irish travellers in texas

• Gypsies, Bonnie and Clyde – Fort Worth History
• Fun and Quirky Things To Do In Fort Worth
• Exploring Fort Worth for History and Wildlife

Continued guest post written by Claudia Hall Christian.

2. Fort Worth is a hotbed for other elusive creatures – the Romani : Who? Gypsies.

Fort Worth is home to one of the largest populations of Romani in the country. Pushed for centuries from one country to the next, they come to the United States to seek asylum and live in peace. Unlike the usual depiction of a Gypsy as a thief or trickster, the Romani are hardworking people who blend into the background in Fort Worth. They tend to be highly educated business owners. When I was in Fort Worth doing research, a waiter (the only person who had any contact with them) told me that you could always tell the Romani by their expensive clothing, purses, shoes, and jewels. The Romani tend to keep to themselves with the hope of keeping their culture, language, and traditions alive. They live together in an area by the Naval Air Station called White Settlement.

The Romani are not to be confused with the Irish Travellers, these people were highlighted in the television show, the Riches . While the Irish Travellers claim genetic links to the Romani, and call themselves Gypsies, they tend to be louder and more visible than the Romani. Irish Travellers live in Fort Worth during the winter months and travel the country doing (or not doing) construction work in the summer.

3. Bonnie and Clyde hung out in the Stockyards in 1930s.

While almost everyone in Fort Worth can articulate the date Elvis played the Colesium, January 20, 1956 , very few remember that Bonnie and Clyde were born just outside of Dallas. While on the lam, they held up in the stockyards at the Stockyard Hotel . In a time when no one but the very wealthy had money and everyone felt desperate, Bonnie and Clyde robbed banks. This quote from Wikipedia best describes their appeal then and now – “ The countryís money simply declined by 38 percent “, explains Milner, author of The Lives and Times of Bonnie and Clyde . “Gaunt, dazed men roamed the city streets seeking jobs… Breadlines and soup kitchens became jammed. (In rural areas) foreclosures forced more than 38 percent of farmers from their lands (while simultaneously) a catastrophic drought struck the Great Plains … By the time Bonnie and Clyde became well known, many had felt the capitalistic system had been abused by big business and government officials… Now here were Bonnie and Clyde striking back.” Bonnie and Clyde were folk heroes to average people. They spent a great deal of time playing cards in the saloons in the Stockyards.

I was able to sneak one Bonnie and Clyde story in the Queen of Cool. I was never able to find out it’s origin but it was told to me as if it was fact: Bonnie loved to play cards. While the two of them were recognizable together, they were safe apart. Bonnie would play cards in saloon across the street from the Stockyard Hotel. Clyde could sit up in the window and watch her play. The person tell me this story thought he was watching to make sure she didn’t pick up a few men with her winnings. I personally believe they cheated at cards that way. With Bonnie’s back to him, he could easily see her cards and two or three other players around a round table. The question is how did he signal her. I pose an answer – moving the curtains changed the light – but I challenge you to check it out yourself.

Visiting the Stockyards is another great trip to take with kids. Round up the kids and head down to the stockyards during the day when the bars are quiet. Tell them the cool story and ask them to figure it out. There are waterways and paths to explore as well as great old West stuff to do in the Stockyards. The last scene of the Queen of Cool happens on the site of the Swift Packing Plant. This is a super creepy site that’s also worth some exploration.

Come back tomorrow to read more of my five fun and quirky things to do in Fort Worth.

Claudia Hall Christian is the author of the Queen of Cool . Set in Fort Worth, the Queen of Cool is an intoxicating ride across a landscape of insurmountable odds, covert government operations, and toxic weapons, where a courageous heroine who risks it all in the name of love. For the rest of April and all of May, you can download the Queen of Cool and set your own price at Smashwords . The book is available in paperback and Kindle at Amazon and our store . The Queen of Cool will be released two chapters a month on the Queen of Cool website. For more information Go to the Queen of Cool Facebook page or follow the Queen of Cool on Twitter . You can find more photos of Fort Worth locations in the Queen of Cool on Pinterest . Claudia is also the author of the intense Alex the Fey thrillers and the sweet and crunchy Denver Cereal. You can find her on Twitter or on her blog .

I love Bonnie & Clyde stories! Supposedly they buried a jar full of money in what is now my backyard at one point. We still look around for it periodically. Neat story, thanks for sharing!

That’s so awesome! You officially have me hooked on all of this quirky facts about Fort Worth, never been there but plan to visit Dwan and her fam someday! Love these neat facts!

I love this story about Bonnie and Clyde and also the story of the gypsies, as i come from this line of people, as stated in the article to not confuse the Iris with Romani, my grandparents where from Romania and took on Irish names to blend better. Just like a gypsy to learn how to adapt, I am actually related to Bonnie Parker and a few years ago i changed my name from the one we took as Irish to Parker to get back to who I am and where i come from

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Gypsy and Traveler Culture in America

Gypsy and Traveler Culture, History and Genealogy in America

Are you a Gypsy, Traveler or Roader, or have some ancestry in any one of such groups? This site is dedicated to you; to help you become more aware of your own rich heritage, to help preserve your traditions, language and knowledge of where you came from and who you are.

The identities of Traveling People are everywhere threatened by the flood of misinformation that is being disseminated on the web and through the popular media. This site pledges to correct such misinformation and to present an accurate and unbiased view of traveling life as it has unfolded since the your ancestors first set foot in the New World.

Preservation of your ethnic heritage and pride in your own ethnic identity are some of the most valuable assets that any parents can leave to their children and grandchildren. To be of Gypsy or Traveler background is something special, something to be treasured along with the language, customs, and cultural values embodied in a unique way of life.

If you want to learn more about your family and your ethnic group, whether you be of Cale, Hungarian-Slovak, Ludar, Rom, Romnichel or Sinti Gypsy or American (Roader), English, German, Irish or Scotch Traveler background we will provide you with an interactive forum for asking questions, finding lost relatives, guidance to accurate sources, exchanging information as well as just keeping in touch with your own kind.

To get started just send a note to ASK MATT specifying what kind of Gypsy you are and in which family background you are interested.

The foundation on which this site is built is a rich storehouse of data of every imaginable kind: documentary sources, oral histories and observations of traveling life collected in over 35 years of unpaid research by Matt and Sheila Salo. The Salos have dedicated their lives to providing a true history of traveling life in America and to dispelling the myths that are currently being spread on the web and other media.

This endeavor is based on the premise that every kind of Gypsy and Traveler has a right to his or her own identity, whatever it might be. Each of you has a unique heritage that your ancestors nurtured over centuries of hardship and persecution. Now those rich and unique identities are in danger of being lost as more and more people lose the sense of who they are; customs, language and traditional life patterns are not being passed on; some people are even becoming ashamed of their Gypsy or Traveler identities.

Again, email any specific inquiries into American Gypsy or Traveler history, culture and genealogy to Matt T. Salo at ASK MATT .

Forthcoming: This history and culture page under preparation will be divided into subject areas that you can access separately depending on your interests. If you seek information sources, have specific questions, or want to broaden your horizons by learning about other groups, we will provide the best, most accurate information available. You will not be fed speculations about Melungeons, hordes of Gypsies in Colonial America, or Gypsies and Travelers as hapless victims or criminal castes - instead all our information will be based on actual verified data that truly represents the experience of your people in America since your ancestors first arrived here.

Culture and language are not easily lost and, unless you are among those few unfortunate individuals whose parents or grandparents misguidedly tried to separate themselves and their families from their roots, you should easily be able to pick up traits of language and culture that indicate your origins. We will begin with a brief overview of the different groups to orient those among you who are not quite sure of where they belong. More detailed descriptions will follow.

Gypsy and Traveler Groups in the United States

Cale: Spanish Gypsies, or Gitanos, are found primarily in the metropolitan centers of the East and West coasts. A small community of only a few families.

English Travelers: Fairly amorphous group, possibly formed along same lines as Roaders (see below), but taking shape already in England before their emigration to the US starting in early 1880s. Associate mainly with Romnichels. Boundaries and numbers uncertain.

Hungarian-Slovak: Mainly sedentary Gypsies found primarily in the industrial cities of northern U.S. Number in few thousands. Noted for playing "Gypsy music" in cafes, night clubs and restaurants.

Irish Travelers: Peripatetic group that is ethnically Irish and does not identify itself as "Gypsy," although sometimes called "Irish Gypsies." Widely scattered, but somewhat concentrated in the southern states. Estimates vary but about 10,000 should be close to the actual numbers.

Ludar: Gypsies from the Banat area, also called Rumanian Gypsies. Arrived after 1880. Have about the same number of families as the Rom, but actual numbers are unknown.

Roaders or Roadies: Native born Americans who have led a traveling life similar to that of the Gypsies and Travelers, but who were not originally descended from those groups. Numbers unknown as not all families studied.

Rom: Gypsies of East European origin who arrived after 1880. Mostly urban, they are scattered across the entire country. One of the larger groups in the US, possibly in the 55-60,000 range.

Romnichels: English Gypsies who arrived beginning in 1850. Scattered across the entire country, but tend to be somewhat more rural than the other Gypsy groups. Many families are now on their way to being assimilated, hence estimation of numbers depends on criteria used.

Scottish Travelers: Ethnically Scottish, but separated for centuries from mainstream society in Scotland where they were known as Tinkers. Some came to Canada after 1850 and to the United States in appreciable numbers after 1880. Over 100 distinct clans have been identified but total numbers not known.

Sinti: Little studied early group of German Gypsies in the United States consisting of few families heavily assimilated with both non-Gypsy and Romnichel populations. No figures are available.

Yenisch: Mostly assimilated group of ethnic Germans, misidentified as Gypsies, who formed an occupational caste of basket makers and founded an entire community in Pennsylvania after their immigration starting 1840. Because of assimilation current numbers are impossible to determine.

This inventory leaves out several Gypsy groups that have immigrated since 1970 due to the unrest and renewed persecution in Eastern Europe after the collapse of Communism. They have come from Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, the former Yugoslavian area, and possibly other countries. They number in few thousands by now, but their numbers are likely to increase.

Copyright @ 2002 Matt T. Salo

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The Most Irish Places in Texas!

By chet | February 28, 2018

This month, the luck of the Irish comes to Texas! In honor of St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, here’s your guide to all things Irish in Texas — so grab a pint of green beer and read on to discover more about Irish heritage in the Lone Star State.

Ireland, TX — No, you won’t find any magical leprechauns in here…in fact, you won’t find much of anything in this ghost town named after a Texas governor. It was once a railroad boom town, but once its railroad was abandoned so was most of the town.

Lubbock, TX — Who knew a piece of Ireland could be found at Texas Tech? According to a campus legend dating back to the 1930s, some engineers unearthed part of the magical Irish rock that grants eloquent speech — the Blarney Stone — on a field trip. The rock fragment now sits on Tech’s campus, granting each senior who kisses it the gift of great speech.

Shamrock, TX — Head to the Panhandle, along Route 66, for a St. Paddy’s Day celebration unlike any other that’s been a Shamrock tradition since the 1930s. In 2013, Shamrock’s celebration was named the Official St. Patrick’s Day Celebration for the State of Texas! While you’re there, check out the Blarney Stone Plaza to see fragments from the real Blarney Stone and the iconic U-Drop Inn .

San Patricio and Refugio, TX — These towns near Corpus Christi are the first Irish settlements in Texas, settled in the early 1800s. In fact, San Patricio was originally called San Patricio de Hibernia (or the “Saint Patrick of Ireland.”)

Dublin, TX – This Irish-named town near Stephenville is actually the location for truly significant Texas history — Dublin Bottling Works is where our beloved Dr Pepper was first bottled! Take a tour of the factory to see where the legend had part of its beginnings.

San Antonio’s “River Shannon” — During St. Patrick’s Day, the San Antonio Riverwalk becomes the “River Shannon” when the famous waterway is dyed green on March 16 as bagpipers play from the boats.

North Texas Irish Festival – Break out your kilt and head to this Celtic Festival that’s been bringing Irish fun to Dallas since 1983! On March 2-4, Fair Park comes alive with live Irish music, Irish set dancers, whiskey tastings, DeLorean exhibits and more.

Houston St. Patrick’s Day Festival – In Houston , you’ll find one of the largest Irish parades in the nation! The free two-hour parade is hosted on St. Patrick’s Day and features Irish groups from around the area and handmade floats. And as if that wasn’t cool enough, this year’s theme is “Houston Strong. Irish Proud.” Check it out!

Find out what happened to Chet when he kissed the Blarney Stone on the Texas Tech Campus in the clip below.

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Keeping A Low Profile Not Always Easy For Irish Travellers

The Irish Travellers have forayed back into the news as they inevitably do.

This time members of the Gypsy group have been connected to murder and insurance fraud , as reported by Deanna Boyd and Melody McDonald in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram .

If you wish to delve further into the lives of local Irish Travellers, this fine story by Betty Brink and Dan McGraw from 2003 still stands as an interesting look at the group that likes to keep on the move while hustling for money, sometimes in legitimate fashion, sometimes not. In this case, a group of Travellers settled down in White Settlement and became involved in local politics, with interesting results.

Here’s an excerpt, relating to the deaths of five boys in a highway accident who were later determined to be among those Travellers living in White Settlement:

That day, five young men died on Interstate 30 just west of Fort Worth when the brand-new extended-cab pickup they were driving flipped and became airborne, crossing the median and striking another pickup, roof-to-roof. The youths were killed instantly; the other driver survived. When police tried to identify the bodies, they found a confusing set of driver’s licenses from Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, and Georgia, giving the young men’s ages as 15 to 20. Police who tried to verify the names and ages with the families were rebuffed. In truth, the five were only boys, aged 12 to 14; they were Irish Travellers, all cousins who lived in White Settlement. For days, the media printed the wrong names and ages of the boys. The police had no luck in determining the true identities of the children until the funeral, when an undercover civilian with the Fort Worth Police Department attended the funeral and found the real names and ages from a funeral program. The handling of the incident baffled the Fort Worth Police Department. “It was the strangest reaction to a fatal accident,” said Fort Worth Detective R.L. Wangler. “They were prepared to have those aliases in our investigation. After we found out what the true identifications might be, the county medical examiner took the unprecedented step of opening the casket to fingerprint these five kids, for the record, between the funeral and the burial. … They would rather have us open up the caskets than cooperate with the investigation.”

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10 comments.

It’s especially hard when journalists insist on identifying their ethnicity every time there is a story about a Traveller, when discussing the ethnicity or race of the subject of a story is generally discouraged in journalism, has been pointed out by the Pew Center as serving no real value but to reenforce stereotypes. However, this practice consistently paints a large, diverse, and frequently disconnected ethnic group as a criminal enterprise. despite there being absolutely no evidence that Travellers commit crimes at any greater rate than anybody else.

Thank goodness this story didn’t fall into that trap.

What do you get out of trying to stick up for travellers all over the web?

I am an American-Irish Traveller and live in our largest encampment in the United States, Murphy Village, South Carolina. After reading these commentaries, I recalled a time not too long ago when it was acceptable to call an African-American a N****r. It is fair to say that as an American-Irish Traveller, I have lived with racism all my life. I have suffered abuse by people who deal with their frustrations by superimposing them onto an innocent ethnic minority. The question never asked: If American-Irish Travellers committed crimes everywhere they went, why are they permitted to return to the same cities and towns year-after-year, and work for the same people? How can anyone who knows nothing about our customs, history, and traditions judge our people and way-of-life as inferior? My book, entitled; “Irish Travellers: An Undocumented Journey Through History,” available on amazon.com reveals much of our history and confronts racism with truth. American-Irish Traveller website: https://mikejcarrollauthor.wixsite.com/irishtravellers

Mike J. Carroll, Irish Traveller

“…despite there being absolutely no evidence that Travellers commit crimes at any greater rate than anybody else.”

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Irish travellers are not that bad sure some kids are disrespectful but some are better than any other well behaved kid the people are always nice and respectful. people wright terribly about them i took my two sons to flight deck indoor trampoline park last saturday and there were a group of traveller kids and a group of kids ages 12-15 screaming murderers gypsies and scammers. a traveller kid sat next to me i talked to him he said they call us gypsies but were not. being called gypsy is like calling an african american person n****r the disrespect they show these people is ubsceen!!!

I have a business near the RV park they settled down. 90% of them are not respectful to the other customers or even my workers. They are aloud, disordered, dishonest to the cashier. Make lots of extra work to the workers without any tips. Now I just ignore their orders, tell them we don’t have any opening for them. WE DON’T WANT ANY BUSINESS FROM THEM.

Travelers are no different to all of us yes we make mistakes but for god sake get on with your own lives.and leave them alone.my family were travellers what u going to be horrible to me I have my life and a full time job like most people.u see a traveler u Diss them u see a coloured person u run u see a white person u talk to them.don’t talk about people full stop everyone is special in there own way

No, travelers are extremely rude unnecessarily, it’s heir culture to lie and scam, making the lives of workers at local businesses hell.

My husband and I were driving back east on I30 to our home in Ft Worth,Tx that day and got rerouted in front of that horrific scene. I could only pray as it was obvious to my husband and I it was a fatal accident. I only learned later it was children and it broke our hearts, love and prayers to all those involved. Gina Mcmillan

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​ Irish Travellers

Mother and Child - Irish Travellers

Photo Credit:  Joseph-Philippe Bevillard

Irish Travellers Children

It’s estimated that over 40,000 Irish Travellers reside throughout the United States. Descendants of nomadic Irish peoples who immigrated to the United States during the Great Famine, the Travellers settled throughout the country in extended family groups or clans, with the largest concentrations living in South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee. As itinerant workers who speak distinct dialects of either Irish Gammon, Cant, or Shelta, they are often marginalized for their unique lifestyles and esoteric customs.

​​​​​​ In late November of 2013, a tornado ripped through central Illinois, devastating hundreds of homes and leaving many residents in my rural area homeless. Contractors could not work quickly enough to repair the damage. Subcontractors were hired, and workers came from throughout the United States to ensure that families could be back in their homes by Christmas.  Our home received only minor damage, but it was during that time that I met a family of Irish Travellers. They arrived in a caravan of work trucks, pulling trailers laden with the tools of their trade. The family that came to our house travelled from Tennessee and had their young son with them. While both the mother and father worked, their son hung out in my family room eating snacks and watching television. He was shy at first, but once he felt comfortable, he told me about his travelling adventures, how he loved to be on the road, and how he couldn’t wait to be old enough to carry his own weight. I found this young boy utterly charming and his family’s lifestyle fascinating. I am not an Irish Traveller. I’m a story writer and while I have tried to portray Irish Travellers as accurately as possible, they are a secret, closed sect of our American culture. Endogamous, they prefer to live quietly, frequently going to great extents to protect their privacy. Travellers are often stereotyped as immoral and lawless, yet these characterizations overshadow what I have come to know as a culture filled with decency and built on strong family bonds and unbreakable fortitude. Like any culture, theirs consists of both good and evil.

Through my writing, I hope readers will come to have a greater understanding and appreciation for the Irish Travellers’ unique way of life.

Grandfather and Two Grand-daughters

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Inside the world of Irish Travelers

Mother caught beating her child on a parking lot surveillance camera is member of mysterious group dateline nbc/october 11, 2002.

October 11 -- The video is famous now, but it's no easier to watch - the angry mother, the tiny daughter, the 25 seconds of sickening violence. Today, Madelyne Toogood is facing felony charges of child abuse. But it's not her first run-in with the law. Toogood belongs to a secret society - a clannish group with a bad reputation. 'Dateline NBC' Correspondent Lea Thompson has been following them for years and she has the inside story on the secret world of the Irish Travelers.

They were the pictures that made headlines around the world - a mother pummeling her tiny daughter inside a van in a department store parking lot in Mishawaka, Indiana.

And by the time those horrific pictures made the news about that Friday the 13th the mother, Madelyne Toogood, and daughter, Martha Jean, had disappeared. But police did have a license plate, and an all points bulletin went out.

They traced the car to a small brick house just outside Fort Worth, Texas. That's when it became clear this was no ordinary investigation. Records show not just one car, but hundreds of vehicles listed at this address. Ford Explorers, Buick Rivieras, Mercedes, BMWs and pick up trucks. There were 65 pickup trucks - enough to open a used car lot. They found not only the Toogoods, but the Burkes, the Carols, the Daleys, Gallaghers, Gormans, Jennings, McDonalds, McNalleys, Reillys all apparently living right here.

Those names struck a responsive chord to investigators. They're all Irish Travelers - families that cross the country doing house repairs, roofs, driveways, and too often, not doing them very well. In fact officials say they're often flat out scams.

Fair or not Madelyne Toogood is getting caught up in that reputation. She says she makes no apologies for her life style.

"I chose my life," she says. "And I have no regrets in my life other than Friday the 13th of this year. That's the only regret I have."

'Dateline' has discovered Madelyne Toogood once had state ID's from Texas, Missouri, and New Jersey - all at the same time. Now she has an Indiana ID card under the name of Madelyne Gorman and a Michigan drivers license using the name Toogood. In court records, she said she lived in Indiana - home to George's Gyros, Mechelle's Hair Salon, and Guns Plus. None appear to be the home of anybody.

It's all just a misunderstanding she says - all just prejudice against her life style.

"You know if you're an Irish Traveler, you need not apply because you're not welcome in communities," says Madelyne. "You're not welcome."

But, maybe there's more to it than that.

Name Known to Authorities

Lea Thompson: "You've been accused of shoplifting in Texas?"

Madelyne Toogood: "Um-hum"

Lea Thompson: "Did you do it?"

Madelyne Toogood: "I don't think I can answer that."

Lea Thompson: "And why not?

Madelyne Toogood: "Because without my attorney. I don't know if it's the right thing to do for me."

Lea Thompson: "Why did you run away from it?"

Madelyne Toogood: "I didn't run away from that. I didn't run away from that. That was miscommunications between me and two different lawyers that I had down there. That was - I was trying to get to fix it."

But the local prosecutor says there has been no attempt to "fix it". There is still a warrant out for her arrest. And the charge? Madelyne Toogood is accused of diverting a clerk's attention by returning some blue jeans while another traveler was stealing clothes in a Texas Kohl's department store.

And where did the parking lot incident in Indiana take place? Outside a Kohl's department store. And what was Madelyne Toogood doing in that store? She was trying to return some blue jeans. But her daughter, Martha Jean, was causing such a ruckus that Madelyne was paged over the store's loudspeaker and before long, a clerk was rooting through her shopping bag. Store security turned the surveillance cameras on her and got the parking lot video that no one will ever forget.

And then there is Madelyne's husband Johnny Toogood. As a teenager he scammed an elderly Ohio woman in a home improvement fraud.

"Well you know, I was young once," says Johnny. "Everybody you know has had a rough past, you know."

'Dateline' has found nine civil or criminal complaints including two convictions for theft against Johnny Toogood over a decade from Ohio to Pennsylvania and all the way to Montana. Authorities say they've run across Johnny Toogood using at least six different names including John Lark - a name he used when he met 91-year-old Helen Fisher six years ago.

Helen has since passed away, but her niece says she'll never forget what happened when Lark/Toogood charmed his way into her Aunt's home.

"They followed her up to the door, and they suggested to her that she needed home repairs," says Fisher's niece,

Toogood and his team hit her four different times over several years taking her for nearly $7,000.

"He looked like such a nice guy and I couldn't understand why a young man like that would prey on the elderly," she says.

Toogood pleaded guilty, paid back the stolen money and never went to jail. Then one day, he pulled up in Paul Hewitt's driveway in rural Indiana.

Hewitt says Toogood looks like the man that came up to him and wanted to do his driveway?

"He had a ring on that I remember and I saw it a while ago," says Hewitt. "It's a wide ring with a lot of diamonds in it."

Hewitt says John Toogood gave him a business card and offered to put three inches of blacktop on his driveway for a great price.

"I'm going to have to have it torn out," says Hewitt. "That's all I can have done."

Hewitt says his blacktop is so thin in places he has to use weed killer to keep the weeds down.

Irish Travelers have a bad reputation for ripping people off. Do they deserve it? "Some do and some don't," says Madelyne.

She might be talking about her own family. Her husband's grandfather killed another Traveler. One brother-in-law was convicted of swindling more than $100,000, and another skipped out on an assault charge. Madelyne's attorney said the family has no further comment.

But it isn't just criminal complaints against travelers that have drawn attention to the Travelers. It is also how travelers live their lives.

Traveler Way of Life

As winter arrives each year, so do a steady stream of Irish Travelers coming back to White Settlement, Texas. Behind the high fences of these trailer parks, Madelyne Toogood's clan sticks to itself. Secrecy and isolation is part of the Traveler way of life.

Irish Travelers arrived in the United States in the 19th century. They traveled the country trading mules and horses - sometimes honestly, sometimes not very honestly.

They made their homes in tent camps. Some went Northeast - the Northerners. Some went south toward Memphis - The Mississippi Travelers. Some went to Murphy Village, South Carolina - the Georgia boys. Madelyne Toogood's ancestors worked their way out west.

Travelers do what that name implies - roam the country living out of trailers and hotels. Those who are con artists have moved from trading in broken down horses to home repair scams.

Traveler children grow up fast - some using fake licenses to drive when they're 12, 13 and 14. And almost all drop out of school after the sixth or eighth grade.

How far did Madelyne go in traditional school? "Sixth grade," she says.

Madelyne says they took correspondence courses since. Almost all Traveler kids spend at least half the year on the road.

Back in 1996, 'Dateline' went to South Carolina's Murphy Village - home base of the largest Irish Traveler enclave in the U.S. It was as if we went through the looking glass into another world. There were palatial homes, with mobile homes in the back. Religious shrines were found in almost every yard. Finding someone was next to impossible. There are few house numbers here and many cars carry no license plates. Almost everybody has similar names. We counted 24 Tommy Carrolls, 15 Pat Rileys and 36 John Sherlocks.

Money and Marriages

One night the main drag of Murphy Village was jammed with shiny new trucks and girls gussied up for a dance. They call it looping, part of an old-fashioned mating ritual.

"For instance, whenever you're a teenager, you're not allowed to date. You don't date," says Irish Traveler Wanda Mary Normile.

Wanda Mary helped us understand what we were seeing on a Murphy Village home video.

"She'll like, do a model walk down the runway, you know," says Wanda Mary. "And turn around and show off her dress. She'll change two or three times, you know and show off her clothes and her body - what she looks like."

Murphy Village Travelers dress their preschoolers - kids as young as five to six years old - in sequined designer gowns. They put makeup on their toddlers.

"They're taught to dance early in very voluptuous ways that you wouldn't have your little girl you know, to touch themselves, to rub themselves, to move, to get attention," says Patsy Hart, one of few outsiders to marry an Irish Traveler in Murphy Village.

She says those parties are often negotiations for money and marriage.

"They could be playing in a sandbox one day, and snatched up and took and got married the next and be ten years old and have a baby by the time they are 11," says Hart.

Patsy Hart says her husband was 17 when he married his first wife - who was only 11.

What did he say when Hart asked him how he could marry a child? "He just said that's the way it is," she says. "You can't do anything about it."

When Patsy's son was born, she says she learned quickly the value placed on boys in Murphy Village.

"I had five women that came into my home and sat down and talked to me about engaging my son to their daughter," says Hart.

For how much money? "At the time it was $125,000 up to $250,000 because Bad Petie - he was like a legend in the village."

Bad Petie was Patsy's husband.

Was he ever arrested?

"Yes, quite a few times," says Hart.

For what? "Flim-flam con-artist," she says.

Did she ever confront her husband and say this is not right?

"Yes," says Hart. "I asked him why, but he said this is their way their way of life."

Patsy left the village and divorced her husband.

Wanda Mary, really a Northern Traveler who spent time in Murphy Village, admits to having had 28 aliases, running repair scams, shoplifting. She boasts of almost pulling off the most ambitious scam in Traveler history. It all started with a 911 call.

It was Halloween night, 1992 at Walt Disney World.

"The scam was for me to claim that I was beaten, robbed and raped at a hotel at Disney," says Wanda Mary.

To pull that off, she had sex with a friend. She left the rest up to her brother.

"He taped me, duct taped me to the bed and beat me up and left," says Wanda Mary.

Wanda Mary sued Disney for $3 million. Disney was about to settle for a couple of hundred thousand dollars, but with the windfall in sight, a jealous sister ratted on Wanda Mary and she ended up in jail.

Madelyne Toogood says people like Wanda Mary give all Travelers a bad name. She says in her clan, people marry for love, not money and men don't marry children. She married Johnny Toogood when she was 17.

"I should be able to live anyway I want to live and this is how I choose to live," says Madelyne. "We're just a big Irish family, we're a big huge humungous family."

It is a family that is now in the spotlight. Madelyne Toogood faces shoplifting charges in Texas, child abuse in Indiana. Her husband Johnny has a case pending in Montana for home improvement fraud.

The Toogood's daughter, Martha Jean, has been taken from them. Madelyne will only have supervised visits with the little girl who is now in the custody of her grandmother. Her grandmother is an Irish Traveler.

The travelers we've spoken to insist - and police will agree - that not all Irish Travelers are law breakers. And no one has suggested that child abuse is prevalent among them. That said, Madelyne Toogood will appear this December at a hearing on felony child abuse charges.

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