EDINBURGH University scientists have used DNA research to help to solve one of Ireland’s recurring mysteries – whether the country’s Traveller community are Irish by origin or descended from the Roma peoples of Europe.

Researchers led by Edinburgh University and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland analysed genetic information from 42 people who identified as Irish Travellers and confirmed that they are of Irish ancestral origin and have no particular genetic ties to European Roma groups.

The study has also shown that the Travellers’ DNA marks them out as distinct from, although closely related to, the general population of Ireland – an important finding as the Irish Government is considering their ethnic status.

The research could also have considerable implications for the health of the Travellers as the community is known to have a prevalence of Hurler syndrome, a genetic disease which often sees sufferers die before the age of 10.

It was often thought that the Travellers formed their own community during and after the ravages of the Great Famine which began in 1845 and killed a million people in Ireland, but the research shows that the group began to separate from the settled population at least 360 years ago.

The team compared variations in the DNA code of the 42 Travellers with those of 143 European Roma; 2,232 settled Irish; 2,039 British; and 6,255 European or worldwide individuals.

They found Travellers are of Irish ancestral origin but have significant differences in their genetic make-up compared with the settled community.

The study, published in the Scientific Reports journal, says these differences have arisen because of centuries of isolation combined with a decreasing Traveller population.

The Irish Travellers have long been recognised as a community within Ireland, and now consist of between 29,000-40,000 individuals, representing 0.6 per cent of the Irish population as a whole.

According to the study “they are traditionally nomadic, moving around rural Ireland and providing seasonal labour, as well as participating in horse trading and tin smithing.

The study said: “Since the 1950s the need for such traditional services has declined and the population has become increasingly urban, with the majority living within a fixed abode.

“Despite this change in lifestyle, the Traveller community remains tight-knit but also socially isolated. The population has its own language known as Shelta, of which Cant and Gammon are dialects.”

Professor Gianpiero Cavalleri of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland said: “The findings confirm that the Irish Traveller population has an Irish ancestry and this comes at a time where the ethnicity of Travellers is being considered by the Irish State.

“It is important to emphasise that although Irish Travellers show clear features of a genetic isolate, they are genetically very close to settled people in Ireland.

“It is also interesting to observe that the isolation of Travellers from settled people predates the Great Famine. However, it’s important to emphasise that our research estimates the beginning of the social divergence of the Travelling community, rather than their origin.”

Professor Jim Wilson of the Usher Institute for Population Health Sciences and Informatics at Edinburgh University said: “It is exciting to find that the Irish Travellers have been genetically isolated for such a considerable time. They hold great potential for understanding common diseases, not just within their own community but also more generally.”