What are the differences between irish travellers and irish Gypsies?
Irish Travellers (Irish: Lucht siúil) are a traditionally nomadic people of Irish origin living predominantly in Ireland, Great Britain and the United States. In Ireland and in Britain, Travellers are often referred to as “gypsies” “diddycoy”, “tinkers” or “knackers” (although many now consider these terms offensive). These terms refer to services that were traditionally provided by the Travellers—tinkering (or tinsmithing) being the mending of tin ware such as pots and pans, and knackering being the acquisition of dead or old horses for slaughter. Irish Travellers are sometimes referred to as Gypsies in Ireland and in Britain (the term more accurately refers to the Roma people, represented in Britain by the Romanichal and Kale). Irish Travellers are recognised in British law as an ethnic group. Ireland, however, does not recognise them as an ethnic group; rather, their legal status is that of a “social group”. The historical origins of Travellers as a group has been a subject of acade
