No one else Walsh knew in the Romany Gypsy community went to school. His father and grandparents were illiterate, and his mother was able only to write some words. Walsh's father was physically abusive to the entire family, so Walsh's mother wanted to send Walsh and his sister Frankie to school to get them away from the house. Walsh's mother urged them not to tell teachers or school officials that they belonged to the Romany community. But soon, Frankie had stolen items from the teacher and Walsh had taken the head teacher's goldfish. "It died during storytime about a half hour or so later and, feeling guilty about being a murderer, I confessed," Walsh writes. They left school after two weeks, but were able to attend a different school for some time later in their lives.
