The Irish Travellers of Ireland

The Irish Travellers of Ireland, numbering approximately 6,100 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Ireland They are an Indigenous people, in the Anglo-Celt people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Roman Catholicism. They primarily speak Shelta.

Irish Travellers in Ireland photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Irish Traveller

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: European Peoples
Country: Ireland
People Cluster: Anglo-Celt
Primary Language(s): Shelta (sth)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Roman Catholicism
Population: 6,100
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000299
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Irish Travellers of Ireland

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Roman Cath… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Shelta
Language Family: Speech Register

%
Shelta Speakers

Media Resources in Shelta:

Films:

No entries found for: Shelta(sth). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Shelta:

Or check out the Shelta bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Irish Travellers

The Irish Travellers are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Irish Travellers

The Irish Travellers are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Irish Travellers

The Irish Travellers are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Irish Travellers of Ireland

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that any who may be enemies of God will grasp the depth of God's love demonstrated through Christ's death for the ungodly, and be reconciled to Him.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
readPsalm 57:10

Pray that God will work, even in the hearts of hard-to-reach people, and that they will rejoice in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
readIsaiah 25:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim and rejoice in His salvation.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Irish Traveller (ROP3 - 108929) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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