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IRISH TRAVELERS - Experts shed light on reclusive, nomadic clans that roam the country
Associated Press ... live news feed | September 25, 2002 | LISA FALKENBERG

Posted on 09/25/2002 7:58:25 AM PDT by NYer

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To: Kazuki
I had an encounter with gypsies when my father was in the hospital several years ago. The grandmother of the group was also in intensive care, and we had to share the ICU waiting room with them.

Lots of them showed up with children and NO TOYS or anything to keep the children occupied. The children were expected to sit and not bother. One got out of line, and the mother said to her(pointing at me)"See that woman over there? She is a policewoman and she has a gun in her purse. If you aren't good, she will shoot you."

Yikes!!

They were also deliberately vulgar, belching and spitting in the wastebaskets. They tried to make us leave, but as my dad had had heart surgery I wasn't going anywhere.

I think the children live hard lives, and are old at a young age. In our area, we notice that the little girls, as young as 4 or 5, wear full make-up and are dressed very jazzy for their ages.

21 posted on 09/25/2002 8:35:00 AM PDT by Miss Marple
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To: Wurlitzer
You are obviously a smart person to have emptied you purse.

I've been accused of many things in my life. Stupid is not one of them. The pick-pockets are much worse over there.
22 posted on 09/25/2002 8:38:00 AM PDT by Desdemona
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To: NYer
Have any of you encountered these people at mass?

The Greenhorn Carrolls attend St. Patrick's Cathedral in downtown Ft. Worth. According to the associate pastor there, Fr. Dennis Smith, they are very generous and faithful about attending Mass, but do tend to put the arm on parishioners as they're leaving Mass, asking for "coins" for the bus, then drive away in Cadillas Escalades. Most of the parishioners are on to them, however.

23 posted on 09/25/2002 8:39:58 AM PDT by sinkspur
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To: Desdemona
"Is this the American version of gypsies?"

No. Gypsies are originally from the Indus Valley. They were given (10k at a time), by their king, to the Iranians thousands of years ago as servants. As they migrated around, the first encountered by the Europeans had migrated from Egypt. The Europeans wrongly thought that they were Egyptians and called them 'Gypsies'.

24 posted on 09/25/2002 8:40:07 AM PDT by blam
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To: blam
That was a rhetorical question.
25 posted on 09/25/2002 8:45:41 AM PDT by Desdemona
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To: Andyman
Oh come on! Admit that you have no idea if she is pro-choice or pro-life! Your assumption is really quite a REACH!

Are you actually suggesting that if someone is labeled as a "Devout Catholic" that means they are pro-choice? Are you presenting her two children as evidence that she aborts? Your logic escapes me.

Ack!! I cannot believe I am defending this lousy, childbeating Traveler monster .. but I could not allow your ridiculous conclusion about Catholics, to go unchallenged.

26 posted on 09/25/2002 8:45:57 AM PDT by CometBaby
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To: Oregon W.oman
they are not affiliated with any church and they pass the cult on through oral teaching from generation to generation.

Probably goes back to experience in Ireland when Catholicism was outlawed and religion was passed on orally via schenacies.
In fact, the only place you could legally celebrate a Catholic mass in English in the 1730s was right here in Philadelphia.
27 posted on 09/25/2002 8:46:02 AM PDT by dyed_in_the_wool
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To: Desdemona
"That was a rhetorical question."

Okay. The answer is still no.

28 posted on 09/25/2002 8:48:50 AM PDT by blam
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To: ofMagog
"Regarding non-Gypsy law: They are obeyed but they are not complied with. Gypsies never fight against constituted authority; they simply agree to do what they are told to do, pretend to accept the assumptions of the stronger party and then, in their time-honored way, they keep on doing what they have always done..."

I'm just waiting for someone to make a reference to Libertarians.

29 posted on 09/25/2002 8:49:47 AM PDT by TrappedInLiberalHell
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To: Desdemona
So, are they anything like the gypsies on the Paris Metro? I had to slap a hand once when it found its way into my purse, which was purposefully empty.

Bless the individual who invented the money belt. The European gypsies, I believe, are originally from Romania. They are scattered all over the large cities and often use their children to scam the tourists. Americans are suckers for kids!

30 posted on 09/25/2002 8:50:28 AM PDT by NYer
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To: ofMagog
they simply agree to do what they are told to do, pretend to accept the assumptions of the stronger party and then, in their time-honored way, they keep on doing what they have always done

Hey, wait a minute. I have a teenager like that!

31 posted on 09/25/2002 8:50:40 AM PDT by paul51
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To: paul51
Does it work for the kid?
32 posted on 09/25/2002 8:52:33 AM PDT by ofMagog
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To: Desdemona
Nobody outside the Travellers knows that much about them. There are a lot of highly speculative theories as to their origins, but very little fact.

For instance,their original Gaelic-based language is, in this country, no longer much in use - according to a gentleman who apparently knows them quite well .English,spoken with a Southern accent, is pretty much what you'll hear.

The Travellers are unrelated to the Gypsies. Gypsies are SAID to have originated in India, and speak a language which has "Indo-European" roots. In Ireland,both groups are migratory . In the USA, both groups tend to settle in close-knit communities, and travel to their working areas.

Some say the Travellers are honest tradesmen, whose reputation is spoiled by a few "bad apples". Others say MOST Travellers are bad apples.

My own guess -and it is strictly a guess-is that a society which chooses to keep itself apart, and which is not fond of "outside authority" , will not take it too much amiss if some of its members do questionable things in "the outside world". It may even celebrate the more outrageous "scores" - just as the old Irish clans, in pre-Christian,pre-Roman days , used to celebrate a successful bit of cattle rustling...as long as the activity was not conducted in their own back yards !

33 posted on 09/25/2002 8:54:25 AM PDT by genefromjersey
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To: NYer

I fuc*ing hate Pikeys...

34 posted on 09/25/2002 8:54:57 AM PDT by Geronimo
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To: NYer
Bless the individual who invented the money belt.

And skirts with REALLY deep pockets that can be hidden under long, tunic type shirts. I learned every trick in the book on that trip. Locks for the backpack, etc.
35 posted on 09/25/2002 8:55:10 AM PDT by Desdemona
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To: ofMagog
Does it work for the kid?

Ha Ha. Sure, until she realizes she needs something from me.

36 posted on 09/25/2002 8:57:23 AM PDT by paul51
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To: NYer
These people do not have enough melanin to qualify for Politicaly Correct Victim Protection sympathy in any form.
37 posted on 09/25/2002 8:58:21 AM PDT by Blue Screen of Death
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To: genefromjersey; blam
Uh, guys, I know a whole lot about the European gypsies. Comes from reading just WAYYYYY too much.

Granted, they're different in some ways, they still are tribal, have oral history, speak their own language and are nomadic. That could also, from time to time, apply to my family.
38 posted on 09/25/2002 8:58:38 AM PDT by Desdemona
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To: Oregon W.oman
From what I've read, they are not affiliated with any church and they pass the cult on through oral teaching from generation to generation.

Sounds like something from the X-files. Real life is stranger than fiction.

39 posted on 09/25/2002 9:01:12 AM PDT by Aquinasfan
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To: genefromjersey
Some more info on Irish Travellers --

Irish Travellers

Apparently, they aren't Gypsies/Roma at all -- they are native Irish who became nomadic long ago.

40 posted on 09/25/2002 9:03:31 AM PDT by Rytwyng
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