TheCeltic nations orCeltic countries[1] are acultural area and collection of geographicalregions inNorthwestern Europe where theCeltic languages and cultural traits have survived.[2] The termnation is used in its original sense to mean a people who share a common identity and culture and are identified with a traditional territory.[according to whom?]
The six regions widely considered Celtic countries in modern times areBrittany (Breizh),Cornwall (Kernow),Ireland (Éire), theIsle of Man (Mannin, orEllan Vannin),Scotland (Alba), andWales (Cymru).[1][3] In each of these six regions a Celtic language is spoken to some extent:Brittonic or Brythonic languages are spoken in Brittany (Breton), Cornwall (Cornish), and Wales (Welsh), whilstGoidelic or Gaelic languages are spoken in Scotland (Scottish Gaelic), Ireland (Irish), and the Isle of Man (Manx).[4]
Before the expansion ofancient Rome and the spread ofGermanic andSlavic tribes, much of Europe was dominated by Celtic-speaking cultures, leaving behind a legacy of Celtic cultural traits.[5] Certain regions with evidence of Celtic influence in northwesternIberia, such asGalicia,Asturias,northern Portugal,León, andCantabria (historically known asGallaecia andAstures), are not typically considered Celtic nations.[6] Unlike theInsular Celtic languages, there's no record of Celtic languages surviving into the modern era in these regions.[6][7][8] Similar evidence of a pattern of Celtic influence without the long-term survival of Celtic languages is also found in various regions across Europe, including parts ofItaly,Austria, and theCzech Republic.
The concept of the Celtic nations is widely promoted bypan-Celtic movements, including political and cultural organizations like theCeltic League orInternational Celtic Congress.
Each of the six nations has its ownCeltic language. InBrittany,Ireland,Scotland, andWales these have been spoken continuously through time, whileCornwall and theIsle of Man have languages that were spoken into modern times but later died as spoken community languages.[9][10] In the latter two regions, however,language revitalisation movements have led to the adoption of these languages by adults and produced a number of native speakers.[11]
Ireland, Wales, Brittany, and Scotland contain areas where a Celtic language is used on a daily basis; in Ireland these areas are called theGaeltacht; in WalesY Fro Gymraeg, Breizh-Izel (Lower Brittany) in western Brittany and Breizh-Uhel (Upper Brittany) in eastern Brittany.[12] Generally these communities are in the west of their countries and in more isolated upland or island areas. Welsh, however, is much more widespread, with much of the north and west speaking it as a first language, or equally alongside English. Public signage is in dual languages throughout Wales and it is now a requirement to possess at least basic Welsh in order to be employed by theWelsh government. The termGàidhealtachd historically distinguished the Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland (theHighlands and islands) from theLowlandScots (i.e. Anglo-Saxon-speaking) areas. More recently, this term has also been adopted as the Gaelic name of theHighland council area, which includes non-Gaelic speaking areas. Hence, more specific terms such assgìre Ghàidhlig ("Gaelic-speaking area") are now used.[citation needed]
In Wales, theWelsh language is a core curriculum (compulsory) subject, which all pupils study.[13] Additionally, 20% of schoolchildren in Wales attendWelsh medium schools, where they are taught entirely in the Welsh language.[14] In theRepublic of Ireland, all school children study Irish as one of the three core subjects until the end of secondary school, and 7.4% of primary school education is through Irish medium education, which is part of theGaelscoil movement.[14] In the Isle of Man, there isone Manx-medium primary school, and all schoolchildren have the opportunity to learn Manx.[citation needed]
Parts of the northern Iberian Peninsula, namelyGalicia,Cantabria,Asturias in Spain, and theNorth Region, Portugal, also lay claim to a Celtic heritage. These regions are not traditionally included among the six primary "Celtic nations" owing to the absence of a living Celtic language; however, archaeological and historical evidence points to a significant Celtic influence, particularly in the ancient region ofGallaecia, which encompassed modern Galicia and northern Portugal.[6]
Numerous archaeological findings, such ascastros (hill forts) and artifacts bearing Celtic motifs, support the presence of Celtic-speaking cultures in Gallaecia dating back to at least the Iron Age.[15] Classical sources, including Strabo and Pomponius Mela, described the Gallaeci and Astures tribes as Celtic, noting similarities in cultural practices and languages with the broader Celtic world.[16]
While no Celtic language has been spoken in northern Iberia since the early Middle Ages, traces of a Celtic linguistic substratum persist in local place names and vocabulary. Toponyms with Celtic roots, such as those ending in "-briga" (meaning "fortress" or "hill"), are common in Galicia and northern Portugal.[17]
In recent decades, there has been a revival of interest in Celtic heritage across Galicia, Asturias, and northern Portugal. These regions actively participate in pan-Celtic events such as theFestival Interceltique de Lorient, where Galicia and Asturias are recognized alongside the six core Celtic nations. The annualOrtigueira's Festival of Celtic World in Galicia, one of Europe's largest celebrations of Celtic music and culture, attracts performers and audiences from across the Celtic world.[18]
Irish was once widely spoken on the island ofNewfoundland, but largely disappeared by the early 20th century. Vestiges remain in words found in Newfoundland English, such asscrob for "scratch" andsleeveen for "rascal."[19] There are virtually no known fluent speakers of Irish Gaelic in Newfoundland or Labrador today, though memorized passages survive in traditional tales and songs.[19]
Canadian Gaelic dialects of Scottish Gaelic are still spoken by Gaels in parts of Atlantic Canada, primarily onCape Breton Island and nearby areas ofNova Scotia. In 2011, there were 1,275 Gaelic speakers in Nova Scotia,[20] and 300 residents of the province considered a Gaelic language their "mother tongue."[21]
Patagonian Welsh is spoken principally inY Wladfa in theChubut Province ofPatagonia, with sporadic speakers elsewhere inArgentina. Estimates of the number of Welsh speakers range from 1,500[22] to 5,000.[23]
The Celtic languages form a branch of the greaterIndo-Europeanlanguage family.SIL Ethnologue lists six living Celtic languages, of which four have retained a substantial number of native speakers. These are theGoidelic languages (i.e.Irish,Scottish Gaelic, andManx,[24] which are both descended fromMiddle Irish) and theBrittonic languages (i.e.Welsh,Breton andCornish,[25] which are both descended fromCommon Brittonic).[26]
Taken together, there were roughly one million native speakers of Celtic languages as of the 2000s.[citation needed] In 2010, there were more than 1.4 million speakers of Celtic languages.[27]
Formal cooperation between the Celtic nations is active in many contexts, including politics, languages, culture, music and sports:
TheCeltic League is an inter-Celtic political organisation, which campaigns for the political, language, cultural and social rights, affecting one or more of the Celtic nations.[28][non-primary source needed]
Established in 1917, theCeltic Congress is a non-political organisation that seeks to promote Celtic culture and languages and to maintain intellectual contact and close cooperation between Celtic peoples.[29]
Festivals celebrating the culture of the Celtic nations include theFestival Interceltique de Lorient (Brittany),Ortigueira's Festival of Celtic World (Galicia), thePan Celtic Festival (Ireland), CeltFest Cuba (Havana, Cuba), the National Celtic Festival (Portarlington, Australia), theCeltic Media Festival (showcasing film and television from the Celtic nations), and theEisteddfod (Wales).[8][30][31][32]
Inter-Celtic music festivals includeCeltic Connections (Glasgow), and theHebridean Celtic Festival (Stornoway).[33][34] Due to immigration, a dialect of Scottish Gaelic (Canadian Gaelic) is spoken by some onCape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, while aWelsh-speaking minority exists in theChubut Province ofArgentina. Hence, for certain purposes—such as theFestival Interceltique de Lorient—Gallaecia,Asturias, andCape Breton Island in Nova Scotia are considered three of thenine Celtic nations.[8]
Competitions are held between the Celtic nations in sports such asrugby union (Pro14—formerly known as the Celtic League), athletics (Celtic Cup) and association football (theNations Cup—also known as the Celtic Cup).[35][36]
The Republic of Ireland enjoyed a period of rapid economic growth between 1995 and 2007, leading to the use of the phraseCeltic Tiger to describe the country.[37][38] Aspirations for Scotland to achieve a similar economic performance to that of Ireland led the ScotlandFirst MinisterAlex Salmond to set out his vision of a Celtic Lioneconomy for Scotland, in 2007.[39]
A Y-DNA study by an Oxford University research team in 2006 claimed that the majority of Britons, including many of the English, are descended from a group of tribes which arrived from Iberia around 5000 BC, before the spread of Celtic culture into western Europe. However, three major later genetic studies have largely invalidated these claims, instead showing thathaplogroup R1b in western Europe, most common in traditionally Celtic-speaking areas ofAtlantic Europe likeIreland andBrittany, would have largely expanded in massive migrations from theIndo-European homeland, theYamnaya culture in thePontic–Caspian steppe, during theBronze Age along with carriers ofIndo-European languages likeproto-Celtic. Unlike previous studies, large sections ofautosomal DNA were analyzed in addition to paternalY-DNA markers. They detected anautosomal component present in modern Europeans which was not present in Neolithic or Mesolithic Europeans, and which would have been introduced into Europe with paternal lineages R1b and R1a, as well as the Indo-European languages. This genetic component, labelled as "Yamnaya" in the studies, then mixed to varying degrees with earlierMesolithic hunter-gatherer orNeolithic farmer populations already existing in western Europe.[40][41][42] Furthermore, a 2016 study also found that Bronze Age remains fromRathlin Island in Ireland dating to over 4,000 years ago were most genetically similar to modern Irish, Scottish and Welsh, and that the core of the genome of insular Celtic populations was established by this time.[43]
In 2015 a genetic study of the United Kingdom showed that there is no unified 'Celtic' genetic identity compared to 'non-Celtic' areas. The 'Celtic' areas of the United Kingdom (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Cornwall) show the most genetic differences among each other.[44] The data shows that Scottish and Cornish populations share greater genetic similarity with the English than they do with other 'Celtic' populations, with the Cornish in particular being genetically much closer to other English groups than they are to the Welsh or the Scots.[45]
The Irish appear to be the least affected by foreign invaders out of the Celtic nations, most notably theAnglo-Saxons, this is reflected in them having the highest concentration of the "Insular Celtic" haplogroupR1b-L21 in the world.[46][47]
The termCeltic nations derives from thelinguistics studies of the 16th century scholarGeorge Buchanan and thepolymathEdward Lhuyd.[48] As Assistant Keeper and thenKeeper of theAshmolean Museum,Oxford (1691–1709), Lhuyd travelled extensively in Great Britain, Ireland and Brittany in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Noting the similarity between the languages of Brittany, Cornwall and Wales, which he called "P-Celtic" orBrythonic, the languages of Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland, which he called "Q-Celtic" orGoidelic, and between the two groups, Lhuyd publishedArchaeologia Britannica: an Account of the Languages, Histories and Customs of Great Britain, from Travels through Wales, Cornwall, Bas-Bretagne, Ireland and Scotland in 1707. HisArchaeologia Britannica concluded that all sixlanguages derived from the same root. Lhuyd theorised that the root language descended from thelanguages spoken by theIron Age tribes ofGaul, whom Greek and Roman writers calledCeltic.[49] Having defined the languages of those areas as Celtic, the people living in them and speaking those languages became known as Celtic too. There is some dispute as to whether Lhuyd's theory is correct. Nevertheless, the termCeltic to describe the languages and peoples of Brittany, Cornwall and Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland was accepted from the 18th century and is widely used today.[48]
These areas of Europe are sometimes referred to as the "Celt belt" or "Celtic fringe" because of their location generally on the western edges of the continent, and of the states they inhabit (e.g.Brittany is in the northwest of France, Cornwall is in the south west of Great Britain,Wales in western Great Britain and theGaelic-speaking parts of Ireland andScotland are in the west of those countries).[50][51] Additionally, this region is known as the "Celtic Crescent" because of the nearcrescent shaped position of the nations in Europe.[52]
The Celtic names for each nation in each language illustrate some of the similarity between the languages. Despite differences in orthography, there are many sound and lexical correspondences between theendonyms and exonyms used to refer to the Celtic nations.
| English | Breton (Brezhoneg) | Welsh (Cymraeg) | Cornish[53] (Kernowek) | Irish[54] (Gaeilge) | Scottish Gaelic[55] (Gàidhlig) | Manx (Gaelg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brittany | Breizh [bʁɛjs,bʁɛχ] | Llydaw [ˈɬədau] | Breten Vian | an Bhriotáin [ənˠˈvʲɾʲit̪ˠaːnʲ] | a' Bhreatainn Bheag [əˈvɾʲɛht̪əɲˈvek] | yn Vritaan |
| Cornwall | Kernev-Veur [ˈkɛʁnevˈvøːr] | Cernyw [ˈkɛrnɨu] | Kernow | Corn na Breataine [ˈkoːɾˠn̪ˠn̪ˠəˈbʲɾʲat̪ˠənʲə] | a' Chòrn [əˈxoːrˠn̪ˠ] | yn Chorn |
| Ireland | Iwerzhon [iˈwɛʁzɔ̃n] | Iwerddon [iˈwɛrðɔn] | Wordhen Iwerdhon | Éire [ˈeːɾʲə] | Èirinn [ˈeːɾʲɪɲ] | Nerin |
| Mann Isle of Man | Manav [mɑ̃ˈnaw] Enez-Vanav [ˈẽːnesvɑ̃ˈnaw] | Manaw [ˈmanau] Ynys Manaw [ˈənɨsˈmanau] | Manow Enys Vanow | Manainn [ˈmˠanˠən̠ʲ] Oileán Mhanann [ˈɛlʲaːn̪ˠˈwanˠən̪ˠ] | Manainn [ˈmanɪɲ] Eilean Mhanainn [ˈelanˈvanɪɲ] | Mannin [ˈmanʲɪn] Ellan Vannin [ˈɛlʲanˈvanɪnʲ] |
| Scotland | Bro-Skos [bʁoˈskos] Skos [skos] | yr Alban [ərˈalban] | Alban | Albain [ˈalˠəbˠənʲ] | Alba [ˈal̪ˠapə] | Nalbin [ˈnalbənʲ] |
| Wales | Kembre [ˈkɛ̃mbʁe] | Cymru [ˈkəmrɨ] | Kembra | an Bhreatain Bheag [ənˠˈvʲɾʲat̪ˠənʲˈvʲaɡ] | a' Chuimrigh [əˈxɯmɯɾɪ] | Bretin |
| Celtic nations | broioù keltiek [ˈbʁojuˈkɛltjɛk] | gwledydd Celtaidd [ɡʊˈlɛiðˈkɛltaið] | broyow keltek | náisiúin Cheilteacha [ˈn̪ˠaːʃuːnʲˈçɛlʲtʲəxə] | nàiseanan Ceilteach [ˈn̪ˠaːʃanənˈkʲʰeltʲəx] | ashoonyn Celtiagh |
| Celtic languages | yezhoù keltiek [ˈjeːsuˈkɛltjɛk] | ieithoedd Celtaidd [ˈjɛiθɔɨðˈkɛltaið] | yethow keltek | teangacha Ceilteacha [ˈtʲaŋɡəxəˈcɛlʲtʲəxə] | cànanain Cheilteach [ˈkʰaːnanɪɲˈçeltʲəx] | çhengaghyn Celtiagh |
| Great Britain | Breizh-Veur [ˈbʁɛjsˈvøːʁ] | Prydain Fawr [ˈpr̥ədaɨnˈvaur] | Breten Veur | an Bhreatain Mhór [ənˠˈvʲɾʲat̪ˠənʲˈwoːɾˠ] | Breatainn Mhòr [əˈvɾʲɛht̪əɲˈvoːɾ] | Bretin Vooar |
Modern-dayGalicians,Asturians,Cantabrians and northernPortuguese claim a Celtic heritage or identity.[6] Despite the extinction of Iberian Celtic languages in Roman times, Celtic heritage is attested in toponymics and language substratum, ancient texts, folklore andmusic.[6][57]
Most French people identify with the ancientGauls and are well aware that they were a people that spoke Celtic languages and lived Celtic ways of life.[58]
Walloons occasionally characterise themselves as "Celts", mainly in opposition to the "Teutonic"Flemish and "Latin" French identities.[59]Others think they are Belgian, that is to say Germano-Celtic people different from the Gaulish-Celtic French.[59]
The Canegrate culture (13th century BC) may represent the first migratory wave of the proto-Celtic[60] population from the northwest part of the Alps that, through theAlpine passes, had already penetrated and settled in the westernPo valley betweenLake Maggiore andLake Como (Scamozzina culture). It has also been proposed that a more ancient proto-Celtic presence can be traced back to the beginning of the MiddleBronze Age (16th–15th century BC), when North Westwern Italy appears closely linked regarding the production of bronze artifacts, including ornaments, to the western groups of theTumulus culture (Central Europe, 1600–1200 BC).[61] La Tène cultural material appeared over a large area of mainland Italy,[62] the southernmost example being the Celtic helmet fromCanosa di Puglia.[63]
Italy is home toLepontic, the oldest attested Celtic language (from the 6th century BC).[64] Anciently spoken inSwitzerland and in Northern-CentralItaly, from theAlps toUmbria.[65][66][67][68] According to theRecueil des Inscriptions Gauloises, more than 760 Gaulish inscriptions have been found throughout present-dayFrance—with the notable exception ofAquitaine—and inItaly.[69][70]
The French- andArpitan-speakingAosta Valley region inItaly also presents a claim of Celtic heritage.[71]TheNorthern Leagueautonomist party often exalts what it claims are the Celtic roots of allNorthern Italy orPadania.[72]
Celtic tribes inhabited land in what is now southern Germany and Austria.[73] Many scholars have associated the earliest Celtic peoples with theHallstatt culture.[74] TheBoii, theScordisci,[75] and theVindelici[76] are some of the tribes that inhabited Central Europe, including what is now Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Poland and the Czech Republic as well as Germany and Austria. The Boii gave their name toBohemia.[77] The Boii founded a city on the site of modern Prague, and some of its ruins are now a tourist attraction.[78] There are claims among modern Czechs that the Czech people are as much descendants of the Boii as they are from the later Slavic invaders (as well as the historical Germanic peoples of Czech lands). This claim may not only be political: according to a 2000 study by Semino, 35.6% of Czech males havey-chromosome haplogroup R1b,[79] which is common among Celts but rare among Slavs.Celts also foundedSingidunum near present-dayBelgrade, though the Celtic presence in modern-day Serbian regions is limited to the far north (mainly including the historically at least partially HungarianVojvodina).The modern-day capital of Turkey,Ankara, was once the center of the Celtic culture in Central Anatolia, giving the name to the region—Galatia.TheLa Tène culture—named for a region in modern Switzerland—succeeded the Halstatt era in much of central Europe.[citation needed]
In the years between 1815, when vast industrial changes began to disrupt the old life-styles in Europe, and Canadian Confederation in 1867, when immigration of that era passed its peak, more than 150,000 immigrants from Ireland flooded intoSaint John. Those who came in the earlier period were largely tradesmen, and many stayed in Saint John, becoming the backbone of its builders. But when theGreat Famine raged between 1845 and 1852, huge waves of Famine refugees flooded these shores. It is estimated that between 1845 and 1847, some 30,000 arrived, more people than were living in the city at the time. In 1847, dubbed "Black 47," one of the worst years of the Famine, some 16,000 immigrants, most of them from Ireland, arrived atPartridge Island, the immigration and quarantine station at the mouth of Saint John Harbour. However, thousands of Irish were living in New Brunswick prior to these events, mainly in Saint John.[80]
After the partitioning of the British colony of Nova Scotia in 1784 New Brunswick was originally named New Ireland with the capital to be inSaint John.[81]
In New Zealand, the southern regions ofOtago andSouthland were settled by theFree Church of Scotland. Many of the place names in these two regions (such as the main cities ofDunedin andInvercargill and the major river, theClutha) have Scottish Gaelic names,[82] and Celtic culture is still prominent in this area.[83][84][85]
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