Article originally spoke of a "nomadic people", but I think that's misleading.
Also, the article seems to be mostly a summary of the advocacy website. It needs a bit of balance.
Also, the claim that Travellers are "distinct" needs some more explanation. How are they different from other Irish, aside from their desire to move about rather than remain settled?
--Ed Poor
- They are distinct in look (a product of dietary limitations and its impact on body shape, skin quality, overall health, etc), in social characteristics (large families, high rate of inter-marriage and early death), in speech mannerisms (whereas most people in Ireland have a dialect based on physical location, their community has a set of speech mannerisms unique to it, with its own language and indeed distinctive usage of english), in educational experience (because of the constant degree of travel, traveller children spent less time in one set school and so generally have a lower rate of educational attainment, often missing much of the school year as they travel around the country. Most Traveller children leave school between 12 and 15 years of age). FearÉIREANN
The name "Irish Traveller" is well-established for these people. They are not a movement -- they are a people, with a clearly defined culture. The Irish Travellers' Movement, on the other hand is a political pressure group that tries to push for recognition of the rights of the Irish Travellers.
- Please provide evidence for the distinctness of this "people". I am adding sources for some of the claims you have made.
- Also, I will try to reduce the redundancy between the traveller and traveller movement articles. --Ed Poor
This is an interesting topic, and I thank the anonymous contributor who began the article. I was initially confused about the "movement" vs. the people, but apparently the ITM is an umbrella organization advocating on behalf of Travellers. --Ed Poor
You're welcome. -- Anon.
From traveller:
Traveller can also refer to people of Ireland (and their decendants in Great Britain and the United States) who have no fixed place of residence and who, in decades past, were often travelling tinsmiths. There is no exact estimate of the number of travellers, but they do number in the tens of thousands.
Links:
I'm no linguist, but the use of the word 'jargon' in the following sentence seems incorrect..."The Shelta language is the traditional language of the Irish Travellers, adapted as a jargon from the Irish language." 'Dialect' or 'dervative', maybe? ike9898 14:21, Mar 1, 2004 (UTC)