‘Royal' blood may draw former Traveller Mayor back into politics

By TOM GILMORE FOLLOWING revelations on the Late Late Show, and on the TV programme Blood of the Travellers, that former Traveller Mayor of Tuam, [private]Martin Ward's family lineage can be traced back to the semi-mythical Irish king, Niall of the Nine Hostages, he says he might go back into politics. When Martin's DNA was analysed by a team of scientists from The Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, The University of Edinburgh and Ethnoancestory.com it emerged that he has a rare royal lineage on his father's side. It can be traced back to the Irish king who is reputed to have captured St Patrick and brought him here as a slave in the fifth century. 'I can't be more Irish than that, and as Niall brought St Patrick here, one could also say that we were responsible for bringing Christianity to Ireland,' says Martin with a laugh. He added that these latest findings seem to question the theory that all Irish Travellers were people displaced during the Great Famine, or that they are descended from Romany gypsies. Nomadic 'People were nomadic in Ireland long before the Great Famine and the findings revealed by these DNA tests are very interesting'. As he stood on O'Toole's Car Park, beside the remains of the seat of the last High King of Ireland, Roderick O'Connor who built his castle there and ruled from Tuam in 1171, Martin added that politics, as well as royal linage, is still very much in his blood. 'These findings have given me a lift, and I may even decide to try for a seat again on Tuam Town Council,' says Martin who gave up his seat last year due to ill health. But as his health has now improved, following medical treatment, he is considering a return to politics, boosted by the findings of the TV show. Traveller and Olympic boxer Francis Barrett from Galway is the main focus of the two-part programme on RTE1 on Sunday nights at 9.30. He is on a quest to find his roots and his father and aunt talked about the tough times on the roads for Travellers in the past. 'I have known Francis for years and when he asked me last year if I would take part in the programme I said that had no problem doing so,' says Martin. He added that from other DNA tests carried out 12 years ago he was aware that his linage was Irish and these latest, and more sophisticated tests, just confirmed the earlier findings. Travellers' origins The origin of Ireland's Travellers is a subject that has been debated for many years. Some say they are related to Romany gypsies or some other ethnic group that arrived here over the past 1000 years. Another train of thought is that they were a community in Ireland long before the arrival of the Celts and subsequent invaders, while more say they are settled Irish people who were displaced in times of famine and eviction, during the plantations by settlers from England, or in the years since Oliver Cromwell. Now for the first time this subject has been approached in a TV mini-series using the tools of DNA technology and while Francis Barrett may have Norman blood in his veins the DNA tests show that Martin Ward is among a very small number of Irish people whose roots in Ireland can be traced back to before the arrival of Christianity here. Over the past year Francis Barrett has collected 40 Traveller DNA samples from every corner of Ireland in his quest to unlock the history of Ireland's Travelling people. 'They started doing the filming for this programme last June but my part was filmed earlier this year. 'Some of it was filmed at our boxing ring in the Brú Bhride centre and we hope they may also show our Traveller Heritage Centre, also located there, in next Sunday's programme,' says Martin. He added that Francis Barrett now spends much of his time in London, but he returns frequently to his native Galway, and he may come back to live there somtime in the future. Sportsman In 1996 the then 19-year-old Traveller from Galway captured the imagination of the Irish general public when he came to prominence as a top class sportsman here. The film showed that he was forbidden, as a child, from joining his local boxing club because he was a Traveller. But undaunted, he trained in the back of an old container on an unofficial site without running water or electricity. He dreamed of getting respect for the Travelling people by qualifying for the Olympic Games where he was told everybody was treated equally. When he qualified for the Atlanta Olympics he won the hearts of the nation. He was given the honour of carrying the Irish flag in the opening ceremony and this was a defining moment in Traveller history. With the boxing gloves now hung up Francis set himself a new goal. He wanted to uncover the history of his people, and in doing so, try to understand why their culture is in danger of being wiped out today. He enlisted the help of geneticists Dr Jim Wilson from the University of Edinburgh and Dr Gianpiero Cavalleri from the Royal College of Surgeons to analyse the DNA samples collected and to help him answer the question of what are the origins of the Irish Travelling people. Other historical experts were also involved in the quest, and at all times, cutting edge technology is used to try and untangle this question about the origins of the Travellers. One of the best-known entertainers from among the Travellers, Paddy (Pecker) Dunne, and his wife were also featured, but sadly his voice was weak. However another Traveller, a lady from the Cassidy family in Wexford, sang a beautiful version of Pecker's song about the tale of a Traveller family moving to Wexford town, and some people there not understanding their ways. Friendship 'This TV programme shows that there was great friendship between the country people and the Travellers in the old days but relationships seem to break down in some cases when Travellers were housed in towns and cities,' says Martin Ward. The TV mini-series claims that its results will break the mould on what was known up until now about the history of the Irish Travellers. So far the DNA findings showing that Tuam's former Mayor has royal roots, among the pre-Christian kings of Ireland, prove that some of the Travellers may be more Irish than many of the settled population.[/private]