Modern Celts are those peoples who are speakers of
Celtic languagesThe Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in...
, or who consider themselves, or have been considered by others, to participate in a Celtic culture deriving from communities that have formerly been Celtic-speaking.
The term is generally used for a number of peoples in
Western EuropeWestern Europe is the collection of countries in the westernmost region of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity—the region lying west of Central Europe...
sharing various cultural traits, including those speaking languages with a common Insular Celtic origin, ultimately descending from the Celts of antiquity.
Since the
EnlightenmentThe Age of Enlightenment, or simply The Enlightenment, is a term used to describe a time in Western philosophy and cultural life, centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority....
, the term "Celtic" has been applied to a wide variety of peoples and cultural traits present and past. Today, Celtic is often used in order to describe the people, and their respective cultures and languages:
i.e. the Bretons, the
CornishThe Cornish are the people of Cornwall, the most south-westerly part of England, and the United Kingdom. As an ethnic group, the Cornish are interpreted as modern Celts, the lineal descendants of the ancient Britons who inhabited southern and central Great Britain...
, the
IrishThe Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians The Irish...
(especially the
Gaeltachtis the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, The Gaeltacht, or An Ghaeltacht, refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts where the government recognizes that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home...
), the
Manx peopleThe Manx are an ethnic group coming from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea in northern Europe. They are often described as a Celtic people, though they have had a mixed background including Norse and English influences.-Make-up of Isle of Man population:...
, the
ScotsThe Scots people and an ethnic group indigenous to Scotland.An ethnic group, historically they emerged from an amalgamation of Picts, Gaels and Brythons....
(
GàidhealtachdThe Gàidhealtachd , sometimes known as A' Ghàidhealtachd , usually refers to the Scottish highlands and islands, and especially the Scottish Gaelic culture of the area. The corresponding Irish word Gaeltacht however refers strictly to an Irish speaking area...
) and the
WelshThe Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
(Cymry), i.e. the members of the modern "
Celtic nationsCeltic nations is a term used to describe territories in North-West Europe in which that area's own Celtic languages and cultural traits have largely survived...
". Except for the Bretons (if discounting Norman & Channel Islander connections), all groups mentioned have been subject to strong
AnglicisationAnglicisation or Anglicization is a process of conversion of verbal or written elements of any other language into a more comprehensible English form for an English speaker....
since the
Early Modern periodIn history, the early modern era of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Historians refer to the period beginning from approximately 1500 AD and lasting to around 1800 AD. The events include the first European colonies, the rise of strong centralized governments, and the beginnings of...
, and are hence are also described as participating in an
Anglo-CelticAnglo-Celtic is a macro-cultural term used to collectively describe the cultures native to Britain and Ireland and the significant diasporas located in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States....
macro-culture. By the same token, the Bretons have been subject to strong Francification since the
Early Modern periodIn history, the early modern era of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Historians refer to the period beginning from approximately 1500 AD and lasting to around 1800 AD. The events include the first European colonies, the rise of strong centralized governments, and the beginnings of...
, and can similarly be described as participating in a Franco-Celtic macro-culture.
Less common is the assumption of "Celticity" for European cultures deriving from Continental Celtic roots (
GaulsThe Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France and Belgium, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
and
CeltiberiansThe Celtiberians were a Celtic-speaking people of the Iberian Peninsula in the final centuries BC. The group originated when Celts migrated from Gaul and integrated with the local pre-Indo-European populations, in particular the Iberians....
). These were either Romanised or Germanised much earlier, before the Early Middle Ages. Nevertheless, "Celtic" origins are sometimes implied for continental groups such as the Asturians,
GaliciansThe Galicians are an ethnic group or nationality whose homeland is Galicia, which is a historical region in Southwestern Europe, embracing a territory situated in the north-west of Spain...
,
PortugueseThe Portuguese people are the ethnic group or nation native to the country of Portugal, in the far west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe...
,
FrenchFrench people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law.* People whose ancestors lived in France or the area that later became France....
, Swiss, Alpine Italians,
GermansThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
, or
AustriansAustrians are a nation and an ethnic group originating from the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent...
. The names of
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
and the
AquitaineAquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 26 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. In the Middle Ages it was a kingdom and later a duchy, with boundaries considerably larger...
hark back to
Gallia BelgicaGallia Belgica was a Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northeastern France, and western Germany. The indigenous population of southern Gallia Belgica consisted of a mixture of Celtic and Germanic tribes, often described as the Belgae...
and
Gallia AquitaniaGallia Aquitania was a province of the Roman Empire, bordered by the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis, Gallia Narbonensis, and Hispania Tarraconensis...
, respectively, in turn named for the
BelgaeThe Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul, on the west bank of the Rhine, in the 3rd century BC, and later also in Britain. They gave their name to the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, and later, to the modern country of Belgium....
and the
AquitaniThe Aquitani were a people living in what is now Aquitaine, France, in the region between the Pyrenees , the Atlantic ocean and the Garonne...
. The Latin name of the Swiss Confederacy,
Confoederatio Helvetica, harks back to the
HelvetiiThe Helvetii were a Celtic tribe or, probably more accurately, a confederation of Celtic tribes. Although originating in what is now Germany, they occupied most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC...
, the name of Galicia to the Gallaeci. The
name BritainThe name Britain is derived from the Latin name Britannia , via Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne...
itself derives from that of the Priteni.
History of 'Celticity'
'Celt' has been adopted as a label of self-identification by a variety of peoples at different times. 'Celticity' can refer to the inferred links between them.
During the 19th century, French nationalists gave a privileged significance to their descent from the
GaulsThe Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France and Belgium, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
. The struggles of
VercingetorixVercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe known as the man who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. Vercingetorix came to power in 52 BC, when he raised an army and was proclaimed king at Gergovia...
were portrayed as a forerunner of the 19th-century struggles in defence of French nationalism, including the wars of both Napoleons (
Napoleon I of FranceNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
and
Napoleon III of FranceNapoleon III , Charles-Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, was the first President of the French Republic and the last monarch of France. He was also Napoleon I's nephew. Made president by popular vote in 1848, Napoleon III ascended to the throne on 2 December 1852, the forty-eighth anniversary of Napoleon...
). Basic French history textbooks emphasised the ways in which Gauls could be seen as an example of cultural assimilation; however, the notion that French history textbooks commonly began with the famous words
"Nos ancêtres les Gaulois..." ("Our ancestors the Gauls...") is not supported in fact. A similar use of "celticity" for 19th century nationalism was made in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
, when the Swiss were seen to originate in the Celtic tribe of the
HelvetiiThe Helvetii were a Celtic tribe or, probably more accurately, a confederation of Celtic tribes. Although originating in what is now Germany, they occupied most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC...
, a link still found in the official Latin name of Switzerland,
Confœderatio Helvetica, the source of the nation code CH.
Before the advance of
Indo-European studiesIndo-European studies is a field of linguistics dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. Its goal is to amass information about the hypothetical proto-language from which all of these languages are descended, a language dubbed Proto-Indo-European , and its speakers, the...
,
philologistsPhilology considers both form and meaning in linguistic expression, combining linguistics and literary studies.Classical philology is the philology of the Greek, Latin and Sanskrit languages...
established that there was a relationship between the Goidelic and
Brythonic languagesThe Brythonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...
, as well as a relationship between these languages and the extinct Celtic languages such as Gaulish, spoken in classical times. The term "Celtic" therefore came to be widely applied in the 18th century (for the first time) to the Goidelic and Brythonic
languagesThe Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in...
, and by extension to the peoples that spoke them.
At the same time, there was also a tendency to play up alternative heritages in the
British IslesThe British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain, Ireland and numerous smaller islands. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Ireland...
at certain times. For example, in the Isle of Man, in the
Victorian eraThe Victorian era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 until her death on the 22nd of January 1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements...
, the "
VikingA Viking is one of the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century. These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far...
" heritage was emphasised, and in Scotland, both Norse and
Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
heritage was played up.
A
romanticRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
image of the Celt as
noble savageThe term "noble savage" expresses a concept of the universal essential humanity as unencumbered by civilization; the normal essence of an unfettered human....
was cultivated by the early
William Butler YeatsWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and dramatist and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years Yeats served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
, Lady Gregory,
Lady Charlotte GuestLady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest, , later Lady Charlotte Schreiber, was an English businesswoman and translator...
, Lady Llanover,
James MacphersonJames Macpherson was a Scottish poet, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of poems.-Early life:Macpherson was born at Ruthven in the parish of Kingussie, Badenoch, Inverness-shire, Highland...
,
ChateaubriandFrançois-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician and diplomat. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...
, Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué and the many others influenced by them. This image coloured not only the
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
perception of their neighbours on the so-called "Celtic fringe" (compare the stage Irishman), but also
Irish nationalismIrish nationalism comprises political and social movements and sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and a sense of pride in Ireland and the Irish people...
and its analogues in the other Celtic-speaking countries. Among the enduring products of this resurgence of interest in a romantic, pre-industrial, brooding, mystical Celticity are
GorseddA gorsedd plural gorseddau, is a community of modern-day bards. The word means "throne" in Welsh. It is occasionally spelled gorsedh , or goursez in Brittany....
au, the revival of the
Cornish languageThe Cornish language is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages. The language continued to function as a community language in parts of Cornwall until the late 18th century, and a process to revive the language was started in the early 20th century, continuing to this day.The revival of...
, and the revival of the
Gaelic gamesGaelic games are the traditional sports played in Ireland. The two main Gaelic games are Gaelic football and Hurling, both of which are organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association...
.
During the Second World War many
BretonBreton, or its feminine form Bretonne, usually refers to:*Breton people of Brittany*The Breton language, a Celtic language spoken in Brittany and Loire-Atlantique*Breton, an adjective for things associated with Brittany...
nationalists collaborated with the Nazis, not least against the
French resistanceThe French Resistance is the collective name used for the French resistance movements which fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and the collaborationist Vichy Regime during World War II...
. After the War some of these collaborators settled in Ireland.
Modern 'Celticity'
After World War II, "race" went out of fashion and "
cultureCulture is a term that has different meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
" took its place. Many of the same stereotypes and caricatures of Celticity once attributed to the Celtic or Alpine race, were thus recycled under the label of culture. But since the 1960s, Celticity has been put to a somewhat different use. The peoples of the "Celtic fringe" found in Celticity an explanation for their peripheral "otherness", as well as a source of pride which could galvanise them into demands for development and regeneration.
NationalistsIrish nationalism comprises political and social movements and sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and a sense of pride in Ireland and the Irish people...
in
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
sought an end to endemic discrimination with the
Civil Rights MovementThe Civil Rights Movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. It was accompanied by much civil unrest and popular rebellion. The process was long and tenuous in many countries, and most of these movements did not achieve or...
. Ulster Scots (Scots Irish) have constantly sought to maintain their independence, identity and culture, and the Ulster workers' strike bought down the British-imposed power sharing arrangements in 1974 . Breton regionalists participated in the May 1968 revolt under Breton flags and with the slogan
Bretagne=Colonie.
The "modern Celtic" groups' distinctiveness as
national, as opposed to regional, minorities has been periodically recognised by major British papers. For example, a
GuardianThe Guardian is a British daily newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Founded in 1821, it is unique among major British newspapers in being owned by a foundation .The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest of four newspapers...
editorial in 1990 pointed to these differences, and said that they should be constitutionally recognised:
- "Smaller minorities also have equally proud visions of themselves as irreducibly Welsh, Irish, Manx or Cornish. These identities are distinctly national in ways which proud people from Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the British Isles. Because of its great size, functions were increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have been subject to periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as...
, much less proud people from BerkshireBerkshire is a county in the South East of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1958, and Letters...
will never know. Any new constitutional settlement which ignores these factors will be built on uneven ground."
The
Republic of IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
, on surpassing Britain's GDP per capita in the 1990s for the first time in centuries, was given the moniker "
Celtic tigerCeltic Tiger is a term used to describe a period of rapid economic growth in Ireland between 1995-2007, coming to a dramatic halt by 2008, with a GDP contraction of 14% by 2010....
". Thanks in part to agitation on the part of Cornish regionalists,
CornwallCornwall is a county of England in the United Kingdom, forming the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Taken with the...
was able to obtain Objective One funding from the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
. Scotland and Wales obtained agencies like the
Welsh Development AgencyThe Welsh Development Agency was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body established in 1976 to encourage business development and investment in Wales...
, and Scottish and Welsh Nationalists have recently supported the institution of the
Scottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood" , is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
and
National Assembly for WalesThe National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
. More broadly, a distinct identity in opposition to that of the metropolitan capitals has been forged and taken strong root.
These latter evolutions have proceeded hand in hand with the growth of a
pan-CelticPan-Celticism is the name given to a variety of movements that espouse greater contact between the various Celtic nations.-Types of Pan-Celticism:Pan-Celticism can operate on the following levels:...
or inter-Celtic dimension, seen in many organisations and festivals operating across various Celtic countries. Celtic studies departments at many universities in Europe and beyond, have studied the various ancient and modern Celtic languages and associated history and folklore under one roof.
The
roots revivalA roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound...
, applied to
Celtic musicCeltic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic peoples of Western Europe...
, has brought much inter-Celtic cross-fertilisation, as, for instance, Welsh musicians have revived the use of the mediaeval Welsh bagpipe under the influence of the Breton
binioù, Irish
uillean pipes and famous Scottish pipes, or the Scots have revived the
bodhran from Irish influence. Sports such as
HurlingHurling is an outdoor team sport of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. The game, played primarily in Ireland, has prehistoric origins and is thought to be the world's fastest field team sport...
,
Gaelic FootballGaelic football , commonly referred to as "Football" , "Gaelic" or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
and
ShintyShinty is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played almost exclusively in the Highlands of Scotland, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other...
are seen as being 'Celtic', whilst the Scottish
modA mod is a festival of Scottish Gaelic song, arts and culture. Historically, the Gaelic word mòd refers to any kind of assembly. There are both local mods, and an annual national mod, the Royal National Mod...
and Irish
fleadhFleadh is an annual one-day music festival held in London's Finsbury Park....
are seen as an equivalent to the Breton
fest nozA Fest Noz is a Breton traditional festival, similar to a céilí.There is traditional music and dancing, accompanied by drinking....
.
The
USAThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
has also taken part in discussions of modern Celticity. For example, recently elected
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
James H. Webb, in his 2004 book
Born Fighting – How the Scots-Irish Shaped America, controversially asserts that the early "pioneering" immigrants to
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
were of Scots-Irish origins. He goes on to argue that their distinct "Celtic traits" (loyalty to kin, mistrust of governmental authority, and military readiness), in contrast to the "
Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
" settlers, helped construct the modern "American identity".
Irish AmericanIrish Americans are citizens of the United States who trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,495,800 Americans reported Irish ancestry in the 2006 American Community Survey. The only self-reported ancestral group larger than Irish Americans are German Americans...
s also played an important role in the shaping of 19th-century
Irish republicanismIrish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
through the
FenianThe Fenians, both the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood , were fraternal organisations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century. The name "Fenians" was first applied by John O'Mahony to the members of the Irish nationalist...
movement, the development of a discourse of the Great Hunger as a British atrocity, and so on.
Celtic nations
Six
nationA nation is a body of people who share a real or imagined common history, culture, language or ethnic origin. The development and conceptualization of the nation is closely related to the development of modern industrial states and nationalist movements in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries,...
s tend to be most associated with a modern Celtic identity, and are considered 'the Celtic nations'. These are:
- Brittany
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Wales
- Cornwall
- Isle of Man
It is these 'Six Nations' that (alone) are considered Celtic by the
Celtic LeagueThe Celtic League is a political and cultural organisation in the modern Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man...
and the
Celtic CongressThe International Celtic Congress is a cultural organisation that seeks to promote the Celtic languagues of the nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. It was formed out of previously existing bodies that had sought to advance the same goals such as the Celtic...
amongst others. These organisations ascribe to a definition of Celticity based mainly upon language. In the aforementioned six regions, Celtic languages have survived and continue to be used to varying degrees in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, and Brittany.
A number of activists on behalf of other regions/nations have also sought recognition as modern Celts, reflecting the wide diffusion of ancient Celts across Europe. Of these, the following regions are prominent:
(including Northern Portugal, once part of ancient Galicia or Gallaecia) (in the northern region / Bay of Biscay coast of Spain)
In neither Galicia / Northern Portugal nor Asturias has a Celtic language survived, and as such both fall outside of the
litmus testA litmus test is a question asked of a potential candidate for high office, the answer to which would determine whether the nominating official would choose to proceed with the appointment or nomination...
used by the
Celtic LeagueThe Celtic League is a political and cultural organisation in the modern Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man...
, and the
Celtic CongressThe International Celtic Congress is a cultural organisation that seeks to promote the Celtic languagues of the nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. It was formed out of previously existing bodies that had sought to advance the same goals such as the Celtic...
. Nevertheless, many organisations organised around Celticity consider that Galicia / Northern Portugal (
DouroThe Douro or Duero is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in the province of Soria across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto...
,
MinhoMinho may refer to:* Minho River, in Portugal and Spain.* Rio Minho , a river in Jamaica.* Minho Province, a historical province of Portugal .* Entre Douro e Minho, a historical province of Portugal ....
and Tras-os-Montes) and
AsturiasThe Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community within the kingdom of Spain, former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
"can claim a Celtic cultural or historic heritage". These claims to Celticity are rooted in the long historical existence of Celts in these regions. (see
CeltiberiansThe Celtiberians were a Celtic-speaking people of the Iberian Peninsula in the final centuries BC. The group originated when Celts migrated from Gaul and integrated with the local pre-Indo-European populations, in particular the Iberians....
and
Castro cultureCastro culture is the archaeologists' descriptor for the culture of the northwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula , from the end of the Bronze Age until...
).
Elements of Celtic music, dance, and folklore can be found within
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(eg.
Yan Tan TetheraYan Tan Tethera is a rhyme used by shepherds to count sheep in many parts of England and in southern Scotland. Until the Industrial Revolution, the use of traditional number systems was common among shepherds, especially in the dales of the Lake District...
), and the
Cumbric languageCumbric was a variety of the Celtic British language spoken in the Hen Ogledd or "Old North" of what is now northern England and southern Lowland Scotland, the area anciently known as Cumbria, during the Early Middle Ages. It was closely related to Old Welsh and the other Brythonic languages...
survived until the collapse of the
Kingdom of StrathclydeStrathclyde , originally Brythonic Ystrad Clud was one of the kingdoms of the Britons in the Hen Ogledd, the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now Northern England and southern Scotland, through the post-Roman period and the Middle Ages...
in about 1018. England as a whole comprises many distinct regions, and some of these regions, such as
CumbriaCumbria is a shire county in the North West of England. Cumbria came into existence as a county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
,
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. However, Lancaster is still considered to be the county town...
, Western
YorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the British Isles. Because of its great size, functions were increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have been subject to periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as...
and
DevonDevon is a large county in England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, although that is an unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county itself and often indicating a traditional or historical context. The county shares borders with Cornwall to the west and Dorset and Somerset to...
, claim more Celtic heritage than others. Notably, although modern Cumbria has similar borders to the older kingdom of
RhegedRheged [Welsh IPA: r̥ɛgɛd] is described in poetic sources as one of the kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd , the Brythonic-speaking region of what is now northern England and southern Scotland, during the Early Middle Ages...
, it is an amalgation of
CumberlandCumberland was a historic county of north west England, on the border with Scotland, from the twelfth century to 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
,
WestmorlandWestmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England...
,
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. However, Lancaster is still considered to be the county town...
and part of the
West Riding of YorkshireThe West Riding of Yorkshire was one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
, and many Cumbrians still identify first with these older counties.
Migration from Celtic countries
No treatment of modern Celticity would be complete without mentioning the migrations of people from Celtic countries. A very large portion of the populations of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
is composed of people from Ireland, Britain, Brittany and the Isle of Man; and
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
,
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
,
BarbadosBarbados , situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent West Indian Continental Island-nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. For over three centuries Barbados was a colony and protectorate of the United Kingdom; and still currently maintains Queen Elizabeth II as head of state...
,
MontserratMontserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. It measures approximately 16 km long and 11 km wide, giving of coastline...
,
Saint-BarthélemySaint Barthélemy , officially the Collectivity of Saint Barthélemy , is an overseas collectivity of France. To the northwest lies St. Martin, to the southwest Saba, to the south St. Eustatius and St. Kitts, and ultimately to the southeast Barbuda.It has an area of 21 km² and a population of...
,
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
,
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
,
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and
ChileChile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
have also experienced large-scale migration from these lands at various times.
There are three areas outside Europe with communities of traditional Celtic language speakers: the province of
ChubutChubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd Parallel South and 46th Parallel South , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean...
in
PatagoniaPatagonia is a geographic region containing the southernmost portion of South America. Located in Argentina and Chile, it comprises the southernmost portion of the Andes mountains to the west and south, and plateaux and low plains to the east. The name Patagonia comes from the word patagón used by...
with Welsh-speaking
ArgentiniansArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
(known as
Y WladfaThe Welsh settlement in Argentina began in 1865 and occurred mainly along the coast of Chubut province in the far southern region of Patagonia, Argentina...
),
Cape Breton IslandCape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the French word "Breton", referring to Brittany.Cape Breton Island is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada...
in
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
with Scottish Gaelic-speaking
CanadiansCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and southeast
NewfoundlandNewfoundland and Labrador is a province of Canada on the country's Atlantic coast in northeastern North America. This easternmost Canadian province comprises two main parts: the island of Newfoundland off the country's eastern coast, and Labrador on the mainland to the northwest of the island.A...
with
IrishIrish is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now only spoken natively by a small minority of the Irish population but also plays an important symbolic role in the life of the Irish state, and is used...
-speaking
CanadiansCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
While no Celtic-identified immigrant group is currently pursuing
independenceIndependence is the self-government of a nation, country, or state by its residents and population, or some portion thereof, generally exercising sovereignty....
or other nationalist goals, Celtic-identified people have played critical roles in each societies' movements for independence from the larger
empireThe term empire derives from the Latin imperium. Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy...
s to which they were formerly attached – for example, the most common mother-tongue amongst the Fathers of Confederation which saw the formation of
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
was
GaelicThe Goidelic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. They historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, through the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland. There are three modern Goidelic...
. Today, Celticity throughout the world is generally presented as a cultural identity (as opposed to nationalist, but with a racial or ethnic base), and is experiencing a major revival. There is a movement in
Cape BretonCape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the French word "Breton", referring to Brittany.Cape Breton Island is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada...
for a separate province in Canada, as espoused by the
Cape Breton Labour PartyThe Cape Breton Labour Party was a social democratic provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada that advocated separate provincial status for Cape Breton, which is the northern part of the Province of Nova Scotia....
and others.
Since the 1960s, there has been a very considerable growth of interest and enthusiasm in their Celtic heritage on the part of such people. Certain areas outside of the identified Celtic nations have particularly strong associations with these various identities: the
Yorke PeninsulaThe Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located north-west and west of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St. Vincent on the east. It has geographic coordinates of . The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the southeast by Investigator...
,
South AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
, with Cornish Australians;
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
with the Welsh and Irish people in England;
Jesus College, OxfordJesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
with Welsh students; South
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
or the
South SideSouth Side Irish is the term that refers to the large Irish-American community on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois.-South Side Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade:...
of
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
with Irish Americans; and certain
arrondissementAn arrondissement is an administrative division in France, most of the nations which were its former colonies in Africa and some other French-speaking nations, as well as in Belgium and the Netherlands.-France:...
s of
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with Breton Parisians.
Simultaneously, in some former British colonies, or particular regions within them, the term
Anglo-CelticAnglo-Celtic is a macro-cultural term used to collectively describe the cultures native to Britain and Ireland and the significant diasporas located in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States....
has emerged as a descriptor of an ethnic grouping. In particular,
Anglo-Celtic AustralianAnglo-Celtic Australian describes Australians with British and/or Irish ancestral origins.-Demography:From the beginning of the colonial era until the mid-20th Century, British and/or Irish comprised the vast majority of settlers, and later, post-Federation immigrants coming to...
is a term commonly used in academic circles in Australia; it refers to at least 80% of the population. "Anglo-Celtic" can be interpreted as either an affirmation of both Celtic and Anglo-Saxon cultures, or a rejection of the notion that they are separate and distinct. It is not necessarily accepted by all of the people to which it is applied.
Criticism of modern Celticism
John CollisJohn Collis, is a British prehistorian. His first dig was in Longbridge Deverill with the Hawkes. He studied in Praha , Tübingen and Cambridge and was awarded his Ph.D. in Cambridge, where he taught from 1963-1970. He joined the Archaeology Department in Sheffield in 1972 and was made professor...
of the
University of SheffieldThe University of Sheffield is a leading research university, located in Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. Ranked within the World's top 70 Universities published by THE - QS World University Rankings and constantly ranked amongst the top 20 universities in Britain and Europe according to The...
has argued that the idea of a 'Celtic' culture in the
British IslesThe British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain, Ireland and numerous smaller islands. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Ireland...
was invented entirely by early modern authors, primarily by
Edward LhuydEdward Lhuyd was a Welsh naturalist, botanist, linguist, geographer and antiquary....
, and then re-born by modern day nationalists. In Ireland, it has been argued that only around a quarter of the island contains significant archaeological evidence of the Iron Age culture typically identified as 'Celtic'. However, this line of reasoning has itself come under criticism, being labelled an intellectual extension of modern British cultural colonialism, as well as for simplifying the anthropological correlation between material culture and ethnicity.
Among
Insular CelticInsular Celtic languages are those Celtic languages that originated in the British Isles, in contrast to the Continental Celtic languages of mainland Europe and Anatolia. All surviving Celtic languages are from the Insular Celtic group; the Continental Celtic languages are extinct...
groups, while there is strong evidence for linkages between Insular and
Continental CeltsThe Continental Celtic languages is a modern name for the Celtic languages, now all extinct, that originated and were spoken on the continent of Europe . The Continental Celtic languages were spoken by the people known to Roman and Greek writers as Keltoi, Celts, Gauls and Galatae...
, earlier assumptions that the Atlantic Celts must be the descendants of an "invasion" of Continental Celts have largely been proven false. This finding has led some, including Richard Warner of the
Ulster MuseumThe Ulster Museum is located in the Botanical Gardens in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and has around 8,000 square metres of public display space, featuring material from the collections of Fine Art and Applied Art, Archaeology, Ethnography, Treasures from the Spanish Armada, Local History,...
, to assert that the Atlantic Celts are "not Celts at all". Warner associates Celticity with a "
gene poolIn population genetics, a gene pool is the complete set of unique alleles in a species or population.- Description :A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can survive bouts of intense selection...
" when he claims that "the Celts" were "warrior-adventurers whose influence and effect far outweighed their numbers, but who are most unlikely to have a significant or measurable effect on the Irish gene pool".
Religion
Modern Celts are divided fairly evenly between Protestants (& Anglicans) and Roman Catholics. About 75% of the population of the island of Ireland is
Roman CatholicThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
, as are nearly all Bretons, but the majority of the Scots, Welsh, Cornish and Manx are Protestant or Anglican. In Scotland, there is a substantial Roman Catholic minority, estimated as 16% in the 2001 Census, mainly in areas with recent Irish immigration, but also in some Gaelic speaking areas such as
South UistSouth Uist is an island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. In the 2001 census it had a usually resident population of 1,818. There is a nature reserve and a number of sites of archaeological interest, including the only location in Great Britain where prehistoric mummies have been found. The...
and
BarraThe Isle of Barra is a predominantly Gaelic-speaking island, and apart from the adjacent island of Vatersay is the southernmost inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland....
. The
Archbishop of CanterburyAlso see Leaders of ChristianityThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the see that churches must be in communion with in order to be...
(and Primate of All England), Dr
Rowan WilliamsRowan Douglas Williams is an Anglican bishop and theologian. He is the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003....
, is a Welsh speaking Welshman, whilst
CardinalA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor who was
Archbishop of WestminsterThe Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the Metropolitan of the Province of Westminster and, as a matter of custom, is elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, and therefore de facto spokesman...
from 2000 to 2009, is of Irish parentage.
See also
- Pan-Celticism
Pan-Celticism is the name given to a variety of movements that espouse greater contact between the various Celtic nations.-Types of Pan-Celticism:Pan-Celticism can operate on the following levels:...
- Celtic Congress
The International Celtic Congress is a cultural organisation that seeks to promote the Celtic languagues of the nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. It was formed out of previously existing bodies that had sought to advance the same goals such as the Celtic...
- Celtic League
The Celtic League is a political and cultural organisation in the modern Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man...
- Anglo-Celtic
Anglo-Celtic is a macro-cultural term used to collectively describe the cultures native to Britain and Ireland and the significant diasporas located in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States....
- Celtic Revival
Celtic Revival covers a variety of movements and trends, mostly in the 19th and 20th centuries, which drew on Celtic art and traditions. Although the revival was complex and multifaceted, occurring across many fields and in various countries in North-West Europe, its best known incarnation is...
- Celtic Neopaganism
Celtic Neopaganism refers to Neopagan movements based on, or loosely inspired by, historical Celtic polytheism. There are at least three currents to be distinguished:*Neo-druidism, grew out of the Celtic revival in 18th century Romanticism....
External links