Tinkers is a term for a group of Irish
Travellers who worked with tin and mended pots and pans from door to door in rural Ireland before urbanisation in the 1960's. This is a perjoritive term these days and is used to insult Irish
Travellers, as gyppo is to insult Romani people (different ethnic nomads in Britain & Ireland).
Not all Irish
Travellers were tinkers (from tinsmithing or tinsmith) as there were horse dealers, market traders etc.
Irish Travellers have their own distinct culture, traditions, way of life and language and are indigenious to Ireland and are said to be here in Ireland before the Celts arrived in Ireland 500 yrs BC.