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Irish Travellers
Traditionally nomadic people of ethnic Irish origin
This article is about Irish Travellers living in Ireland, Britain and North America. For the UK census classification, see White Gypsy or Irish Traveller. For Roma people living in Ireland who are similarly known by the derogatory colloquial name "Gypsy", see Romani people in Ireland. For other uses, see Traveler (disambiguation).
Despite often being incorrectly referred to as "Gypsies",[7] Irish Travellers are not genetically related to the Roma people, who are of Indo-Aryan origin.[10][11] Genetic analysis has shown Irish Travellers to be of Irish extraction, and that they likely diverged from the settled Irish population in the 1600s, probably during the time of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. Centuries of cultural isolation have led Travellers to become genetically distinct from the settled Irish.[12] Traveller rights groups have long advocated for ethnic status from the Irish government, succeeding in 2017.[13]
Irish Traveller communities are located in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.[14] As of 2016, there were 32,302 Travellers within Ireland.[15] They represent 0.7% of the total population of the Republic of Ireland.[16] There are different estimates about the size of the total population of people with Traveller ancestry, because many people of Traveller descent do not declare themselves Travellers. The United Kingdom alone is believed to be home to up to 300,000 Roma and Traveller people (including Romanichal).[17] The British Government considers Travellers resident in the UK to form part of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) community.[18]