I'm a settled traveller (ask me anything)

scopper

Until today I'd managed to avoid most of the traveller threads. I see them, sort of know what to expect, and avoid them. However, given the speed that the recent one seemed to generate responses I got curious.

My story is relatively simple. I grew up on the road - mostly in Wicklow/Wexford - before we settled (illegally) in Tallaght where I attended school (St. Marks). I attended college (IT Tallaght) and decided to settle (legally) in Old Bawn when I turned 22. I've been settled since then and am currently 28. By no means would I consider myself highly educated, but I would call myself educated to the assumed standards of our society.

Re: the most obvious questions regarding criminality...yes, we had our well-known criminal elements. The community would have regarded them the same way settled folk do i.e. the scumbag element that ruin the area. Oftentimes they just appeared bigger in number because the community is smaller. So it's like a compact society and what outsiders tend to see are the bad element since they are the ones wasting around all day whilst the good ones are either working or 'working' (as in off the books, maybe on welface, but making cash - hardly unknown amongst settled people in many areas of Dublin).

Anyway, my two cents. What do we call ourselves? Travellers. Not tinkers (!). Pavee for maybe those who identify with a certain history. Mostly though we call each other by our own names...

lkionm

Is the grass greener on the other side?

scopper

lkionm wrote: »

Is the grass greener on the other side?

It is common knowledge that it is not

MadsL

Good luck OP. I know you will need it. I hope AH shows itself capable of mature discussion, but this is AH after all.

BBDBB

Call yourselves what you want

no skin off my nose either way

Blatter

What would you estimate the ratio between scumbag travellers and 'decent' ones?

How common is domestic violence and abuse of animals in the travelling community, in your experience?

Did you ever report a fellow traveller for illegal activities?

Mr Whirly

Is there any animosity between settled travelers and non settled travelers?

ColeTrain

Do you like The Simpsons?

Spudmonkey

Can you speak Kant, and if you can, give us a few words!

KKkitty

Do you get sick of the ignorance towards Travellers?

cson

Dya like dags?

blow69

Out of curiosity, why did you become settled? How did you go about doing it?
And was it easy to settle?

Karl Stein

Jam or Marmalade?

scopper

Blatter wrote: »

What would you estimate the ratio between scumbag travellers and 'decent' ones?

How common is domestic violence and abuse of animals in the travelling community, in your experience?

(1) Maybe a little higher than usual (being honest), but I'd say 3/4 decent, 1/4 not so decent. But I would say that since the communities are small the influence of the quarter is high. You will often get families under the thumb/influence or just scared of the headcases.

(2) Domestic violence is maybe a little higher. I didn't see it so much, but indirectly you would (as in through chatter). Abuse of animals; amongst the scum element very high. Amongst everyone else non-existent.

Juniorhurler

Can you ever see yourself going back to the road?

mikom

MadsL wrote: »

Good luck OP. I know you will need it. I hope AH shows itself capable of mature discussion, but this is AH after all.

Tarring everyone with the same brush MadsL.........

IrishExpat

I was about to pack it in, but just one question. Based on real experience in the local area, and not on a thrown-about stereotype.

Fine, it is the culture to travel and set-up where the land is suitable;
but as the settled community see it, there is rarely any pride-of-place, in terms of rubbish left behind and the cost of the clean-up has to be picked up by someone.

Is it just lack of respect for a temporary site/local area, or is there more to it? It seems to be the main gripe.

scopper

Mr Whirly wrote: »

Is there any animosity between settled travelers and non settled travelers?

Not really. They wouldn't come in to contact much. I would say settled travellers look down a little on non settled and non settled think settled ones soft.

Osborne

What is your opinion on the TV show "My big fat gyspy wedding"? Do you believe it has had a negative or positive affect on the way the travelling community is perceived? Also, does it it represent a true reflection of the travelling community's way of life?

scopper

KKkitty wrote: »

Do you get sick of the ignorance towards Travellers?

I sort of stopped thinking about. Because people know by the accent I am one I don't hear it in real life. Online is different, but online everyone seems to hate everything.

Gatling

mikom wrote: »

Tarring everyone with the same brush MadsL.........

MadsL dittin da natin natin isay ask memaaaamy

Mech1

we are thinking about moving to Old Bawn, whats the best bin company to go for (price / quality) and do you get a brown bin?

scopper

blow69 wrote: »

Out of curiosity, why did you become settled? How did you go about doing it?
And was it easy to settle?

I didn't like the lifestyle. When I went to Uni I was basically living like a settled person and preferred it. Nothing to stop a traveller doing it. It's your own decision. My family would have been a little disappointed. Sort of like giving up the tradition, etc. But once it happened they were fine. It was easy since I liked it more anyway.

emo72

Do you go out with settled girls? Or is that frowned upon? Why do the girls never go out with settled lads? And finally do you know piebald Luke from Wexford?

scopper

Juniorhurler wrote: »

Can you ever see yourself going back to the road?

Hmm...it depends. I'd like to do it if I could afford some real time off. Maybe later in life, but I'd never do it permanently. Maybe more than a non-traveller would.

MadsL

mikom wrote: »

Tarring everyone with the same brush MadsL.........

Yes. But I sanitise it before applying it to each poster.

scopper

IrishExpat wrote: »

Is it just lack of respect for a temporary site/local area, or is there more to it? It seems to be the main gripe.

There is usually uproar about this in the community where one or two family is wrecking the area. Keep in mind most people do not want to live in it. If you see a cleanup up close you'll notice the rubbish builds up around where only a few caravans were. Most families hate that this is associated with travellers.

donvito99

What's the capital of Mongolia?

Hint : it's not Rathkeale

scopper

Osborne wrote: »

What is your opinion on the TV show "My big fat gyspy wedding"? Do you believe it has had a negative or positive affect on the way the travelling community is perceived? Also, does it it represent a true reflection of the travelling community's way of life?

I would say they seem to work hard to pick the 'chav' type families out of the mix for ratings. I wouldn't recognize it as how I grew up or what life is like as a traveller at all. But i wouldn't say it is made up. Just that they know what they are doing to sensationalize.

What are you studying at Uni?

Timmyctc

What'd ye do yer PHD in?

scopper

emo72 wrote: »

Do you go out with settled girls? Or is that frowned upon? Why do the girls never go out with settled lads? And finally do you know piebald Luke from Wexford?

Frowned upon, but not strongly. Sort of like your racist da wanting you to see a white girl. But he won't go made if you see a black one really. My gf is a fellow settled traveller that I met when I was 17. So that would maybe be a very traveller thing. But it was mostly cos we fit.

I know Luke :P

emo72

scopper wrote: »

There is usually uproar about this in the community where one or two family is wrecking the area. Keep in mind most people do not want to live in it. If you see a cleanup up close you'll notice the rubbish builds up around where only a few caravans were. Most families hate that this is associated with travellers.

Great thread. Stick around scooper. Places like labre park are a mess. Gets cleaned up, then its a mess again.

I am pie

Watching various documentaries we are given the impression that fighting, i.e. organised bare knuckle matches, is an acceptable form of dispute resolution.

Is it hyped up for good viewing or quite prevalent?

What is the travellers perception of the environment, do they fel compelled to protect it?

Fair play for sticking your head up here!

meoklmrk91

What do you think of the work of Pavee Point?

Recent enough statistics have shown that 85% of the adult travelling community are on social welfare benefits, what do you think can be done to change this? Is getting work as a traveller as hard as those who do try say it is?

scopper

I am pie wrote: »

Watching various documentaries we are given the impression that fighting, i.e. organised bare knuckle matches, is an acceptable form of dispute resolution.

Is it hyped up for good viewing or quite prevalent?

What is the travellers perception of the environment, do they fel compelled to protect it?

Fair play for sticking your head up here!

Organized bare knuckle fighting would be a sort of traditional thing for certain families. They do seem to sort disputes that way, but it's not common in my own circles.

The environment...hmm, it's maybe a more old school view of practical use of the land and not being too 'city' or urban.

Cody Pomeray

scopper wrote: »

Until today I'd managed to avoid most of the traveller threads. I see them, sort of know what to expect, and avoid them. However, given the speed that the recent one seemed to generate responses I got curious.

I know from my local experience of some travellers who seem to have turned their back on their identity altogether, Is this common in your opinion?

How do you, or other travellers, feel about travellers, or their descendants, who deny or hide their traveller identity?

And what do you think is the future for travellers? Will they be around in 100 years?

Meangadh

Hey OP,

Fair play to you for starting the thread. Just wondering, are you male or female? I ask because I'm a secondary school teacher and it breaks my heart to see the level of education amongst the traveller students in my school. I teach all girls and most of them have left school after the Junior Cert, barely able to read and write (their attendance is awful) and pretty soon after they've left school, they're married- and next comes the kids.

Is it just assumed that this is the way it is for traveller girls? How was it that you managed to continue in education? I'd love to find a way to encourage these girls to stay in school, but I know they are under pressure from their families too to leave. Are the girls and women very much made to do what they are told?

emo72

scopper wrote: »

Frowned upon, but not strongly. Sort of like your racist da wanting you to see a white girl. But he won't go made if you see a black one really. My gf is a fellow settled traveller that I met when I was 17. So that would maybe be a very traveller thing. But it was mostly cos we fit.

I know Luke :P

I think everyone knows Luke! Do a bit of dealing with him myself. Is there a higher concentration of travellers from Wexford? Maybe it's the weather that attracts them, and they are all Connors!

Calhoun

I'm not going to sugar coat it I haven't got allot of respect for your people, due to experience and observations in the past , I've seen to much of negative things happen to believe its a minority and feel there are allot of educated travellers who spend allot of time playing the racial line to excuse bahior.

However I want to believe my mind can be changed and not just write off a whole sub culture within Ireland . What do you think can be done to bridge the divide between both settle non- travellers and travellers of all kind .

scopper

Meangadh wrote: »

Is it just assumed that this is the way it is for traveller girls? How was it that you managed to continue in education? I'd love to find a way to encourage these girls to stay in school, but I know they are under pressure from their families too to leave. Are the girls and women very much made to do what they are told?

Male. I would say many traveller girls buy into a traditionalist lifestyle and whilst they are not discouraged to stop their education the assumption is that they won't continue on. So it's a soft pressure from all sides; not just families, but friends (who have left and are 'free') and that would be for me the bad part of the traditionalism. I would not say they are told to do this and that. In the end as a traveller you can always do what you want in the end. It's just that everyone will be disappointed with you and you might find it hard to keep up your reputation. In my case as a man it was easier and so the pressure is not so strong. Most of the guys would not have been interested in education though.

scopper

Calhoun wrote: »

However I want to believe my mind can be changed and not just write off a whole sub culture within Ireland . What do you think can be done to bridge the divide between both settle non- travellers and travellers of all kind .

I honestly don't know. There is suspicious on both sides in that settled people fear travellers - based soundly on the criminal element - and the decent travellers fear being percieved as criminals so won't mix too much. It's a catch 22.

AlekSmart

scopper wrote: »

(1) Maybe a little higher than usual (being honest), but I'd say 3/4 decent, 1/4 not so decent. But I would say that since the communities are small the influence of the quarter is high. You will often get families under the thumb/influence or just scared of the headcases.

(2) Domestic violence is maybe a little higher. I didn't see it so much, but indirectly you would (as in through chatter). Abuse of animals; amongst the scum element very high. Amongst everyone else non-existent.

This is my own particular area of interest Scopper.

This "Headcase" element,is I suggest expanding rapidly within Traveller culture,where unlike in the outside world,the forces of Law and Order have virtually no ability to gain intelligence on it.

The Gardai,for all of their detractors,manage to keep quite tight tabs on the activities of organized criminal gangs,but lack the same ability to infiltrate the Traveller gangs.

The relative success of Garda anti-gang operations has allowed Traveller based gangs to prosper and fill the vacuum's left by the many high profile success in recent times.

Would you consider that these elements actually present a greater threat to the fabric of Traveller Society itself as well as to the outside world ?

darlett

(a) Is there such a thing as Traveller cuisine? I suppose supply and demand dictate a need to conform to the standard fare of other Irish people, but is there such a thing as traditional grub in the community?

I guess what Im asking is do ye eat much in the way of nettle soup...

(b) Do you consider yourself Irish Traveller, or Traveller? Do you find a connect with sporting events/political issues of the day? Did you sit around with a few beers cheering watching Katie Taylor beat up another chick as a lot of us did?

(c) Only a handful of Travellers per year have made it through the education system to your level. Did you attend a normalised secondary school? If so were you able to make friends outside your community or did you feel there was a stigma on visiting friends or them visiting you.

(d) Do you feel employers give you a fair shot? Do you feel you have to mask your Traveller background to get around this?

(e) Fair play to you! And in AH of all places

HurtLocker

How do travellers make money?

I don't know where but apparently there's a town where they have their summer houses which are huge. You wouldn't know where? I think its around its Roscommon not sure.

Fr_Dougal

Have you ever been in trouble with the law?

I am pie

Do travellers identify with being from a particular county? Would you have any feeling for being from wicklow or wexford? Is there any kind of leadership figures who would unite travellers in Ireland & England or are loyalties only with extended families?

Calhoun

scopper wrote: »

I honestly don't know. There is suspicious on both sides in that settled people fear travellers - based soundly on the criminal element - and the decent travellers fear being percieved as criminals so won't mix too much. It's a catch 22.

There is a perception that travellers close ranks when in trouble even the supposedly non criminal types , like that famous race on the pony and trap things down in cork and Kerry on a busy road. Pavee point nearly went as far as excusing it as tradition .

Do travellers believe in the rule of law in Ireland ? If so would it not be better for the traveller groups to be more vocal in condemnation.

scopper

AlekSmart wrote: »

Would you consider that these elements actually present a greater threat to the fabric of Traveller Society itself as well as to the outside world ?

Very much so. I always like to say it's just like if you lived in a small town but there was a new generation of hardcore scumbags. Everyone then says the town is awful, the guards won't help, and so what happens...well you are at the mercy of these guys. I mean it's the basic idea that the majority of people, travellers included, want a decent life. But sometimes it is hard to get out of a vicious circle especially when education, etc. is below bar. (this is not to blame society, just the facts).

emo72

**** me. He'll be up all night with this thread!

woodoo

scopper wrote: »

Not really. They wouldn't come in to contact much. I would say settled travellers look down a little on non settled and non settled think settled ones soft.

Do you ever see a day when all travellers would settle