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| Formation | Established in 1961 First publication ofCarn in 1973 |
|---|---|
Official languages | |
General secretary | Rhisiart Tal-e-bot (2006–present) |
Editor ofCarn | Rhisiart Tal-e-bot (2013–present) |
| Website | celticleague |
TheCeltic League is apan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promotemodern Celtic identity and culture inIreland,Scotland,Wales,Brittany,Cornwall and theIsle of Man – referred to as theCeltic nations; it places particular emphasis on promoting theCeltic languages of those nations. It also advocates further self-governance in the Celtic nations and ultimately for each nation to be an independent state in its own right.[1] The Celtic League is an accreditedNGO withroster consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (EcoSoc).[2]
The Celtic League presents its aims as including:
"Each Celtic nation is conditioned by a different history and so we must not expect uniformity of thought, but instead allow diversity to express itself within the Celtic League. In this way, we may better recognise those areas of possible co-operation and eventually formulate a detailed common policy. With this we can work out which kind of relations between our communities will enable them to enjoy freedoms and liberties at both individual and community level."[3]
Politically, the Celtic league seeks to create sixsovereign states from the sixCeltic nations it acknowledges as existing,[1] associated in some way.[3] There is some variation in the understanding of these aims, which ranges from annual general meetings (AGMs), to an actual federation along the lines of theNordic Council.[citation needed]
The 1987 Celtic League Annual General Meeting stated that it: "firmly reiterates that the Celtic League has a specific function withinCeltia, i.e. to work for the reinstatement of our languages to a viable position, and the attainment of sufficient economic, cultural and political autonomy to guarantee the survival of our civilisation into the 21st century. This emphasis on the languages of our six nations marks us now as distinct cultural communities, and therefore as distinct nations."[4][5]
Founded in 1961, the present Celtic League grew out of various other pan-Celtic organisations, particularly theCeltic Congress, but with a more political emphasis. Previously,Hugh MacDiarmid and others had suggested something along the same lines.
The Celtic League was started at the 1961National Eisteddfod of Wales, which was held atRhosllannerchrugog nearWrexham in northeastWales. Two of the founding members wereGwynfor Evans andJ. E. Jones, who were respectively president and secretary-general of the Welsh nationalist political partyPlaid Cymru at the time. Interest was expressed by Scottish parties, and also by Breton nationalists.
There are six main, national branches of the Celtic League in the six Celtic countries, generally known by the Celtic language names of their countries: Ireland is known asÉire,Scotland asAlba,Wales asCymru,Brittany asBreizh,Cornwall asKernow and theIsle of Man asMannin orMann.
When concluding against the inclusion of the allegedly historically Celtic regionsGalicia andAsturias (Asturies) inSpain, the 1987 Celtic League Annual General Meeting stated that, because the Celtic League's specific function, "to work for the reinstatement of our languages ... and the attainment of ... political autonomy", must remain undiluted, "this AGM considers that it would be condescending and inappropriate to offer a limited status to the applicant nations [i.e., Galicia and Asturias] within the Celtic League." The AGM expressed that it "encourage[s] them in their efforts to develop the Celtic elements in their heritage" such that "from such areas, might come the support and understanding we need to pursue our aims more effectively"[4][5] (in Spain, there are no surviving Celtic languages, although in Galicia there is a minority nationalist movement which seeks independence from the Spanish Kingdom and promotes a Celtic identity as a fundamental aspect of Galician culture).[citation needed]
There are variousdiaspora branches, that play little part in the annual general meetings:
APatagonian branch was founded in theChubut River Valley,Argentina (the location ofy Wladfa, a Welsh colony), at the end of 2009; it remained active as of October 2011[update], with Mónica Jones as secretary and her husband Michael Jones filling an unspecified post.[6]
Celtic League, American Branch (CLAB) was founded in New York City in 1974, and has its own newsletter,[7] but reported decreased activity as of October 2011[update],[6] the same year its domain name, CelticLeague.org, was lost to acybersquatter. CLAB organized various annual events, including thePan-Celtic Conference.[7]
There is a generalized International Branch for "[t]hose living far away from the national branches", including prospective Spanish members in Galicia and Asturias;[5] it was active with a website, Celtic-League.org (operated from the Isle of Man), from 2004 through 2010.[8][9] There has been a separate England Branch, based inLondon, active at least from 2004 to 2007.[10] There used to be a branch inCape Breton Island, Canada, where a smallScottish Gaelic-speaking community still exists; this branch was moribund as of October 2011[update], though various consultations had taken place in efforts to restart it.[6] The branch was then recorded as being active by 22 January 2015.[11]
The Celtic League publishes a quarterly magazine,Carn, which highlights political struggles and cultural preservation issues. The articles are produced in the sixCeltic languages in addition to English. The cover of the magazine is a map of the six Celtic countries with their respective Celtic-language names beside them. In the past, articles have appeared in French as well. For many years, Carn claimed to be the only regular publication carrying all six Celtic languages.
The Celtic League, American Branch (CLAB) prints its own quarterly newsletter,Six Nations, One Soul,[12] as of October 2011[update][6] which provides news of branch activities and events within the Celtic communities in the United States, publishes letters from members, and reviews books and recordings of Celtic interest. CLAB published at least six issues of a larger semi-annual magazine,Keltoi: A Pan-Celtic Review,from 2006 to 2008.[13] CLAB also produced a wall calendar each year, with art from members, appropriate quotations, and anniversaries; publication ceased with the 2008 issue.[14][15]
Other branches have published their own periodicals from time to time, but few have been very long-lived.
Some of the more notable past and present members of the Celtic League have beenPlaid Cymru leadersGwynfor Evans andJ. E. Jones,Scottish National Party leadersWinnie Ewing,Robert McIntyre andRob Gibson, leader ofSinn FéinRuairí Ó Brádaigh, prominent Breton exilesYann Fouéré andAlan Heusaff, the historian and writerPeter Berresford Ellis, writerBernard Le Nail, and Manx language revivalistBrian Stowell.
American author and linguistAlexei Kondratiev was president of the Celtic League American branch.
The Celtic League also campaigns for aunited Ireland, and the return of theLoire-Atlantiquedepartment toBrittany. Over the years, the Celtic League has campaigned consistently in support of the languages in Celtic nations, and for the return of ancient artefacts, removed from Celtic countries to museums outside of these areas – amongst these are theLewis chessmen and theChronicles of Mann.
The Manx branch of the Celtic League successfully campaigned for theCalf of Man island to be transferred from theNational Trust ofEngland,Wales andNorthern Ireland to the localManx National Heritage.[citation needed]
In the mid-1990s, the Celtic League started a campaign to have the word "Alba" on the Scottishfootball andrugby tops. Since 2005, theScottish Football Association have supported the use ofScottish Gaelic on their teams's strip in recognition of the language's revival in Scotland.[16] However, theSRU is still being lobbied to have "Alba" on the national rugby strip.[17]
The Celtic League has also passed a motion to support the general aims ofIndependence First, which aims for a referendum onScottish independence.[18]
Nationality is indicated by letters after their names as so:
An arrow indicates the editor relocated to one of the other Celtic countries.
The presidency and vice-presidency ran from 1961 to 1971 and were then abolished. They were held byGwynfor Evans (W) andRobert McIntyre (S) respectively for the entire duration of the posts. The successor post, chairman, was held byPádraig Ó Conchúir (I) from 1972 to 1978, then abolished.
J. B. Moffatt was serving as the organisation's director of information as of August 2008[update].[19]
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