The clans of Ireland disappeared long ago, except within one small and marginalized community- the Irish travelers, who remain a clan-based society to this day. The rival Traveler clans of McDonough and Ward fought a pitched battle at a funeral as recently as 2008, an incident described as a “faction fight” in the Irish press. The significance of this is that faction fights between enemy clans have been unheard of in Ireland in the past hundred years, with the one exception of the Traveler community.

So, why have the Travelers retained the clan system, when the rest of Ireland has not? The answer is instructive, because many people have seen the clan system as being a defining feature of “Celtic” cultures. Clan-based societies exist to this day in Southern Italy, Somalia, Albania, parts of the Philippines, the Middle East and elsewhere. None of these are “Celtic” societies.

Clannishness among the Travelers is not a feature of “Celticness.” Rather, as in Southern Italy or the Albanian mountains or the southern parts of the Philippines, it's a feature of ineffective or distrusted central government. Whenever the central government is seen as a hostile outside force or as a weak and ineffective authority incapable of protecting its constituents, people turn to their immediate relatives for support and protection. Groups of relatives and allies develop into clans.

The political situation in Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and the Scottish Borders fit this description at one time or another- the central government was seen as being both hostile and ineffective. That's why all of those regions had clan systems.

To a marginalized community like the Irish Travelers, the government is a force that tries to interfere with their daily lives in numerous ways, yet offers them no effective protection against the bigotry of outsiders. That's why the Irish Travelers retain a clan system.