Most people are surprised to learn a band of Irish Travellers has called South Carolina home since the 1940s. Also known as “gypsies,” which is a bit outdated and skirts a political incorrectness rife with uneasiness, the Irish Travellers that live outside of the city of North Augusta in South Carolina are the largest community in the nation. The population is said to currently be approaching 3,000 people. But the group is an extremely closed-knit society and few people from the outside fully penetrate this culturally different community. Here’s what we know to be true of the Irish Travellers in South Carolina today:

They do not travel in a group around the country in rounded, horse-drawn carriages.

mauinow1 / iStock / Getty Images Plus Collection via Getty Images We can toss that stereotype right out the window. Times have changed and so has the lifestyle of the old-time travellers that first called South Carolina home.

They settled here in 1940 after an Irish minister from up North inherited a parish north of North Augusta. His name was Murphy and his village would soon become known as Murphy Village.

Google Maps The priest encouraged the travellers to set up camp next to the church — and they did! Soon, a trailer park would become the main camp for the travellers.

Some 70 years later, the Travellers still attend services at St. Edward Catholic Church.

Google Maps The home page of the church’s website talks in detail about the history of the travellers in Murphy Village. But it doesn’t have all of the info.

For instance, as with the rest of America, there appears to be a great divide in the small community when it comes to money.

Google Maps You’ll find trailers next to enormous mansions, all appearing to be owned by travellers.

And the contrast is a stark reminder that poverty and great wealth exist on both sides of the road.

Google Maps By all accounts, the travellers make their living by travelling in small groups for a few weeks at a time.

The men travel and work taking jobs such as house painting, while the women stay at home with the children.

Thanasis Zovoilis / The Image Bank Collection via Getty Images Some reports say the women run the show since the men are gone most of the time. However, it’s said the men are all always at home three times a year: during the World Series, Easter, and for Christmas.

The travellers are said to be all related.

levente bodo / Moment Collection via Getty Images And only about a dozen surnames exist within the community. For this reason, the men are all given nicknames and go by their nickname instead of their birth name. It is thought that marriages between cousins are commonplace.

Speaking of birth, soon after a child is welcomed into the community, a marriage is arranged (for a much later date, of course).

Fian Widagdo / EyeEm Collection via Getty Images Marriages are arranged very early but cannot take place until the girl reaches the age of 16.

South Carolina’s Murphy Village is the single largest village of its kind for Irish Travellers in America. Other villages are found in Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas. Over the decades since Murphy Village came into existence, the village has made headlines for a number of reasons. Have you heard of Murphy Village or the Irish Travellers that live here before now?

mauinow1 / iStock / Getty Images Plus Collection via Getty Images

We can toss that stereotype right out the window. Times have changed and so has the lifestyle of the old-time travellers that first called South Carolina home.

Google Maps

The priest encouraged the travellers to set up camp next to the church — and they did! Soon, a trailer park would become the main camp for the travellers.

The home page of the church’s website talks in detail about the history of the travellers in Murphy Village. But it doesn’t have all of the info.

You’ll find trailers next to enormous mansions, all appearing to be owned by travellers.

By all accounts, the travellers make their living by travelling in small groups for a few weeks at a time.

Thanasis Zovoilis / The Image Bank Collection via Getty Images

Some reports say the women run the show since the men are gone most of the time. However, it’s said the men are all always at home three times a year: during the World Series, Easter, and for Christmas.

levente bodo / Moment Collection via Getty Images

And only about a dozen surnames exist within the community. For this reason, the men are all given nicknames and go by their nickname instead of their birth name. It is thought that marriages between cousins are commonplace.

Fian Widagdo / EyeEm Collection via Getty Images

Marriages are arranged very early but cannot take place until the girl reaches the age of 16.

For another culturally different spot in South Carolina, keep reading: The Tiny Amish Town In South Carolina That’s Perfect For A Day Trip.

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Address: North Augusta, SC, USA