Who Are Ethnic Gypsy and Traveller Communities?

“Traveller” is not one ethnicity, one culture or one community.

It is an umbrella term used by governments, services and organisations to group together people with different histories, identities, languages and relationships with travelling.

Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC centres three broad ethnic communities:

  • Romani Gypsies
  • Irish Travellers
  • Scottish Gypsy Travellers

These descriptions are not always the words families use for themselves.

Identity belongs to communities and families—not to government forms, researchers or service providers. People must be allowed to describe themselves in the way that reflects their own family history, language, kinship and sense of belonging.

Every banner contains many communities

Even apparently specific terms such as “Romani Gypsy”, “Irish Traveller” or “Scottish Gypsy Traveller” can contain many smaller communities.

Differences can be shaped by:

  • Family and kinship
  • Geography and traditional travelling areas
  • Language and dialect
  • Religious traditions
  • Historical occupations
  • Patterns of marriage and migration
  • Experiences of settlement and assimilation
  • The names families use for themselves

There is no single Gypsy or Traveller experience.

Shared ethnicity does not mean every family has the same history, practices, beliefs or identity. Respect begins by asking people who they are—not telling them which category they fit.

Romani Gypsies

Romani Gypsies are a distinct ethnic people with centuries of history in Britain.

People may describe themselves as Romani, Romany, English Gypsy, Welsh Gypsy, Romanichal, English Traveller or by another name connected to their family and history.

Some families speak or retain elements of Rumness, Romani or Angloromani. These are predominantly oral languages and can vary considerably between families and areas.

Not every Romani Gypsy person will use the same words for their ethnicity or language. That difference does not make one family’s identity more authentic than another’s.

Romani Gypsy identity is not determined by whether somebody currently travels, lives on a site, owns a caravan or lives in bricks-and-mortar accommodation.

Culture, family, language, ancestry and belonging do not disappear when somebody’s address changes.

Irish Travellers

Irish Travellers are a distinct ethnic people originating in Ireland, with their own traditions, family structures, history and language.

Families may use names including Irish Traveller, Traveller, Pavee or Mincéir. Some speak or retain Cant, Gammon or Shelta, with words and forms differing between families.

Irish Travellers are not Irish people who happen to travel, and they are not a branch of the Romani Gypsy community.

Genetic research has confirmed an ancestral Irish origin for Irish Travellers and found no particular genetic connection with European Roma populations. It also suggests that Traveller and settled Irish populations began diverging before the Great Famine—possibly centuries earlier.

The research does not support the old claim that Irish Travellers were simply settled people forced onto the road by the Great Famine.

Academic, health and community sources increasingly describe Irish Travellers as an indigenous ethnic people of Ireland. The evidence strongly supports deep Irish ancestry, a distinct community history and a cultural identity developed within Ireland.

Genetics alone does not determine indigeneity or decide who belongs. However, the research strengthens what Irish Traveller families have long said: they are not failed settled people, recent migrants or an imitation of another travelling community. They are a distinct people rooted in Ireland.

Scottish Gypsy Travellers

“Scottish Gypsy Traveller” is itself a broad umbrella. It should not be treated as though every family beneath it has one origin or identity.

Some families identify as Scottish Travellers, Scottish Gypsies, Nackens or Nawkens. Some identify specifically as Indigenous Highland Travellers. Their histories, languages and traditional travelling areas are deeply rooted in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s archival research recognises that Scottish Gypsy Traveller identity is collectively self-determined. It cannot be measured by a surname, genetic test, current lifestyle or whether somebody still practises particular traditions.

A major genetic study published in 2026 found Scottish Travellers to be genetically distinct from settled Scottish and Irish populations, Irish Travellers, English Gypsies and European Roma. It also found deep shared ancestry with settled Scots and distinct groups within the Scottish Traveller sample.

Researchers and community commentators have described these findings as evidence of deep indigenous roots in Scotland.

However, this is not the only Gypsy or Traveller history found in Scotland.

There are also Scottish families who identify as Romani or Romany Gypsies. Some speak or retain Rumness, Scots Romani or other Romani-derived language forms. Their histories may connect with Romani families across Scotland, England and the Borders.

There has also been movement, marriage and cultural exchange between Indigenous Scottish Traveller, Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveller families.

These histories may overlap, but they should not be collapsed into one story.

The correct identity is the one used by the family themselves.

Ethnicity is not a lifestyle

One of the most damaging misunderstandings is that Gypsy and Traveller identity depends on travelling.

It does not.

A person does not stop being Romani Gypsy, Irish Traveller or Scottish Gypsy Traveller because they:

  • Live in a house
  • Stop travelling
  • Do not own a caravan
  • Work in a settled occupation
  • Attend school or university
  • Marry outside their immediate community
  • Do not speak a traditional language
  • Do not fit somebody else’s idea of what a Gypsy or Traveller should look like

Ethnicity is carried through identity, ancestry, culture, family and belonging—not somebody’s current accommodation.

Equality law and planning law are different

Romani Gypsies and Irish Travellers are recognised as ethnic groups protected from race discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

Scottish Gypsy Travellers are recognised by the Scottish Government as an ethnic group and are protected from ethnic discrimination.

These protections do not depend on whether somebody currently travels.

Planning policy uses a separate definition when considering Traveller sites. That definition must not be confused with ethnicity or protection from race discrimination.

A planning policy cannot decide whether somebody is ethnically Gypsy or Traveller.

Why PGT does not simply say “GRT”

“Gypsy, Roma and Traveller”, usually shortened to GRT, places several distinct communities under one convenient label.

Roma communities have their own identities, migration histories and experiences. They should not be treated as interchangeable with Romani Gypsies in Britain simply because the words sound similar or share wider historical roots.

Other people described as Travellers—including New Travellers, travelling showpeople, circus communities and boat dwellers—may experience prejudice or accommodation difficulties. However, travelling for lifestyle or economic reasons is not the same as belonging to an ethnic Gypsy or Traveller people.

PGT’s core work centres Romani Gypsies, Irish Travellers and Scottish Gypsy Travellers and the different ethnic communities brought together under these umbrellas.

We also recognise ethnic Gypsy and Traveller families whose identities do not fit neatly into official government labels.

We will not erase those differences for the convenience of services, researchers or funders.

Language and self-identification matter

Ask people how they describe themselves.

Do not decide their identity from their surname, appearance, accent, address or accommodation.

Organisations should:

  • Allow people to self-identify
  • Record the identity they actually give
  • Explain why ethnicity information is being collected
  • Recognise identities that do not fit standard monitoring boxes
  • Avoid treating “Traveller” as shorthand for behaviour
  • Never use Gypsy or Traveller language as an insult
  • Understand why previous racism may make people reluctant to disclose

If your records show no Gypsy or Traveller people using your service, that may tell you more about trust and recording than it does about who is actually there.

If you work with people, you almost certainly work with ethnic Gypsy and Traveller people—even if your data does not show it.

That means you should be working with us.

Research and further reading