Romani people in Ireland

Not to be confused with Irish Travellers.
Romani people in Ireland
Total population
≈ 2,500~3,000[1]
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The number of Romani people in Ireland (Irish: Lucht Romanaí in Éirinn) is roughly estimated, as the Central Statistics Office collects its data based on nationality and not ethnic origin. For this reason a precise demographic profile of the Romani in Ireland is not available. Some estimates of Roma in Ireland give the population at 1,700 in 2004,[2] rising to between 2,500 and 3,000 in 2005.[1] The Romani people first migrated from northwestern India between 500 and 600 AD.[3] They first arrived in Europe via Greece and Bulgaria around the 13th century and the majority of Roma remained in Southeastern Europe.[4][5][6][7] Roma have been present in Ireland since the 16th century. Although they intermarried with Irish Travellers and settled indigenous Irish people, they have maintained their Romani identity and culture across generations.[8][9][10] However, the majority of the Roma population in Ireland today derive from more recent migrations, primarily from Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia and Italy.

History

Origin

The Romani people originate from Northern India,[11][12][13][14][15][16] presumably from the northwestern Indian states Rajasthan[15][16] and Punjab.[15]

The linguistic evidence has indisputably shown that roots of Romani language lie in India: the language has grammatical characteristics of Indian languages and shares with them a big part of the basic lexicon, for example, body parts or daily routines.[17]

More exactly, Romani shares the basic lexicon with Hindi and Punjabi. It shares many phonetic features with Marwari, while its grammar is closest to Bengali.[18]

Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Romani originated in northwestern India and migrated as a group.[12][13][19] According to a genetic study in 2012, the ancestors of present scheduled tribes and scheduled caste populations of Northern India, traditionally referred to collectively as the Ḍoma, are the likely ancestral populations of the modern European Roma.[20]

In February 2016, during the International Roma Conference, the Indian Minister of External Affairs stated that the people of the Roma community were children of India. The conference ended with a recommendation to the Government of India to recognize the Roma community spread across 30 countries as a part of the Indian diaspora.[21]

Migration to Ireland

Roma arrived in Europe in the 14th century, first settling in modern-day Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. They have been present in Ireland since at least the 17th century.[22] Traditionally, they also arrived from Britain for seasonal work, either as farm labourers or as coppersmiths[1]

Post-1989

After the dissolution of Eastern Bloc, thousands of Romani, among others, sought asylum in Ireland and other Western countries. Their arrival prompted contrasting editorials in the mainstream newspapers.[23] In 1989, Romani started to arrive in Ireland,[24] predominantly by hiding in container lorries. In the summer of 1998, several hundred Romani arrived hidden in freight containers in Rosslare Harbour, many of them illegally trafficked.

A second impetus for Romani immigration arose after the admittance of an additional 15 states to the European Union, with the populations coming to Dublin and the other major towns and cities.

References

  1. ^ a b c Report in Roma Educational Needs in Ireland Archived March 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "☼ Portail des civilisations anciennes". Nccri.ie. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  3. ^ Pappas, Stephanie (6 December 2012). "Origin of the Romani people pinned down - it's India". NBC News.
  4. ^ "Arrival in Europe" (PDF). Council of Europe. Project Education of Roma Children in Europe.
  5. ^ "The Romani People in the Balkans". www.southworld.net. 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  6. ^ "Migration Overview". rroma.org. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  7. ^ Pashov, Shakir M. (2023-05-03), History of the Gypsies in Bulgaria and in Europe: Roma, Brill | Schöningh, pp. 11–16, ISBN 978-3-657-79030-2, retrieved 2024-09-12
  8. ^ Joyce, David (2023). "Gypsies in Ireland—a Hiberno-Romany Community". History Ireland. 31 (3).
  9. ^ THE ROMA COMMUNITY in Northern Ireland and housing: A SCOPING REVIEW
  10. ^ "An Irish Romany writes". Travellers Times. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  11. ^ Hancock, Ian F. (2005) [2002]. We are the Romani People. Univ of Hertfordshire Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-902806-19-8: ‘While a nine century removal from India has diluted Indian biological connection to the extent that for some Romani groups, it may be hardly representative today, Sarren (1976:72) concluded that we still remain together, genetically, Asian rather than European’{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  12. ^ a b Mendizabal, Isabel (6 December 2012). "Reconstructing the Population History of European Romani from Genome-wide Data". Current Biology. 22 (24): 2342–2349. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.039. hdl:10230/25348. PMID 23219723.
  13. ^ a b Sindya N. Bhanoo (11 December 2012). "Genomic Study Traces Roma to Northern India". New York Times.
  14. ^ Current Biology.
  15. ^ a b c K. Meira Goldberg; Ninotchka Devorah Bennahum; Michelle Heffner Hayes (2015-09-28). Flamenco on the Global Stage: Historical, Critical and Theoretical Perspectives. p. 50. ISBN 9780786494705. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  16. ^ a b Simon Broughton; Mark Ellingham; Richard Trillo (1999). World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Rough Guides. p. 147. ISBN 9781858286358. Retrieved 2016-05-21. Roma Rajastan Penjab.
  17. ^ Šebková, Hana; Žlnayová, Edita (1998), Nástin mluvnice slovenské romštiny (pro pedagogické účely) (PDF), Ústí nad Labem: Pedagogická fakulta Univerzity J. E. Purkyně v Ústí nad Labem, p. 4, ISBN 978-80-7044-205-0, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04
  18. ^ Hübschmannová, Milena (1995). "Romaňi čhib – romština: Několik základních informací o romském jazyku". Bulletin Muzea Romské Kultury (4/1995). Brno: Muzeum romské kultury. Zatímco romská lexika je bližší hindštině, marvárštině, pandžábštině atd., v gramatické sféře nacházíme mnoho shod s východoindickým jazykem, s bengálštinou.
  19. ^ "5 Intriguing Facts About the Roma". Live Science.
  20. ^ Rai, N; Chaubey, G; Tamang, R; Pathak, AK; Singh, VK (2012), "The Phylogeography of Y-Chromosome Haplogroup H1a1a-M82 Reveals the Likely Indian Origin of the European Romani Populations", PLOS ONE, 7 (11): e48477, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048477, PMC 3509117, PMID 23209554
  21. ^ "Can Romas be part of Indian diaspora?". khaleejtimes.com. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  22. ^ "An Irish Romany writes". Travellers Times. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  23. ^ Watt, Philip (Nov 1998). Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ireland: the potential of community development strategies. Combat Poverty Agency. p. 17. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  24. ^ "Social Work in Europe". Russell House Publishing. 26 March 2018 – via Google Books.