Travellers of Irish heritage
Irish Traveller communities are the largest of the Traveller groups in the Ealing area. Parish registers show that Travellers of Irish heritage have had associations with the area for at least two centuries.
Gypsy Corner
The A40 trunk road that links west London to Fishguard in
south Wales and the southern Irish port of Rosslare, runs through
the borough and has long been used by Gypsy Traveller groups
travelling from southern Ireland to London. The junction of the A40
and Horn Lane in North Acton is known as 'Gypsy Corner' in
recognition of its former use as a stopping place for Irish
Traveller groups passing in and out of London.
The Official Ealing Caravan Site, with pitches for 24 families,
is situated behind North Acton station about 1 mile from the area
known as 'Gypsy Corner', and the houses along the A40 near Horn
Lane still accommodate Irish Traveller families.
Acton
Acton, with its industrial background, afforded Irish
Traveller communities opportunities to pursue their traditional
metal recycling trades as well as the development of
entrepreneurial involvement in the extensive rebuilding of London
after the second World War.
Northolt
Northolt is also an area traditionally used by Irish
Traveller groups. The modern housing estates are built over a
former racecourse and common ground that were well used by
Travellers, particularly for pursuing other traditional occupations
such as dealing and racing horses.
Southall
Travellers were well-represented in general Irish immigration
to the Southall area after 1945, and the Livestock market still
attracts a strong Gypsy Traveller involvement.
Today
Traditional Traveller stopping places have disappeared with
the expanses of common land that were swallowed in the contemporary
expansion of the London conurbation. In Ealing, current unofficial
encampments generally occur in the suburban areas of Greenford and
Northolt. It is significant that Travellers still seek out their
traditional, but now disappeared, stopping places along the A40,
especially in the area now known as Greenford.