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Mincéir is our true name in our own language i.e. Cant/Gammon, Traveller is a term put onto us because of our nomadic identity. Throughout history, varied terminology was used to describe us such as ‘Tinker/Tynkr’, ‘Itinerant’, and ‘Gypsy’.
The first mention of us is in the 5th century where we are called 'whitesmiths' because of our association with tin-smithing. However, our history is largely unrecorded, partly due to our oral tradition and state historical neglect.
Almost immediately after the establishment of the new 'Irish Free State' government officials concentrated on State building. Since the land was needed by the State to build upon, more and more of our traditional camping grounds were disrupted by the local gàrda and council.
As early as the1930s, conflicts of land usage became the main dispute between us and the sedentary population.
Previous to the new ‘Irish Free State’, Irish people were portrayed as nomads, beggars, ignorant, uneducated, backward, superstitious, drunk and violent people, a discourse which was entirely transferred onto us.
Our nomadism was a constant reminder of the past and there was no room for us in a new Ireland, the dominant populace were embarrassed with their past and wanted to show case a new national image that moves away from the old stereotypical image.
For that element of the past to be eliminated it was imperative to rid Ireland of nomadism and settlement became a vital operation. As State building and nationalism continued to expand we began to feel the burden of society’s attitude towards us and our nomadic existence.
Public housing was at the top of the agenda in social policies and a total of 48,875 public houses were constructed between 1933 and 1943.
Nomadism was frowned upon and attitudes to us got worse. By 1961 numerous local authorities had received many tenancy applications by Mincéirs (before forced settlement) and...
Many families were taken off the list on the basis that the council was not prepared to house families of the ‘itinerant’ class.
