Travellers; Nomads of Ireland
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"Did you know that Gypsies, Masai and Bedouins are some of the Nomads of the world? Some move to find pasture for their animals, like the Masai in Africa. Others move to buy and sell and go to markets and fairs. They're called commercial nomads. We Travellers are traditionally commercial nomads. So are the Gypsies in England and around Europe. Some nomads are on the move all the time. Others might stay in the same place for years and years, depending on how they are getting on there. When many settled people think of nomads, they think that they are people who lead an exciting, carefree lifestyle, somewhere to the east, and far away from Ireland.
"This very rosy picture of how nomads live could hardly be further from the truth. The nomadic, or travelling, way of life has been misunderstood almost everywhere. But as well as being misunderstood, attempts have been made to put an end to it. Over the centuries there have been several attempts to literally kill us all off. An estimated 250,000 Gypsies were killed in the Nazi camps of World War II. Even today, nomads continue to suffer - more of them die in childhood, those who survive don't live to be as old as settled people. This is because our nomadic way of life is not accepted by society and living conditions tend to be very harsh, with few facilities or services.