stay, I have witnessed firsthand their struggle.

Barbara once told me: “We learned to live with prejudice long ago; that’s part of our life. We’ve been prejudiced against, no one wanted us all our lives and that’s it. ‘Gypsies on the side of the road! Pikeys on the end of the street! Move ’em on.’ We take prejudice as a compliment.”

I’m not sure I really understood it until after the eviction from Dale Farm. Now, I have overheard prejudicial talk in local pubs, been turned away with them and eyeballed in public places, and felt the humiliation as police arrive in the lay-bys and public parks to explain that they are sorry, but that after a week more the families will have to move on. It is a constantly uneasy life.

But I have also been witness to what was always, to me, the important story of the Dale Farm Travellers. Not the eviction, but the warmth and humanity of this unique community, what we have in common and not what separates us. When I have felt like an outsider in my own world, the routinely ostracized Dale Farm families have shown me rare friendship and kindness. When I have been flat broke and moved into a new and shabby flat, they brought me a new duvet, pans and a kettle, and when I need a laugh, there is quite simply no one better to be with.

As I watch the children from Dale Farm grow up and away from the trauma of their eviction and face the challenges of Traveller life in the fast-moving modern world, my photographs are becoming an extensive archive of the lives of this much-derided community and, for me personally, a document of friendships that have changed my life.

In Sight is The Washington Post’s photography blog for visual narrative. This platform showcases compelling and diverse imagery from staff and freelance photographers, news agencies and archives. If you are interested in submitting a story to In Sight, please complete this form.

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The Picture Show

Daily picture show, documenting the irish travellers: a nomadic culture of yore.

Lauren Rock

Throughout my life I have regularly traveled to my mother's home city of Dublin. During these trips I would regularly see groups of people living in caravans on the sides of the road, and I always wondered who they were and what their lives were like.

I later found out they belonged to a small ethnic minority called "Travellers" — nomads who spend most of their life, literally on the road. While their history has been hard to document — they have no written records — they are thought to have separated from the settled Irish community at least 1,000 years ago.

The Travellers (until recently also called "tinkers" or "gypsies") often live in ad hoc encampments, in direct contrast to "settled" people in Ireland. They are thought to be descended from a group of nomadic craftsman, with the name "tinker" a reference to the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil. (The reference is now considered derogatory.)

In 1965 Dublin-born photographer Alen MacWeeney stumbled across a Travellers' encampment and became fascinated with their way of life. He spent the next six years making photographs and recording their stories and music. Despite shooting the photos in the late '60s, it wasn't until 2007 that he found a publisher for his work.

Bernie Ward, Cherry Orchard Courtesy of Alen MacWeeney hide caption

Bernie Ward, Cherry Orchard

In his book, Irish Travellers: Tinkers No More — which also comes with a CD of Traveller music recordings — MacWeeny shows us a gritty, intimate portrait of the people he eventually came to call friends. He compares the Travellers to the migrant farmers of the American Depression: "poor, white, and dispossessed."

"Theirs was a bigger way of life than mine, with its daily struggle for survival, compared to my struggle to find images symbolic and representative of that life," he said in his book.

MacWeeney got his start at age 20 as an assistant for Richard Avedon in Paris and has since made a career as a portrait and fashion photographer. But his images of the Travellers reveal a raw and intimate side to his work.

"Traveller families have always been very close-knit, held together in a tight unspoken knot, with lifelong bonds and sometimes varying a lifelong set of troubles," he said.

Today, however, the Traveller lifestyle has changed dramatically from even a few decades ago. Many have embraced modern culture and become "settled," no longer living apart from the mainstream. There is even a reality TV show, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding , which showcases Traveller girls and their theatrical, over-the-top weddings.

But MacWeeney believes that the Travellers are "reluctant as settled and envy the other life of travelling." His book stands as a document of an era, and a way of life that is slowly fading into the past.

• PHOTOGRAPHY

Life With the Irish Travellers Reveals a Bygone World

One photographer spent four years gaining unprecedented access to this close-knit community.

When Birte Kaufmann first encountered Irish Travellers, she was on a trip with friends in the Irish countryside and saw a girl and her little brother running toward a roadside camp. The caravans and horses reminded Kaufmannn, who is German, of the Romany camps she had seen elsewhere in Europe, but the people looked intriguingly different.

Who were they, she wondered, and how could she delve deeper into their culture?

"People said, You'll never get an insight into that community—forget about it," Kaufmann recalls of sharing with Irish friends her burgeoning plans to photograph the close-knit Travellers.

An ethnic minority in Ireland , the Travellers have lived on the margins of mainstream Irish society for centuries. Efforts have been made to incorporate the nomadic group into mainstream culture by settling them into government housing and enforcing school attendance. But even living among "settled people," they face ongoing discrimination.

Kaufmann describes theirs as a parallel world, where deeply-rooted gender roles and an itinerant lifestyle have kept them apart from the broader Irish community even as their freedom to roam has become increasingly curtailed.

To gain access to the community, Kaufmann first attempted to engage through human rights groups that work with them—to no avail. So she decided to do it "the hard way," she says. She had heard about a “halting site”—walled areas on the outskirts of large towns that contain houses as well as spaces for caravan parking—and on her next trip to Ireland, she simply showed up.

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She was met by barking dogs, one of which bit her. A young woman approached, speaking English with an accent so thick that Kaufmann had trouble comprehending. Undeterred, she decided to lay her cards on the table. "I was really honest. I told [her] I was coming from Germany , where we don't have our own traveling community, [that] I knew who they were and was interested in how [they live]," Kaufmann recalls.

The young woman "was totally surprised, but finally they invited me for a cup of tea. I was sitting in a caravan with her grandfather. I asked them if I could come back and stay with them." Kaufmann says they chortled, as if to say, Yeah, right.

When she next returned from Germany, it was with a camper van of her own, so that she could stay alongside the extended family clan that would become the focus of her project. "I knew it was a high risk," she says, “but I gave them some pictures I had taken in the caravan of the grandfather. And they said, 'Ok. Now you're here. We have the images. One cup of tea. Now go. We are busy.'"

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As a photographer, and especially as a woman, Kaufmann was something of a novelty given the strictly defined gender roles of the Traveller community—men tend to the horses and livestock, women to home and family. Girls marry young and only with the blessing of their parents. Men don’t typically speak to women in public.

She slowly gained their trust to the point that one of the family members—a young mother who took a particular shine to her and was perhaps even amused at her struggle to understand what they were saying—began teaching her Gammon, their unwritten language.

"She tried to teach me words to say if the guys are being rude," she says. "And then the father started telling me what I should say. [They] tried to make me feel more comfortable." Her knowledge of words selectively and seldom shared with outsiders demonstrated to other Travellers that one of their own had trusted her enough to share.

And in turn, understanding how they communicate with each other helped her get past the sense of feeling unwelcome and deepened her appreciation of their differences. "At first [the talk] sounds really rough," she says. "Then there was this point at which I realized it was their language. They don't really call anyone by name. It's 'the woman over there,' 'the man over there,' 'the child,'" she explains. "It's not personal, [but] at first it sounds very rude.”

Kaufmann made multiple visits to the family over the course of four years, eventually living with them. The men gradually accepted her and allowed her to photograph them hunting and trading horses at a fair. She was able to blend into the background and photograph them as an unobtrusive observer of their everyday lives—lives, she says, that are filled with a lot of idle time. As Ireland becomes less agrarian, the Travellers’ traditional work as horse traders, farm laborers, tinsmiths, and entertainers has become more scarce.

"The older generations can't read or write," Kaufmann says, "but they have their own intelligence. On the one hand life was so sad and boring because everything their lives were stemming from wasn't there anymore. On the other hand there was this freedom—they live their lives in their own way."

And then, she says, she found herself taking no photographs at all. "One of the boys who really didn't like to be photographed said, 'Do you know what's really strange with Birte now? She's here and she's not really photographing anymore.'"

And that's when she knew her project was done.

Birte Kaufmann's project on the Travellers is now available as a book . You may also see more of Birte Kaufmann's photographs on her website .

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• Current: Traveller culture, crafts and traditions

Traveller culture, crafts and traditions

Explore a selection of material related to the culture, traditions and crafts of the traveller community in ireland..

Museum staff, working in partnership with Traveller community representatives and others, have worked on special projects and initiatives to make Traveller community history and heritage better known. It is a critical value of the National Museum of Ireland that its collections are reflective of all of the people of Ireland and our shared experiences. It is also crucial to our values as an organisation that the Traveller community, a community that is marginalised, is consulted and engaged in the development of Museum exhibitions and programmes exploring their culture. The Museum continues to seek additional objects for this collection. Irish Travellers, or  Mincéirí , have a shared history, culture and language. They are a distinct ethnic minority group, as well as being a part of Irish society for centuries. The distinct ethnicity of Travellers was officially recognised in Ireland on 1 March 2017.

Exhibition: Crown beoir

The mincéirí archives, online gallery: traveller culture, discover the craft of the tinsmith, film: tinsmith at work, 1965, step-by-step: making a lidded tin can, exhibition: travellers' journey/minceir misl’d, film: this giant tent, film: 'tinsmith' by merchants gate films, learn about: tin lanterns, learn about: beady pockets.

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The long road towards acceptance for Irish Travellers

The Irish Traveller community is fighting for official recognition of its ethnic identity and for a way of life.

Avila Park, Dublin, Ireland –   In a wooden shed in his back garden, James Collins sits on a low stool hammering out the final touches on a billy can. At 68, he is one of only two remaining traveller tinsmiths in Ireland.

Above the clutter of well-worn tools and scrap sheet metal hang a dozen or so other cans. Nowadays, he says, there’s precious little demand for his trade, and he largely continues it as a hobby, occasionally selling some of his work at vintage craft fairs.

Since the introduction of plastic homeware in the 1960s and 1970s, tinsmithing – traditionally dominated by the historically nomadic community known as Travellers – has effectively died out. Even the block tin, James originally used, is no longer available.

“It’s more difficult to work with,” he says, holding up a gleaming aluminium can. “You can’t make what you want to make out of it because you have to use solder and that won’t take solder.”

READ MORE: Ballinasloe Horse Fair – An ancient Irish tradition

James was raised on the road in the Irish midlands, a traditional upbringing unknown to most Travellers today. “I was bred, born and reared on the road,” he says, “but the young lads today wasn’t. They all grew up in houses and went to school and all this craic. I never got any education, never went to school in my life.”

Until his late 20s, when he settled in Avila Park, a housing estate for Travellers on the outskirts of Dublin, the Irish capital, James plied his trade for farmers, smithing and repairing buckets. “It never goes out of your mind; you’re always thinking, thinking the whole time about the road,” he says.

In comparison, younger generations have little interest in traditional crafts or the travelling lifestyle – James’ children and grandchildren don’t know how to harness a horse, for example. And anti-trespass legislation introduced in the early 2000s, which was used to disperse encampments by the side of roads or on council-owned land, made a nomadic existence increasingly difficult.

Yet, even as the distinct traditions of Irish Travellers seem to fade into the past, the battle for official recognition of their identity continues.

The search for recognition

Unlike the United Nations and the United Kingdom, Ireland does not recognise Travellers as a separate ethnicity from the non-Traveller community. For decades, human rights organisations and Traveller advocacy groups have been seeking this recognition, but to little avail.

However, on January 26, a parliamentary committee established to investigate the issue stated unequivocally that “Travellers are, de facto, a separate ethnic group”.

“This is not a gift to be bestowed upon them, but a fact the state ought to formally acknowledge,” it further said.

The committee report urged the Taoiseach, Ireland’s prime minister, or the minister for justice to give a statement to the Dail, the Irish parliament, acknowledging this at the earliest opportunity.

This development was welcomed by members of the Travelling community, although some remain cautious in their optimism. It would not be the first time an Irish government has reneged on such commitments – a 2014 parliamentary report made the same recommendation, which was never acted upon.

A history of deprivation and discrimination

An examination of the almost 30,000 Travellers in the Republic of Ireland shows a staggering level of deprivation completely at odds with the non-Traveller community. Another 4,000 to 5,000 Travellers live in Northern Ireland, in a similar situation.

Around half of Travellers have no secondary education and only 1 percent have attended university, according to Pavee Point, a group fighting for the rights of Travellers.

WATCH: Irish travellers facing discrimination

Some 84 percent of Travellers are unemployed, while suicide rates are almost seven times higher than among settled people. A 2010 study found that life expectancy was 15 years lower among men and 11 years lower among women when compared with their settled counterparts.

Discrimination against Travellers remains endemic at social and institutional levels. Being denied entry to businesses is a common occurrence and many try to hide their background when applying for jobs, fearing that potential employers will not hire them.

“Symbolically it would have a profound impact on our collective sense of identity, self-esteem and confidence as a people,” says Martin Collins, the co-director of Pavee Point, on the recognition of Traveller ethnicity.

“Some travellers have internalised [racism] and end up believing that they are of no value, they are of no worth … So that’s the impact. That’s the outcome of both racism and your identity being denied.”

A culture denied

It was a 1963 government report, the Commission on Itinerancy, that has set the tone for the state’s attitude towards Travellers ever since, says Sinn Fein Senator Padraig MacLochlainn, the first person from a Traveller background to be elected to the Irish parliament.

The Committee on Itinerancy ‘s terms of reference defined Travellers as a “problem”, whose social ills were “inherent in their way of life,” and outlined the goal of “promot[ing] their absorption into the general community”.

No Travellers were on the committee, nor were they consulted for its report.

“Our people and our state denied their history and decided that they were criminals and they needed to be immersed in with the rest of us,” says MacLochlainn.

This refusal to acknowledge the community’s rich cultural history – notably their own language, Cant, and significant contributions to Irish traditional music – persists today.

Traveller culture is frequently portrayed in the media as separate and distinct, MacLochlainn says, but almost always in negative terms, in exploitation TV shows   such as My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and exposes on Traveller criminality.

“You clearly accept them as a distinct group – why are you making these programmes if you don’t? If they’re a distinct group, could you do it now in positive terms?

“When it comes to negative characterisations, the media, the establishment … in Ireland are more than happy for them to be characterised in negative terms,” the senator says.

Behind James’ shed in Avila Park, traditional and modern Traveller accommodation sit side by side. A wooden barreltop caravan, washed green with blue and red embellishments, sits between two mobile home units, where his younger relatives stay.

Only one has both electricity and running water, which were installed by the family. Power is provided from the house by a yellow cable, wound loosely around plastic drainpipes and holes in its pebbledash exterior.

An early morning fire in a nearby prefabricated unit just a few weeks before offered a bleak reminder of the danger these makeshift electrical fixtures pose. A neighbour raised the alarm and the young couple inside escaped before their home was reduced to a charred husk.

Children burned to death

This near disaster has reminded some people of a fire in the south Dublin suburb of Carrickmines more than a year ago, which continues to cast a shadow over relations between the Traveller and the settled communities.

In the early hours of October 10, 2015, a fire ripped through a halting site killing 10 people, including five children, from two families – the Lynch and Gilbert family and the Connors. The youngest victim was five months old. It was one of the deadliest fires in the history of the Republic of Ireland.

Social workers had raised concerns about the site’s substandard prefabricated units to authorities in the months before the fire, but no action was taken. The blaze and its aftermath would, for many, become an example of the pervasive discrimination Travellers face in Ireland today.

Three days after the fire, some locals blockaded land marked for temporary accommodation for the surviving members of the Connors family, preventing construction vehicles from entering. Though the obstruction was condemned by then Environment Minister Alan Kelly and several Traveller groups, the protesters were successful.

OPINION: Catholic Ireland’s saints and sinners

On October 21, one day before the last victims were buried, the county council announced that the Connors family would instead be resettled on a reclaimed dump on council land in a nearby suburb. At the time of writing, the family remain in that location.

Alongside many expressions of grief on social media after the fire were comments highlighting the discrimination towards travellers in Irish society.

On one popular news site, a comment simply wishing that the victims rest in peace received hundreds of thumbs down votes from other readers. “Hundreds of Irish people gave a thumbs down to an expression of sympathy for children who were burned to death,” says MacLochlainn. “That’s terrifying; that’s absolutely terrifying.”

In response to the tragedy, local authorities across the country conducted fire safety audits at Traveller accommodation sites. “All we got was a few fire alarms, a few fire blankets and some carbon monoxide alarms,” says Collins, of Pavee Point.

“That’s like re-arranging the chairs on the Titanic. That’s totally inadequate. These sites need to be completely redeveloped [and] refurbished, because the sites are just inherently dangerous. Getting a few fire alarms and a few hoses will not rectify the situation.”

For Collins, the long overdue recognition of Traveller ethnicity is an important milestone, but as the Carrickmines example shows, a commitment to materially improving the lives of Travellers is also necessary if they are to be truly equal in their own country.

History of Irish Traveller: The Legacy and Journey of Travellers

The Rich Tapestry of Irish Travellers: A Glimpse into a Unique Community

Introduction.

The story of the Irish Traveller community is woven deeply into the fabric of Irish history and society. A nomadic ethnic group with roots that are distinct from the settled Irish population, the travellers have endured centuries of both recognition and prejudice. This article explores the history, culture, and challenges of the Irish Traveller community.

The History of Irish Travellers: From Ancient Times to Today

1. origins of the irish travellers.

The true origins of the Irish Travellers remain a topic of debate among historians. Some believe their beginnings trace back to the time of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, while others suggest they are an indigenous ethnic group with a lineage that predates this event.

2. Travellers in Ireland Through the Ages

For centuries, travellers in Ireland have led an itinerant lifestyle, embracing a nomadic culture distinct from the settled Irish population. Their unique language, a mix of English and Irish, further solidified their identity as a distinct group within the Irish society for centuries.

The Challenges and Triumphs of the Traveller Community

1. health and social issues among irish travellers.

The Ireland Traveller Health Study revealed startling disparities in health outcomes. The general population enjoys better health than the majority of Irish travellers. Challenges such as metabolic and congenital problems are notably higher among Irish travellers, making healthcare accessibility a major concern for the community.

2. Recognition as an Ethnic Minority

In March 2017, the Irish government finally recognised Irish travellers as a distinct ethnic group, a significant milestone for traveller rights groups. The Irish Traveller Movement and Pavee Point were among the community advocacy groups that hailed this recognition.

3. The Role of Traveller Women and Men in Society

Traveller women and traveller men have unique roles within their community, often influenced by a strict code of behaviour that dictates some of their moral beliefs and influences their actions. Despite facing political and cultural discrimination, many traveller women are now at the forefront of community development initiatives.

Irish Travellers Beyond the Shores of Ireland

1. irish travellers in the us.

The town of North Augusta has witnessed the settling of Irish travellers in America. Known as Irish Travelers, this community maintains a distinct identity, though they've integrated with the larger Irish population.

2. Global Diaspora

From the UK, where they are sometimes colloquially referred to as 'gypsies', to the broader diaspora including those of mixed English and Irish extraction, the influence and presence of Irish travellers are undeniably global.

Conclusion: A Call to Embrace and Understand

While the Irish state and Irish society have come a long way in recognising the unique identity of the Irish Traveller community, there is still a journey ahead. The hope is for a Republic of Ireland where both travellers and settled people coexist in mutual respect and understanding.

The Evolving Landscape of Irish Traveller Identity in Modern Times

1. the recognition of travellers as a distinct group in ireland’s contemporary landscape.

In a landmark move, Irish travellers were recognised as an ethnic minority group by the Irish government, marking a pivotal moment in the nation's history. This recognition of traveller ethnicity aligns with Ireland’s ongoing efforts to appreciate the diverse tapestry of cultures and identities within its borders. It's notable that they are one of several groups identified as having a significant cultural and historical impact on the nation.

2. The Struggle for Identity: Beyond Stereotypes and Media Portrayal

Shows like "Big Fat Gypsy" have, for better or worse, shaped the perceptions many people have of the traveller community. While some argue the show offers insight, others believe it perpetuates stereotypes that don't reflect the life of the majority of Irish travellers. The Irish Times, a leading publication, has covered this debate extensively, shedding light on the travellers as a distinct group beyond the media caricatures.

3. Delving Deep into Traveller Traditions and Modern Interactions

Irish travellers have lived in harmony with the settled community for generations, often maintaining their distinct culture and identity. Known to follow a strict code of behaviour and values, the community places emphasis on traditions passed down over generations. The language of mixed English and traveller dialect further strengthens their distinct identity. While some traveller females take up roles deeply rooted in their traditions, there's a noticeable shift towards modern professions and lifestyle choices.

4. A Glimpse into Travellers' Socio-Economic Landscape

The Economic and Social Research Institute conducted a study that revealed startling statistics. It was found that the life expectancy of 167 travellers is significantly lower, sometimes by up to six times, within the general population. While challenges persist, the money allocated by the government post their recognition as an Irish ethnic minority is hopeful. Prominent figures like Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver have also voiced their support for the traveller community, bringing attention to their unique culture on a global stage.

5. Conclusion: A Bright Future Ahead

The journey of the Irish travellers, from ancient nomads to recognised members of contemporary Irish society, has been both challenging and inspiring. As the nation moves forward, it's essential for the Irish people to embrace the rich tapestry of cultures, recognizing the contributions and unique identity of each group.

Discover the World of Irish Travellers with Cunian App !

Explore the rich history, culture, and unique stories of the Irish Travelling community through Cunian, the digital tour guide app. Dive deep into the origins of Irish travellers, their nomadic lifestyle, and the challenges they've overcome. And the best part? All tours on the Cunian app are absolutely free. Download now and embark on a journey through time!

Frequently Asked Questions: Understanding the Traveller Culture

1. Are Irish Travellers and Roma the same? No, Irish Travellers and Roma are two distinct ethnic groups with different histories and cultures.

2. What is the Royal College of Surgeons' connection to the Irish Travellers? The Royal College of Surgeons conducted studies highlighting health disparities among travellers compared to the general Irish population.

3. What are halting sites? Halting sites are designated areas where the traveller families can legally park their caravans, a testament to their traditional nomadic way of life.

4. Why were Irish Travellers in the US, particularly in the town of North Augusta, in the news? Irish Travellers in the US, especially those in North Augusta, made headlines for their unique culture and traditions, distinct even from other Irish communities.

5. How does the Irish Traveller community perceive the show 'Big Fat Gypsy'? The show has been controversial. Some believe it doesn't accurately represent the lives of the majority of Irish Travellers.

6. How is the Irish Traveller Movement significant? The Irish Traveller Movement is a leading national platform advocating for the rights and recognition of the traveller community in Ireland.

7. What role do young travellers play in the community? Young travellers are the bridge between tradition and modernity, often leading initiatives for change within the traveller community.

8. How has the Irish government supported the traveller community in recent years? Following the recognition of travellers as an ethnic minority, the Irish government allocated funds and resources to support community initiatives and development.

9. What is known about the first traveller families in history? Historical records from County Galway and other regions highlight the presence of traveller families, but their exact origins remain a subject of research.

10. Are travellers significantly different genetically from the settled Irish community? Some studies suggest travellers are genetically distinct from the settled community, but this is an area of ongoing research.

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About Irish Travellers

Irish Travellers are an indigenous minority who, historical sources confirm, have been part of Irish society for centuries. Travellers long shared history, cultural values, language, customs and traditions make them a self-defined group, and one which is recognisable and distinct. Their culture and way of life, of which nomadism is an important factor, distinguishes them from the sedentary (settled) population.

There are an estimated 31,000 Travellers in Ireland, making up more than 4,485 Traveller families. This constitutes approximately 0.7% of the total national population. It is estimated that an additional 15,000 Irish Travellers live in Britain, with a further 10,000 Travellers of Irish descent living in the US.

Travellers were formally recognised as an ethnic group by the Irish state on March 1st 2017, after many decades of campaigning by ITM and other Traveller activists and organisations. Ethnicity or identity relates to the collective set of beliefs, attitudes, values, norms and language that Travellers share that make them Travellers.

Traveller Culture

Culture is not static and solely based in the past, but an interplay between tradition and emerging new ideas.

Traveller culture and identity is constantly changing and adapting. Some aspects of change happen as society changes globally. Other changes are forced upon the community- for example, legislative changes that have had huge negative impacts on Traveller culture: nomadism effectively criminalised through the Trespass legislation, changed laws governing market trading and laws covering horse ownership. These laws have meant that traditional aspects of Traveller culture are almost impossible to express. Despite these policies, which have had serious impacts on the community, Travellers continue to see themselves as Travellers and show pride in their identity and heritage.

Marginalisation of Travellers

Travellers, as individuals and as a group, experience a high level of prejudice and exclusion in Irish society. Many have to endure living in intolerable conditions, such as lack of access to basic facilities of sanitation, water and electricity. This leads to ongoing health problems among the Traveller community. The All Ireland Traveller Health Study 2010 revealed that Traveller men live, on average, 15 years less than settled men, while Traveller women live on average 11 years less than their settled peers. Discrimination and its effects are a daily feature of Travellers lives.

Who are the Irish Travellers in the US?

They're one of ireland's oldest and most marginalized minorities but who are the irish travellers in the us.

One of Ireland's oldest and most marginalized minorities but how much to do you know about Irish Travellers in America?

In Ireland, nearly everybody is aware of the existence of the Irish Travellers  — they’re one of Ireland’s oldest and most marginalized minority groups, known for their itinerant lifestyle, distinct dialects and oft-questioned traditions.

However, many people know that there are also communities of Irish Travellers in America.

A few times each year, a headline will pop up about Irish Travellers in the US. Sometimes it’ll be from a local newspaper in South Carolina or Texas; on rarer occasions, such as the bust of a high-profile rhinoceros horn smuggling ring, it’ll be in Bloomberg Businessweek . Except for the occasional story expressing interest in the culture or history of the Travellers, the articles are typically from the crime section — detailing a theft or scam, or local concern that the Travellers have arrived in the area.

But if you don’t happen to live in those areas or catch those headlines, and if you missed out on that one famous episode of "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding," you’d be easily forgiven for not having any idea that the Irish Travellers have lived in the US for generations. They’re not recognized as a distinct ethnic group by the US Census, and, what’s more, Irish Americans  have never claimed them under the umbrella of the Irish diaspora.

What little we do know about the Irish Travellers here in America comes from those very news articles, and from a scant number of books and documentaries.

There are believed to be anywhere from 7,000 to 40,000 Irish Travellers in the US, though most estimates lie closer to the 10,000 mark. The Travellers here descended from groups who left Ireland around the time of the Great Hunger and settled in the US, carving out a similar lifestyle to the one they followed in Ireland.

Like their counterparts in Ireland, Irish Travellers in the US speak their own dialects of Cant, Shelta, or Gammon, which can include elements of Irish, Gaelic, English, Greek, and Hebrew.

Also similar to their Ireland-based counterparts, the American Irish Travellers identify as strictly  Catholic  and adhere to their own traditions and mores. The men travel and work and the women raise the children. Many of the women are promised to their future husbands in arranged marriages when they are very young.

Their primary trade is repair work, often categorized as dubious in nature (though the fairness of that generalization has been called into question). But the US Irish Travellers have also, over the years, amassed fortunes through a unique internal economy based on life insurance policies.

As Paul Connolly, who made a documentary about Irish Travellers in the US for the Irish channel TV3 in 2013, told The Journal : “Most of the income comes from insurance. . . In America, there’s a clause which allows you to insure anyone with a blood connection — and as they have intermarried for generations, there’s a likelihood there will be a blood connection.

"So they’ve worked out a way of profiting from this, and that, according to the Travellers I’ve spoken to, is how they make their money and how they’re so wealthy. Some of the more morbid characters we came across referred to it as ‘Death Watch’.”

Perhaps the most notorious instance of this system gone awry took place in 2015, when Anita Fox, a 69-year-old Irish Traveller woman in Texas, was found stabbed to death. Police later identified the perpetrators as Gerard and Bernard Gorman, who held a $1 million life insurance policy in Fox’s name.

There are Irish Traveller enclaves in Texas, in the Houston and Fort Worth areas, as well as in South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, with smaller settlements found in rural New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Many of the groups identify based on where in the US their ancestors first based themselves, such as the Ohio Travellers, Georgia Travellers, Texas Travellers, and Mississippi Travellers.

The largest-known Irish Traveller community in the US is in Murphy Village, South Carolina, which, as noted in a report by the Florida Ancient Order of Hibernians, is home to approximately 1,500 people with only 11 different surnames.

According to a 2002 article in the Washington Post , “The Irish Travelers who settled in the United States in the 19th century migrated to different parts of the country and established their own clan groups, often with little intermingling across regions.

“The Sherlocks, O'Haras and others settled [in Murphy Village] in the 1960s, on land around a Catholic church whose pastor, the Rev. Joseph Murphy, became the patron and namesake of the growing community just outside the town of North Augusta.”

Far from a caravan or mobile home community, Murphy Village has become home to an increasing number of suburban “McMansions” in recent decades, as the US Irish Travellers build permanent homes, which they use as a base between travels and for holidays. In this regard, its closest Irish counterpart is Rathkeale, Co. Limerick, which was the subject of a New York Times story in 2012 , chronicling the massive homecoming that takes place every Christmas.

“The Riches,” a serial drama about a contemporary Irish Traveller family in the US, starring Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver, aired on FX for two seasons, in 2007 and 2008.

H/T Slate , The Journal , The Washington Post , Florida AOH .

* Originally published in Sept 2016.

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9 myths and the truth about Gypsies and Travellers

For starters, only a small number of travellers camp illegally

• 00:01, 25 OCT 2019
• Updated 15:20, 25 OCT 2019

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Travellers and Gypsies are one of the most misunderstood minority groups in the UK.

To combat this  the Travellers' Times website has created a guide, which aims to promote positive images of the Traveller and Gypsy community.

It has been written in response to hate crime and racist language directed towards their communities.

Cambridgeshire has seen tensions between the Traveller and settled communities in recent years, with caravans pitching on unauthorised sites across including Fulbourn, Papworth, Cambourne and at Cambridge Business and Research Park.

As well as causing disruption to residential communities, there can often be a hefty clean-up bill as some groups leave behind piles of rubbish.

Cambridge police say they are committed to working with local councils to tackle the problem and has previously used powers under Section 61 of the Crime and Disorder Act to order unlawful encampments to disperse.

But, as the Travellers' Times points out, a only a small number of Travellers camp illegally.

While tensions can run high at times many people hold misconceptions, which Travellers' Times hopes to dispell.

Things you should know about gypsies and travellers according to Travellers' Times

There are nine reoccurring myths and misconceptions about their culture and origins.

1) Who are the UK’s Gypsies and Travellers?

Travellers and Gypsies have a rich and varied history.

Romany Gypsies are the descendants of a migration of peoples from Northern India in the 10-12AD, who spread across Eastern and Western Europe, reaching Great Britain in around the 1600’s.

Irish Travellers – or Pavee – and Scottish Travellers - are the descendants of a nomadic people who have traditionally inhabited Ireland and mainland Britain.

Roma usually refers to the descendants of the migration of various groups of peoples from Northern India in the 10th to 12th century who settled in Eastern and Western Europe.

2) Should we use a capital letter to start ‘gypsy and/or traveller’?

Romany Gypsies, Scottish, Welsh and Irish Travellers are all ethnic minorities, recognised under UK law and the Irish government.

Therefore it is customary to capitalise ‘G’ and ‘T’ for Gypsies and Travellers.

3) Lifestyle, ethnic group or ‘community’?

Research shows Gypsies, Roma and Travellers (GRT) should be seen as ethnic groups rather than ‘lifestyles’.

All the different GRT groups in the UK have a shared language or dialect, some shared cultural practices, most will identify as an ethnic group, and all individuals from all groups are legally recognised as ethnic minorities under the Equalities Act 2010.

4) How many Travellers live in the UK?

In the 2011 Census, 58,000 people identified themselves as Gypsy or Irish Traveller, accounting for just 0.1 per cent of the resident population of England and Wales. However the figure is likely to be much higher.

5) Traveller politics

There is a cross-party parliamentary group called the All Party Parliamentary Group for Gypsies, Roma and Travellers.

This is currently led by the charity Friends, Families and Travellers and the co-Chairs are Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, and Baroness Janet Whitaker.

6) Where do Travellers live?

The number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans in England and Wales is recorded twice yearly.

The vast majority of Gypsies and Travellers living in caravans stay on permanent public and private sites which have planning permission, waste collection and are subject to rent (unless of course the site is privately owned by the occupier), council tax and utility bills.

7) A small minority pitch on unauthorised land

A small minority of Gypsies and Traveller caravans are classed as unauthorised and staying on land they do not own, such as roadside camps.

This minority, which will include Gypsies and Travellers with no other place to stay and also Gypsies and Travellers moving off authorised sites to go ‘travelling’ during the summer, receives the vast majority of local news coverage.

7) Criminal Justice System

Far too many Gypsies and Travellers are in prison, as many as five per cent of the population according to Government research.

Meanwhile 0.13 per cent of the general UK population are in prision.

The Irish Chaplaincy in Britain works with Gypsies and Travellers in custody. Some prisons have their own GRT Prisoner Groups. The Travellers’ Times Magazine is delivered free to many UK HMP’s and the editor receives many letters from prisoners.

8) Nomadism

Nomadism is a shared heritage of Gypsies and Travellers and not a present reality.

Not all Gypsies and Irish and Scottish Travellers ‘travel’ – or may only ‘travel’ to traditional cultural events like Appleby Horse Fair.

9) Prejudice, oppression and the Holocaust

Many Gypsies, Roma and Travellers face daily prejudice based on negative stereotyping and misunderstanding.

This is because people generalise from the anti-social actions of a few and protect that onto the whole population.

Prejudice against them is longstanding.

In some Eastern and even Western European countries, Roma are segregated and live in camps and slums isolated from the rest of the population.

Alongside the Jewish population Roma were specifically singled out for extermination by Nazi racial policy.

Historians estimate the number murdered by Nazi and axis regimes during the Second World War to be around 500,000, although some historians say it is closer to a million.

• Most Recent

The Complete Guide to the 9 Irish Dog Breeds

By: Author Emer Walker

Posted on Last updated: October 4, 2023

Dogs have long played an important part in Irish culture .

Many of the great heros of the famous myths and legneds had their special canine companions. The great warrior Cú Chulainn was even named after a dog.

Dogs certainly hold a special place in the hearts of the Irish.

Dogs have always been a part of my family. My first dog was a farm dog mongrel with a little bit of an Irish Wheaten Terrier and I’ve been extremely fond of this breed ever since.

In this article you will discover which breeds of dog come from Ireland and the essential information you need to know about each one.

We have also included fascinating insights into each breed, including quirky, little known facts that we are sure you will enjoy!

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click on one of them, we might receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Thanks for your support to help us keep this site running!

Table of Contents

• 1 Breeds of Irish Dogs
• 2 What breed of dogs come from Ireland?
• 3 Irish Dog Names
• 4 Native Irish Hounds
• 5 Native Irish Terriers
• 6 Gun Dogs of Ireland
• 7 More About Dogs from Ireland
• 8 Irish Dogs on the Farm

Breeds of Irish Dogs

How many Irish dog breeds are there? There are nine officially recognised Irish dog breeds.

They range in size from small Glen of Imaal Terrier to one of the largest of all dogs, the Irish Wolfhound . Each breed has their own quirky character traits and interesting history.

Here you will discover plenty of interesting facts about these charming dogs from Ireland. 

What breed of dogs come from Ireland?

The nine breeds of dog that come from Ireland are: 

• Irish Wolfhound
• Kerry Beagle
• Irish Terrier
• Kerry Blue Terrier
• Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier
• Glen of Imaal Terrier (Glen or Wicklow Terrier)
• Irish Setter
• Irish Red and White Setter
• Irish Water Spaniel

The cuddly Irish Doodle is not a recognised dog breed. It is a recently developed mix between an Irish Setter and Poodle.

Irish Dog Names

Many people want to give their dog a distinctive name. If you are searching for something fitting, then you should probably consider an Irish dog name.

Lots of dog names from Ireland are very unique and have an interesting history associated with them. Discover more in our in-depth Irish names guide!

Related Article: Irish Dog Names

You can also look directly at our article for Irish Female Dog Names or Irish Male Dog Names .

Native Irish Hounds

There are two native breeds of hounds from Ireland. These are the well known Irish Wolfhound and the lesser known Kerry Beagle .

Irish Wolfhound 

Known for their enormous size , the iconic Irish Wolfhound does make quite an impression as one of the tallest dogs in the world. These large, loyal dogs were originally bred to hunt and defend against wolves and are thought to have been used by the ancient Irish people, the Geals. 

The earliest known written account of this dog, dates back to the writings of a Roman Consul in 391 . Down through the centuries, word about these dogs spread and individual dogs were often given as prized gifts to the royalty and nobility of Europe and beyond. 

Interestingly, there is a lack of bone evidence from archeological excavations to support that these dogs were as big in Irish history (ca. 1000 CE) as they are now according to some experts.

Irish Wolfhounds were used to kill wolves in Ireland and a certain number of dogs was required to protect livestock in each county up until the 15th century. 

After the last wolf was killed in Ireland in 1786, Irish Wolfhounds declined further in number.

As the dog Irish chieftains or important individuals kept became more akin to status symbols rather than functional hunters, the numbers declined even more.

As sighthunters , they rely more on their visual senses when pursuing prey and are known for their speed. They are muscular with an average size of 81–86 centimeters (32–34 inches).

Their coat is usually hard and wiry and can be in a rany of colors from white to black, fawn and gray. 

These large dogs have a relatively short lifespan of about 7 years on average and frequently succumb to bone cancer. 

Is an Irish Wolfhound a good family pet? 

Despite their large size, they are usually quite gentle in character and reserved, making them a better guardian than guard dog .

Irish Wolfhounds are very intelligent and prefer company, especially with their owner or family, with whom they form a strong bond. They are good with children and other pets if they are socialized from a young age.

These large Irish dogs require a considerable amount of exercise, stimulation and space to gallop around to ensure they stay in the best of health. 

Irish Wolfhound Facts

The number of true purebred Irish wolfhounds was so limited during the 19th century, that Captain George Augustus Graham was forced to cross breed the finest remaining original Irish Wolfhound specimens with other similar large dogs to ensure the breed survived. Therefore, the modern Irish Wolfhound also has traces of Scottish Deerhound , Great Dane , Borzoi and Tibetian Mastiff dogs breeds. 

Enthusiasts of the breed founded the Irish Wolfhound Club of Ireland as early as 1885 , although it appears to have been closer to about 1908 before the club became more widely acknowledged.

Many famous people have owned Irish Wolfhounds, including two American presidents ( Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy ), Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees and Sting . 

We have plenty more information about these friendly Irish Giants in our Irish Wolfhound Dog Breed Guide .

The Kerry Beagle is a very old native dog breed that can possibly trace its roots back to the Celtic dog breeds used in the early settlements in Ireland. The first documented record of this dog breed dates back to the 16th century. 

This scenthound was thought to have been originally bred as a staghound , but also used to hunt small game, such as foxes and hares. 

Its name is somewhat confusing as it does not closely remember the traditional beagle. One possible explanation for its unusual name is that the name “beagle” may have actually come from the Irish word beag , which means small. 

This breed is officially recognised by the Irish Kennel Club , but it is one of the rare Irish dog breeds that is not well known outside of Ireland .

The Kerry Beagle is a medium sized dog (56–61 cm (22–24 in) and larger than the traditional beagle. This breed has a muscular stature suited to hunting sports with a broad head and low set velvety ears. Kerry Beagles are typically brown and black tan in color, but can occasionally be tan and white or black. Their coats are short, hard and smooth and they typically live to be 10 years old or even older.

As a hunting dog with a lot of stamina, strength and energy, the Kerry Beagle needs vigorous amounts of regular exercise and is best suited to an area with lots of space to run around. Generally, the Kerry Beagle is a social dog that tolerates people and other dogs well.

Kerry Beagle Facts

Due to its hunting abilities, the Kerry Beagles was one of the preferred hunting breeds of the wealthy elites in Ireland during the 19th century.

The Great Famine in Ireland during the 1840s resulted in the decline in the number of the Kerry Beagles due to starvation. 

Not long afterwards, during the Land Wars of Ireland between the landlords and farmer tenants in the 1880s, the Kerry Beagles number declined again.

This time the dogs belonging to the gentry were targeted with baited poison and were attacked in their kennels .

By about 1881, it is thought that only one pack of Kerry Beagles were left in Ireland at Scarteen in County Limerick.

The history of Kerry Beagles at Scarteen House goes back several generations making it the oldest pack of hunting dogs in Ireland and most of the Kerry Beagles can trace their lineage back to here.

This Irish dog breed is not recognized by the American Kennel Club.  

Would you like to discover more about this little known dog breed? We have plenty more interesting information about the breed in the Kerry Beagle Dog Breed Guide .

Native Irish Terriers

Ireland has four different types of terriers that were specifically bred for the hunting conditions in Ireland. These Irish terriers are:

• Glen of Imaal Terrier (sometimes known as the Glen or Wicklow Terrier)

Irish Terrier 

Little is known about the exact origin of the Irish Terrier dog breed, but it is likely to be a descendant of black and tan terriers. In terms of Irish terriers, it is considered to be one of the oldest types. The dog is known for its a dventurous spirit , daring nature and fierce loyalty .

Up until about the late 19th century, Irish Terriers had coats of black and tan color and showed great variation in size, but around the turn of the 20th century selective efforts were made to breed only pure red coats on Irish Terriers. Today, red , golden red and occasionally wheaten colored Irish Terriers exist.

During the late 1880s, its popularity rose significantly in Ireland and Britain. The official Irish Terrier American Kennel Club breed recognition was awarded in 1885.

The Irish Terrier is a functional dog that earned its keep in houses and farms, by hunting vermin and watching guard . This breed is agile, robust and enjoys mental and physical challenges to keep them in top form.

Naturally enough, these dogs need plenty of exercise . As they do not shed , their coats also need to be well groomed to ensure that they stay in the best shape to protect against the weather.

Irish Terrier dogs generally live to be about 13 to 14 years . They are affectionate and good tempered with people, but can fight fiercely if attacked or provoked by another dog.

These dogs can be trained as great guard dogs , as well as being a suitable family pet .  

Irish Terrier Facts

Surprisingly, Irish Terriers played a very useful role in World War I .

These intelligent and often fearless dogs were used to deliver messages to the troops on the front, detect movement in enemy camps using their acute sense of smell and help to control vermin in the trenches.

After the war the popularity of this breed took a downturn.

This was partly due to the lingering association with the war, but also the association of the Irish Terrier with the British Army during the politically sensitive time in Ireland as the country fought for independence from the British.

Fancy learning some more facts and breed information about the Irish Terrier? Then check out our detailed Irish Terrier Breed Guide .

Kerry Blue Terrier 

The Kerry Blue Terrier’s origins can be traced to Kerry in the south of Ireland, probably to around the mid-19th century .

There are however, many stories as to how the Kerry Blue Terrier came into existence, including one tale that suggests its origins may be found with a Spanish Water Dog that was shipwrecked off the Kerry coast from one of the Spanish Armada ships. 

The Kerry Blue Terrier is a versatile dog , well able to hunt vermin , as well as hares , foxes , badgers .

Its adaptability was a great asset for farmers making it a useful Irish mountain dog in the hilly Kerry countryside and beyond. 

In addition to being great working dogs, Kerry Blue Terriers are also excellent companions and watch dogs . 

The coat of the Kerry Blue Terrier is slate gray or black in color.

It is soft to touch and wavy, however it does require quite a bit of grooming and clipping maintenance to keep it in top condition. 

Kerry Blue Terrier pups are born with a black coat .

The blue color coat that the dogs are known for is the result of a gene for coat fading can only be seen once the dogs mature at around 18 to 24 months . 

Typically, Kerry Blue Terriers live to be over 10 years of age and grow to 46–48 cm (18–19 in) at the withers.

Kerry Blue Terrier Facts

The strong willed character and courageous fighting spirit of the Kerry Blue Terrier made them a well liked Irish pet, as well liked symbol of the Irish national movement around 1920s. 

In October 1920, The Dublin Kerry Blue Terrier Club made history when they held a clandestine dog show (all dog shows required a license from the British Kennel Club).

The Club followed this dog show with another illegal one on St. Patrick’s Day in 1921. 

Both events were attended by Michael Collins , an avid Kerry Blue Terrier fan and the Leader of the Irish Nationist Movement , who had a bounty on his head of £10,000.

(He was so taken by the breed that he even gave Kerry Blue Terrier puppies in Ireland to his friends.) 

There were even plans in place by Irish nationalist leader Michael Collins to make the Kerry Blue Terrier the national dog of Ireland in 1922.

However, Michael Collins was unfortunately assassinated in an ambush earlier in the year and these plans never came into being. 

There are plenty more interesting facts to discover about this dog breed in our Kerry Blue Terrier Breed Guide . Take a look and see!

Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier 

Soft, silky and unmistakable, the coat of the Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier is this breed’s defining feature and has probably certainly helped to make it the most popular of Irish terriers. 

However, the origins of this dog type reach back over two hundred years when this medium sized dog was a was prized for its working ability and character rather than its coat.

Its main tasks would have been to help hunt animals , such as badgers and otters and keep the number of rats and other vermin low. 

When selective breeding programs started for this breed in the late 19th century, it still took a considerable amount to officially name the breed.

One issue was that the color “ wheaten ” is not a unique color, even for Irish dogs.

In the end, “ Irish Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier ” was agreed upon in 1937 and only in 1973 did the American Kennel Club also recognise the breed.

The soft, wavy coat of the Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers needs very regular grooming.

This breed only has one long coat of hair without an undercoat (open coat).

Pups have a darker colored coat , which lightens to a wheaten color as they mature.

Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers have a happy temperament and are typically very affectionat e, which has led to the popularity of this dog as a family pet .

Its prey instincts to catch small animals such as cats and squirrels are still strong, so it is best to have this dog on a leash in public. 

The dogs grow to about 45 to 50 cm (18 to 20 inches) in size and are generally considered to be healthy animals that can live to be over 10 years of age , (typically between 12 and 14 years of age).

Some known health issues include r enal dysplasia and protein wasting diseases such as protein-losing enteropathy (PLE) and protein-losing nephropathy (PLN) .

Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Facts

Distinct differences can be seen in the coats of this breed. In Ireland and Europe, the original Irish type is smooth and silky . This coat also needs daily grooming to avoid becoming matted. 

Preference for a heavier, wooler coat became obvious in the United States soon after the breed was first introduced and there are few breeders of the origin Irish type in the States at present.  

Interested to know more about the Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier? We have all the breed information, as well as facts and history in the Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Guide .

Irish Glen of Imaal Terrier 

This small, dwarf dog breed is named after one of the glens in County Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland .

It is the rarest breed of all the terriers native to Ireland and is considered a vulnerable breed .

The Irish Glen of Imaal Terrier has an interesting history.

Although it is not certain, some say that this breed of dog came about when soldiers from Queen Elizabeth’s army were given land in the form of payment and settled in this remote part of Wicklow.

The small dogs that they brought with them bred with the local dogs in this relatively isolated part of Ireland and the result was the Irish Glen of Imaal Terrier. 

Certainly small Irish dog breeds such as this hardy, muscular dog would have been of use to such settlers in this harsh, mountainous environment.

These terriers were bred for their skilled hunting abilities . Not only did they hunt small animals such as rodents, they were also used to hunt foxes and badgers for example. 

One unique trait with this breed is that it was bred to hunt their quarry in silence .

This can still be noticed today as they tend not to bark as much as other terriers and can be an advantage if they are living in an urban environment.

As the Irish dog breeds smallest terrier, it stands typically 35-36 cm (14 inches) and is high spirited in character.

Generally, this breed is good with children, but has strong prey drive instincts and can be a bit aggressive to other dogs. 

The breed was recognised by the Irish Kennel Club in 1934 and only relatively recently by the AKC (2004) .

Irish Glen of Imaal Terrier Facts

Due to the physical stature of this dwarf dog breed, it can sit for periods of time on its hind legs in an upright position known as the “ Glen Sit ”.

One of its other functions this breed may have carried out in days gone by is to turn the spit on the fire.

Turnspit dogs , as they were known, were often small dogs that walked along a sort of treadmill, which in turn rotated the spit over the fire.

Discover more about the origins and history of this spirited dog in our Glen of Imaal Terrier Dog Breed Guide .

Gun Dogs of Ireland

The Irish Setter, the Irish Red and White Setter and the Irish Water Spaniel are the three breeds of native gun dogs in Ireland. These Irish hunting dogs are known for their intelligence and skills when it comes to catching game, but also make good pets .

Irish Water Spaniels are known for their energy, need for excitement and love of water. Their boisterous way can be sometimes interpreted as clownish, however this breed is very intelligent and well able to act on its own initiative , especially when it comes to hunting.

This is undoubtedly an old Irish breed, but the origins of the Irish Water Spaniel are not clearly known. Irish folklore suggests that this dog is descended from the legendary, supernatural Dobhar-chú , a creature that boasted traits of both dog and otter and lived in the watery depths of Irish lakes and rivers.

However, given the strong Irish connections with Spain through trade down through the centuries, it is not beyond the possibility that the Irish Water Spaniel may have had some Spanish Water Dog ancestors.

The modern breed can be traced back to Ireland in the 1830s and was recognised by the American Kennel Club in 1878 . At the time it was one of the top hunting dogs in the United States.

The Irish Water Spaniel was bred to be an all rounder in relation to its abilities.

Features such as its webbed feet enable it to swim well and it is thought that its hairless tail can also assist with propulsion in water. 

As well as being able to flush out game birds and animals, like other spaniels, Irish Water Spaniels, are eager to please and could be trained to carefully retrieve the quarry and bring it to its owner. 

Irish Water Spaniels have little fear when it comes to water and are enthusiastic and willing to plunge straight into the coldest water as part of a hunt. 

This one of the Irish dog breeds that don’t shed much . The liver colored double coat of the Irish Water Spaniel has been found to be less problematic with people who have allergic reactions and sensitivities to dog hair than other breeds.

Its coat is naturally waterresistant, but needs brushing a few times a week to prevent matting.  

Measuring about 56–61 cm (22 to 24 inches), the Irish Water Spaniel is the largest spaniel and lives to be 10 to 12 years of age . It has a f riendly temperament , but can also be a good guard dog .

This breed needs to be socialized early and responds well to dog training.

Irish Water Spaniel Facts

The Irish Water Spaniel most striking feature is probably its tail, which is hairless except for a few centimeters at the base.

In fact, the smooth tail has given the dog the nickname of “ Rat Tail Spaniel ”.

Other Irish dog names for this breed include “ Shannon Spaniel ”, “ Whiptail Spanie l” or occasionally “ Bog dog ”.

Irish Water Spaniels were very popular show dogs during the 19th century, but they are no longer the one of the most popular dog breeds in Ireland or beyond.

This breed is now considered one of the vulnerable dog breeds native to Ireland. 

Find out more about the character of this unique dog breed in our Irish Water Spaniel Guide .

Irish Red and White Setter is supposed to be one of the best dog breeds for hunting and is the lesser known cousin of the Irish Setter known for its superior hunting skills . 

Gundogs, like the Irish Red and White Setter, were bred specifically for their hunting performance.

They were particularly popular working dogs in the field for Irish gentry in the 19th century due to their suitability for the hunting terrain of Ireland. 

The main role of these dogs was to assist the hunter in the search for game birds.

To do so, they rely on their excellent sense of smell and direct the hunter to where the birds were by pointing with their noses , then remain still while the hunter pursues the game using a gun.

Prior to selective breeding, setters came in a variety of red, as well as red and white colors.

During the 19th century, popularity for the all red colored Setter soared and by the time of World War I, the number of Irish Red and White Setters had fallen so much that they were in danger of dying out. 

Through breeding programs the breed has recovered and has regained some of its popularity as a household pet, but it is still listed as a vulnerable breed .

The coat of the Irish Red and White Setter is silky and does shed, so it needs daily brushing .

Because they are towards the upper end of large Irish dog breeds, the lively Irish Red and White Setters also need plenty of exercise and interaction every day. 

Their hunting instinct remains strong, so it is best to keep their distance from other small pets in a household, such as rabbits. Irish Red and White Setters are usually good with children and are affectionate dogs. These dogs typically have a lifespan of 10 to 12 years. 

In 2009 the Irish Red and White Setter was recognized by the American Kennel Club as an official breed.

Irish Red and Whtie Setter Fact

The coloring of the Irish Red and White Setter is advantageous in the field.

White markings help the dog to stand out from the brown colored vegetation making them easier to spot and thus less likely to get shot at, unlike the other all red Irish Setter.

There is plenty of more fascinating information about this dog breed in our Irish Red and White Setter Dog Breed Guide .

Irish Setter (or Irish Red Setter)

This eye-catching breed is probably one of the most popular of all Irish dog types . Irish Setters have an unmistakable glossy red coat that has a glamorous appeal so it is no surprise that this became a popular show dog.

Is the Irish Setter a hunting dog? Most certainly, yes.

The Irish Setter is a gundog and a descendant of the Irish Red and White Setter. Spaniels are most likely the ancestors to the two Irish Setter breeds.

Hunting conditions in Ireland favored taller, lighter dogs to scrabble over the high vegetation and dogs such as the Irish Setter were well suited for these requirements.

The appeal of these solid red or chestnut colored dogs increased hugely during the latter half of the 19th century , threatening the survival of the similar Irish Red and White Setter. 

While the original purpose of these dogs was to hunt, more and more emphasis was placed on the color of the coat of these dogs rather than on their hunting performance.

In the mid 20th century an attempt was made to ensure that the skills of the working dog were not lost in this breed and some crossbreeding occurred. 

Today working Irish Setters (typically called “ Red Setters ”) who take part in field competitions are typically smaller and lighter than their show dog counterparts (known as “ Irish Red Setters ”).

Their coloring may also be lighter in color and display some white markings on its chest and face.

When it comes to the search for Irish pets, Irish Setters fit well with families , are good with children and make excellent companions , but poor guard dogs .

They are also commonly used as therapy dogs as they are easy to train, respond well to commands and are highly intelligent. As is to be expected with gundogs, they need plenty of walks and space to exercise on a daily basis .

This breed of dog does tend to suffer from gluten intolerance , as well as other health issues such as hip dysplasia and progressive retinal atrophy (PRA).

Irish Setter Facts

Charles Steward Parnell , the Irish nationalist politician, was very fond of this breed of dog, apparently one was even by his bedside as he died. 

Many people in Ireland will be familiar with the dog from advertisements from the national bus company, Bus Éireann , who use the Irish Setter in their logo.

Explore the origins and history, as well as learn about the character and temperament of this breed in our Irish Setter Breed Guide .

More About Dogs from Ireland

What is the best dog breed from Ireland? That is difficult to say and depends on what exactly you are looking for in a dog.

Each one of the nine breeds of Irish dogs have their own unique charms. 

Want to discover more about Irish dog breeds and their fascinating history?

Then the Curious History of Irish Dogs by David Blake Knox is an interesting and insightful read! Full of facts and historical insights into the role these dog breeds had in Irish culture down through the centuries.

We also have another interesting article for dog lovers!

The Irish Doodle Guide covers all about the breed from its characteristics and origins, to what you need to know about the different generations.

Don’t forget that we also have some great ideas for Irish pet names . These are not only suitable for dogs, they also include a range of names for cats from Ireland .

Irish Dogs on the Farm

If you happen to be in Ireland and want to learn more about Ireland’s dogs, then visiting a sheepdog dog demonstration would be an interesting experience for you.

There are several locations around the country where you can view Irish Sheep dogs at work herding the sheep, learn about their role in farming and about Irish Sheepdog breeds. 

For more information and fun facts about some of Ireland’s nature, read our articles on Irish Birds of Prey , Garden Birds in Ireland , Irish Flowers or Native Irish Trees . 

Please note that this article is only for general information purposes about the Irish dog breeds and should not be used as a substitute for canine health information, as well as medical and dog care advice from veterinary specialists. 

(Irish Nature Expert and Celtic Enthusiast from Ireland)

Emer Walker , founder of LetsGoIreland.com , is a Cork native with profound expertise in Irish nature and ecology. Holding a PhD in Restoration Ecology and backed by extensive research in ecological sciences, she’s delved deep into Ireland’s natural wonders, from its rugged landscapes to its serene beaches. Emer’s passion also encompasses Celtic art and traditions. As a true authority on Ireland’s natural and cultural heritage, she invites readers through LetsGoIreland.com to immerse themselves in the authentic Irish experience.

Distrust Dogs Toogood's 'Traveler' Culture

Sept. 27 -- Madelyne Gorman Toogood's videotaped assault on her 4-year-old daughter had another victim: the family's reclusive, often-maligned Irish Traveler culture.

Toogood is a member of a reclusive, nomadic subculture that has survived for more than 150 years with little notice in America, with the exception of law enforcement officials who describe the Irish Travelers as a culture of con men and scam artists.

But others familiar with the Irish Travelers insist they are misunderstood and unfairly maligned, and worry over the impact of the now-infamous videotape of Toogood flailing away at the child in the back of her SUV.

A Centuries-Old, Isolated Culture

Since their ancestors arrived in America along with waves of other Irish immigrants during the Potato Famine of the 1840s, the Travelers have maintained their distinct culture, language and customs with little notice from the outside world.

Estimates of the number of Irish Travelers in America range from 10,000 to 100,000.

The largest groups are based in Texas and South Carolina, but there are also clusters in Mississippi, Georgia and elsewhere. Toogood is believed to be a member of the Greenhorn Carrolls, the Traveler clan based in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Travelers are a nomadic, insular group of laborers who travel most of the year, following the warm weather, experts say. Irish Travelers typically work as roofers, builders, painters and handymen. Most are very religious Roman Catholics.

They are sometimes compared to or confused with Gypsies, but the Travelers are ethnically and culturally distinct from other nomadic groups in Europe.

Because of their small numbers and reluctance to admit outsiders, marriage of first cousins is common, says Jody Rowland, the chief deputy of the Aiken County, S.C., sheriff's department. In the Traveler village outside Aiken, there are only a handful of last names among 3,000 people, he says.

The Travelers speak what is sometimes called a "secret language" — called Cant, Shelta, or Gammon — that is a mixture of Gaelic, English and other languages.

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'It's like we don't exist': London's Gypsies stand up to be counted

New efforts to map Gypsies and Travellers are an attempt to break ‘the last prejudice we allow in this country’

“O ur children haven’t got a chance of getting a pitch. They haven’t got a chance at being able to live their culture,” says Marian Mahoney, an Irish Traveller and grandmother. Mahoney had lived on the same site on Eleanor Street in Tower Hamlets for 37 years until she and her family were cleared out to make room for Crossrail three years ago.

They were moved, along with 19 other families, to a different site in the same area – a rarity in London today, where provision for Gypsies and Travellers has dwindled since legal protections for their sites were removed in 1994. Accessing appropriate housing in the capital is compounded by a fundamental problem: no one knows quite how many of them there are.

“When they’re planning, they don’t include us,” Mahoney says. “I feel that we’re just left out of everything. At the moment there’s no future for us – it’s like we don’t exist.”

First recorded in the UK in the 16th century, Romany Gypsies did not achieve legal status as an ethnic minority until 1989, and Irish Travellers until 2000. The 2011 census was the first to include Gypsy and Traveller as an ethnic category and recorded only 8,196 in London, far fewer than the 30,000 previously estimated by demographic experts. The last intensive London-wide study was conducted by the Fordham Institute in 2008, and put the number at 17,664.

Campaigners have attributed the gulf between estimates and records to a reluctance to self-identify, for fear of discrimination – but the effect has been to make the community invisible. A 2016 report on race inequality in Britain by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found that “the lack of robust data is [a] key challenge to achieving race equality”.

Uncertainty over the community’s size can be “quite convenient” for the local authorities legally obliged to provide pitches and sites, says Ilinca Diaconescu, policy officer at London Gypsies and Travellers (LGT). “There hasn’t really been any centralised monitoring of what has been delivered or what is needed in different boroughs.”

In recent years, a “weak methodology” and a poor understanding of what it means to be a Gypsy or Traveller have allowed local authorities to minimise the numbers they need to worry about, says Diaconescu. In seeking to assess the needs of the community, for instance, consultants often fail to contact those who have already been forced into brick and mortar due to a lack of pitches. This creates a vicious cycle in which fewer people are accounted for and, in turn, provided for.

Natalie Bennett, a Romani Gypsy who campaigns on national housing issues, is adamant that current approaches to the community amount to “a form of ethnic cleansing”. Many councils and public sector workers, she says, still do not “recognise the fact that we are an ethnic minority and an indigenous group, and that our characteristics and culture need to be preserved”.

Last year LGT launched a project to map the city’s community with the help of the charity Mapping for Change . This first stage has pulled together diverse data sets in an attempt to reflect the extent of the housing crisis for Gypsies and Travellers, an issue covered by more than 50% of the calls dealt with by LGT.

LGT hopes the new maps will force London’s councils and the Greater London Authority (GLA) to recognise the huge gaps in official understandings of the community and their needs. They show that while 768 pitches were needed across the capital in the last decade, only 10 new pitches have been provided, while 15% of existing sites have been shut down.

They also reveal where provision has plummeted to nothing since the removal of the legal protections in 1994. Since then, 15% of the local authority stock has been lost. In boroughs such as Enfield and Lewisham, for example, large sites were closed when they fell inside local regeneration schemes in the late 90s, leading to bitter legal disputes and the eviction of families from pitches they had been on for decades.

Recent changes in the legal status of Gypsies and Travellers pose a new threat to the community’s efforts to preserve their way of life. The 2016 Housing and Planning Act removed councils’ legal obligation to carry out accommodation needs assessments for the community, previously enshrined in 2004’s Housing Act. It also scrapped specific protections for those with a “cultural tradition of nomadism or of living in a caravan”, building on a 2015 planning policy revision which changed the definition of Gypsies and Travellers to include only those who are travelling permanently.

This change was designed to prevent the community getting planning permission on green belt land, a politically contentious issue in some UK cities. But in London where, unusually, the majority of pitches are on council-owned land, the redefinition had the effect of wiping out local authorities’ responsibility to provide pitches overnight. “In some boroughs, there’d be 12 pitches required, and that dropped to zero with no actual change in the makeup of the population,” explains Louise Francis, co-founder of Mapping for Change.

“It was the government imposing their misunderstanding of what Gypsies and Travellers are on the whole community,” says Diaconescu. “The definition really didn’t show any recognition of what it is to be a Gypsy or Traveller in 2015. In our day and age, particularly in places like London, where there aren’t any vacant pitches or stopping places, it’s really impossible to lead that kind of lifestyle, even if you wanted to or had the opportunity to travel for work.”

Mahoney used to travel, but settled in Tower Hamlets in 1980 so that her four children could go to school; she now has 12 grandchildren. The changes in legislation were a factor in her decision, she says. “They made us come off the roads with their laws – they took that life away from us. It’s up to them to provide the tools that help us adapt to the 21st century, and still be able to live our culture.”

The EHRC is trying to challenge the redefinition on a number of different grounds, including that it is discriminatory to people who cannot travel due to disability or long-term illness, but so far they have been unsuccessful.

The mapping project, however, has succeeded in getting the GLA to recognise the size and needs of the community: the maps were included in a paper written alongside the new London Plan released last month. The plan lays out a far wider definition of the community to include those now living in brick and mortar and those who have ceased to travel. It calls on boroughs to carry out new needs assessments with stronger methodology and cites the higher figure of 30,000 Gypsies and Travellers living in the capital. If approved by central government after consultation, the scheme would be a “very significant” step forward for the community, says Diaconescu.

The next phase of the mapping project will tackle discrimination directly, by inviting Gypsies and Travellers to share their experiences in an attempt to break the silence over what Mahoney calls “the very last prejudice we allow in this country”.

“Local authorities are quite complacent when it comes to prejudice against Gypsies and Travellers,” says Bennett, describing her experience in setting up a site in Nottinghamshire. “When we applied for our planning permission on our land we had people writing in saying, ‘How are we going to stop these people from breeding?’ And that was allowed to go up on the council’s website.”

Using the interactive map, members of the community will be able to compare experiences with different organisations, and to share information on service provision. “It helps people to mobilise when they can see that it’s not just them who’s being discriminated against or treated badly,” says Diaconescu. The organisations expect to launch a beta version in April.

Later this year, a final set of maps will chart the history and culture of the community within the capital, including historical stopping places and small businesses.

Their aim is to counter the prevailing narrative that these groups are outsiders, or just a problem for local authorities. “It’s important because there’s this idea that Gypsies and Travellers aren’t really a part of the city,” says Diaconescu. “But really they have been for generations.”

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‘We have glamorous weddings. We don’t treat death any differently’: Ireland’s first Traveller funeral director

He has met president michael d higgins and king charles but ian mcdonagh (22) gets nervous approaching bouncers in pubs and clubs.

Ian McDonagh: 'Even though I am educated and I am in college and I work and I pay my taxes, because I am a member of the Travelling community I am judged for someone else’s actions.' Photograph: Joe O'Shaughnessy

He has been a guest of President Michael D Higgins, introduced to King Charles and just last week was in Leinster House to tell an Oireachtas committee of his experiences.

But 22-year-old Ian McDonagh still gets a knot in his stomach every time he socialises with friends as he dreads the embarrassment of being turned away from pubs and late-night venues.

The Galway native was just 12 when he embraced politics, lobbying successfully on issues such as the need for speed ramps and action on illegal dumping in his neighbourhood.

The only reason he is not running in next month’s local elections is that just four weeks ago he and his wife, Ciara, became parents when Martin Joe was born. But he is adamant that in time he will contest not only local and general elections but will also run for the Áras.

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The first member of the Traveller community to become a funeral director and embalmer, McDonagh is hoping other Travellers and members of ethnic minorities will follow him into an industry which he believes is undergoing a big shake-up.

“I think we are moving away from the local auctioneer or the local republican being the local funeral director. There is new blood coming into the industry and I think it is a welcome because the newer generation is educating themselves in the field of embalming and funeral directing,” he says.

[  Hatred towards Travellers ‘has gone through the roof’, Senator tells committee  ]

His own interest was sparked when he worked in a nursing home during the Covid pandemic and, aged 18, was helping to lay out the deceased, often people who he had got to know well as a healthcare assistant.

“I didn’t mind. I took them on their last journey,” he says.

He enrolled on an embalming course at the Co Sligo-based Irish College of Funeral Directing and Embalming, founded by David McGowan, the undertaker who in 2016 made international headlines when he transported a Boeing 767 to a glamping site in Enniscrone.

McDonagh, who is also doing a funeral directing course with the Irish Funeral Directors Association, is proud that in 2020 he got his Leaving Cert. He implored the Oireachtas Committee on Key Issues affecting Travellers to examine why only 13 per cent of Traveller children complete second-level education, compared with 92 per cent among the general population, and why only 1 per cent go on to college.

He believes discrimination is a factor, with many parents slow to encourage their children to persevere at school because they are so conscious of the high suicide rates.

“Suicide is seven times higher in my community than in the general population,” he says.

Ian McDonagh: 'Within the Traveller community, when death occurs within a family, we gather like bees to a beehive.' Photograph: Joe O'Shaughnessy

“We are all painted with the same brush. Even though I am educated and I am in college and I work and I pay my taxes, because I am a member of the Travelling community I am judged for someone else’s actions. Somebody could do something in a different county [someone] that I may not know and I am still held accountable for their actions because the view is ‘they are all the same’.”

McDonagh, who has set up his own company, Grá Funeral Care, is all too aware of the controversy when it comes to the size of some Traveller headstones and monuments, perceived as “monstrosities” by some in the settled community.

“Within our community death is an event but a sad event. We have glamorous weddings and we don’t treat death any differently. We have glamorous funerals,” he says. “Within the Traveller community, when death occurs within a family, we gather like bees to a beehive.”

Given the suicide rates among Travellers and the shorter lifespan for both men and women, he says people should be cautious about criticising those who are grieving.

“The last thing people need when news breaks that their loved one has passed – whether by natural death or by suicide – is the racist comments that come with it from the public,” he says. “When we suffer a loss and it is put on Facebook, the comments under it are a disgrace from people who know nothing about the person. Some people think it is okay to sit behind a keyboard and type what they want, but that one comment could make another person commit suicide.”

I might be just finished a funeral and pop into a shop in my full suit and you would see staff members following you around. I never robbed in my life. Until you question it, it will keep happening

His view is that if a person erects a big headstone, as long as it is not invading another family’s space, it should be permitted.

“The way I look at it, people build small houses and other people build big houses and it is the same with headstones,” he says.

Within the Travelling community, the entire community rallies when there is a death, he says. “No one person is left with the bill. The bill is split among the family. These people start planning the minute they lay their loved one in the ground. They have a year to save for this headstone.”

He believes the figures quoted when people question how the monuments are paid for are “massively exaggerated”, with estimates such as €100,000 being common.

“People say that but they actually don’t know how much they cost,” he says.

The young funeral director accepts that there may be competition when it comes to the size of headstones. “But there is competition in all walks of life,” he says.

[  ‘Careless racism’ about Travellers in Ireland needs to be confronted, rights chief says  ]

McDonagh has been fortunate enough to have encountered inspiring teachers along the way who made him believe he could achieve anything. He cites Galway Independent councillor Colette Connolly, sister of the TD Catherine Connolly; and Ruth Sheridan, who was in Merlin College when as a student there he became the first Traveller to enter and win a prize at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition.

President Higgins wrote to him and his new wife congratulating them on their wedding last year – and he received a letter from Buckingham Palace after meeting Charles and Camilla, but in his day-to-day life McDonagh is always on the alert for discrimination.

“I see it every day. I might be just finished a funeral and pop into a shop in my full suit and you would see staff members following you around,” he says. “I never robbed in my life. Until you question it, it will keep happening.”

He has encountered bouncers on nights out with settled friends or workmates who single him out and won’t allow him in.

“I would have a pain in my stomach going to the door, thinking will I be refused. They won’t say it is because you are a Traveller because they are smart and they know the law,” he says. “I won’t cause a scene. I will ask the question and if they don’t answer, I will walk away.”

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• Peaky Blinders

Johnny Dogs

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Johnny Dogs  (1884-) was a Northern Irish gypsy and a member of the Lee Family and Peaky Blinders gangs of Birmingham , England during the early 20th century.

Biography [ ]

Johnny Dogs in 1919

Johnny Dogs was born in Northern Ireland , United Kingdom in 1884 to a family of Irish Travellers , and he befriended Tommy Shelby during their youths. He joined the Lee Family gang during World War I , staying at home while Shelby fought in the British Army in France . In 1919, they reunited at a horse race, where Dogs lost a bet to Shelby, giving him a horse in exchange for a spin in his car. However, their meeting turned violent when Shelby confronted Dogs' fellow Lee Family members for laughing at his brother Arthur , to which they responded by calling his mother a "Diddicoy whore". Dogs stayed out of the ensuing fight, during which the Shelbys used their razor-lined hats to attack the Lees. Dogs later presided over the marriage of John Shelby to Esme Lee to settle the dispute and make peace between the families. In 1922, he joined the Shelbys' Peaky Blinders gang, assisting him with the bombing of Field Marshal Henry Russell 's house, and, in 1924, burning Anton Kaledin 's body.

• 1 Hotep Jesus
• 2 Conrado Higuera Sol
• 3 Horacio Carrillo