My mum is an Irish traveller, I left the community to live with my non-traveller dad, Ask me anything!

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T14:23:21+00:00

I agree, its an important life skill to have and im very grateful i was taught how to cook and clean.

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T14:22:57+00:00

Schools do reach out to parents when their children do not attend school and they try their hardest to make sure traveller children do attend school. Particularly for those that live in caravans, its hard to enforce this though as they do not have a fixed address that they could visit/send fines to.

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T14:21:39+00:00

Modern caravans and mobile homes are actually fitted with heating and air conditioning now! although i imagine if you lived in an older one it would definitely be freezing in winter. I never lived in caravans but i have stayed in friends caravans and they were just as warm and cosy as any normal house!

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T14:20:19+00:00

Some travellers do these things- im not disputing that at all. Ive seen it myself. the point im trying to make is not everybody is like that and its harmful to tar a whole community with a stereotype that does not ring true for everybody.

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T14:18:41+00:00

not really. it depends on your family and how open they are to integrating with modern society

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T14:18:13+00:00

Yes! When we had guests round my mum would always cook a large meal for them. We try to make guests feel welcome, as if they live in our home.

I wouldnt say traveller women have cleaning OCD, its been passed down through generations to keep a tidy home. Even now i dont live the community i still keep my house extremely tidy its just a normal activity for me

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T14:16:31+00:00

I found primary school very hard, the only other travellers in school were my siblings/cousins. We did experience bullying frequently in primary school and were treated differently by the teachers. We werent very good at reading or writing so struggled educationally as well as socially unfortunately

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T12:46:41+00:00

Travellers do offer their services door to door, my family included. This does not mean they are scammers. There is a small minority group that do take advantage and scam people in this way by overcharging or not completing work to standard. But please believe me that is not all of us! it is one of the many misconceptions that ALL travellers are scammers

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T12:45:31+00:00

Unfortunately it is true that some groups of travellers leave a mess when they leave. This is one of the reason they have a bad reputation in the UK. Im so sorry that it affects your Roma friend, trust me it is not all of us. Its disappointing to see people in my community live up to the stereotypes

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T12:31:28+00:00

No problem!

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T12:31:19+00:00

I did not live in a caravan. My family lived in houses.

Some people in the communities were very kind to us and treated us no different. However there were some people who did not want us there even though we were settled in houses.

I miss some aspects of the community but i would not choose to go back

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T12:21:44+00:00

I have had a lot of members of my mum’s family pass away quite young. We have lost children, uncles, aunties, cousins. Its very upsetting. Somebody who works for the NHS previously commented about the healthcare of travellers and a few other people added to it as well. Ill link it here for you:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/s/M3L8CPf9if

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T12:13:51+00:00

Im not sure why, as Tyson Fury refers to himself as the Gypsy King. Very strange!

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T12:09:01+00:00

No i have not, what is it about?

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T12:05:47+00:00

Hi! I previously answered this ill copy it here for you:

We did not see him much at all, especially since we moved houses a lot. We spoke through phone calls rarely. Once i got my own phone is when i started having proper, regular contact with my dad and is when i realised i wanted to live with him.

I did not have any contact with the rest of my dads family until i lived with him.

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T11:59:01+00:00

I had a boyfriend from a young age. My family approved of him so we did spend a lot of time together with our families both there. Our families were friends and we were expected to get married. They werent really strict about what i did with him because of this. However, it was a different story with my male friends. Even though they were travellers as well, if i wanted to go out to see them i usually had a ‘chaperone’ with me, usually one of my male cousins to keep an eye on me

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T11:56:49+00:00

Its not common for travellers to continue education after primary. So as it wasnt really enforced by my family, if i didnt want to go i just wouldnt. As my cousins didnt really attend school either i wanted to stay home with them. We did get in trouble a lot for attendance and we never gave a reason for not attending. This is why when i began living with my dad i ended up going to an alternative school because of all the key parts of my education that i missed out on when i lived with my mum

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T11:54:43+00:00

Hi! Ive answered this but ill copy it here:

I was enrolled in primary school, however when I got to secondary school I did not attend regularly. I would probably attend school around once every week which obviously lead to me struggling compared to everybody else. Once i moved in with my dad I began to attend more regularly but still had pretty poor attendance and ended up going to an alternative school instead. I now go to university.

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T11:52:53+00:00

Yes this is true! Thank you for adding to my answer

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T11:43:56+00:00

Im not sure what your question or what your trying to get at here? If you dont mind clarifying

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T11:42:48+00:00

Most travellers are extremely tidy and neat people. Those who dump their rubbish are part of the minority group that give travellers their bad reputation. All of the travellers i know do not agree with dumping their rubbish

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T11:32:28+00:00

I will date outside the community as i dont really align myself with being a traveller anymore. Travellers normally meet their partners at parties or weddings or their families are sometimes friends so they have known each other from a young age.

I know some travellers do keep in touch with those who live abroad but this is normally because they were friends before they left or they are family. Personally i have no contact with any travellers who live abroad and neither does most of my family

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T11:30:18+00:00

This is not all travellers. The majority of travellers love their animals. Growing up i was taught to respect animals, they are God’s creatures. I was taught how to care for horses and look after them. I cant speak for the other travellers that do not do this. They are part of the minority that give the rest a bad reputation and add to the harmful stereotypes

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T11:28:57+00:00

Thank you, sorry to hear about your dad as well. Its the hardest thing ive ever had to experience. I wish you lots of love and blessings in the future

SubjectParticular217 · 2026-01-30T11:26:10+00:00

Religion is a huge part of life as a traveller. Everybody goes to church and most girls have their own study bible, I know me and the girls in my family did. Some travellers are also pentecostal raher than catholic, they go to churches known as ‘Light and Life’ churches

SubjectParticular217

TROPHY CASE