Celts
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Understand
The concept of a Celtic culture is tenuous, and has only been used in modern times. The Celtic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages with some traits in common, and a recorded history back to the 6th century BC.
Most written sources about the Celts in ancient times are from the Roman Empire. The Celts were the dominant ethnic group in Gaul (which made up France and neighbouring countries) and Britannia, and were also present in Hispania and other.
In the fourth century BCE a Celtic chieftain known to history under the name "Brennus" led an army that managed to defeat and sack Rome, only withdrawing after the Romans paid a considerable ransom in gold.
The Roman Army conquered Gaul in the Gallic Wars. The Gallic peoples were Romanised, making Latin language and Roman religion dominant.
In 1542 Ireland was elevated from a "lordship" to a kingdom, but with the King of England doubling as the absentee King of Ireland. The "Laws in Wales Acts" of 1535 and 1542 fully integrated Wales into English law.
One of the legacies of these tragedies were the beginnings of Gaelic diasporas in Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, and the United States.
With the rise of standardised schooling, Celtic languages came under threat, both at home and in the diaspora. Manx and Cornish died out completely at one point but have been revived. Now only minorities in each Celtic country can speak a Celtic language varying from relatively strong Welsh, where 11% of the population are fluent and 23% can speak some, to endangered Scottish Gaelic, where only 1.1% of the Scottish population can speak it.
==Talk==
The Celtic languages alive today are Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Cornish and Breton. Still, virtually everyone in Britain and Ireland is fluent in English, and Breton speakers in Brittany are also fluent in French. The modern Galician language is not Celtic, rather it is a Romance language closely related to Portuguese.
Roman Empire
In the fourth century BCE a Celtic chieftain known to history under the name "Brennus" led an army that managed to defeat and sack Rome, only withdrawing after the Romans paid a considerable ransom in gold.
The Roman Army conquered Gaul in the Gallic Wars. The Gallic peoples were Romanised, making Latin language and Roman religion dominant.
Retreat of Rome and emergence of Celtic Christianity
The Roman Empire was already Christianised before it abandoned Britannia in the 5th century. Some non-Christian, non-Celtic peoples invaded Britannia, eventually becoming the English nation. The Britons (Romanised Celts) were able to hold on to Wales, Cornwall, and for a while Cumbria. They were also able to expand into Brittany, returning some Celtic presence to the European mainland. One of these Romanised Celts from present-day Wales was abducted and sold into slavery in Ireland. After learning the language he escaped, but then returned to Ireland as a Christian preacher, and is known to history as Saint Patrick. Through the influence of Patrick and other missionaries, Ireland and Scotland became home to dozens of thriving monasteries. These monasteries were important places of refuge for the Christian religion in coming centuries, and helped to re-Christianise the European mainland. They also had a distinct style of worship that was eventually suppressed in favour of the Roman "rite" (tradition).Integration into non-Celtic countries
Every Celtic-speaking country was eventually overrun by non-Celtic neighbours. Notable dates in this process include the Kingdom of Brittany being demoted to a duchy and swearing allegiance to the Frankish king (942), and the first Norman invasions of Wales (1067) and Ireland (1169). Although Scotland continued to exist as a separate kingdom, it was ruled by an elite that was increasingly culturally not Celtic, being of Anglo-Norman ancestry and speaking French and Scots (not Gaelic).In 1542 Ireland was elevated from a "lordship" to a kingdom, but with the King of England doubling as the absentee King of Ireland. The "Laws in Wales Acts" of 1535 and 1542 fully integrated Wales into English law.
Assimilation, resistance and diaspora
Throughout the early modern period, land rights of Celtic people were constantly under attack. The old Celtic noble classes were exiled or assimilated to English and French cultures, and the peasants were then fully exposed to both economic and cultural exploitation. The last Irish nobles not loyal to England fled in the "Flight of the Wild Geese" in 1691, and the Scottish ruling class was bribed into accepting a Union with England in 1707. Land was now firmly in the hands of people, often absentee, of an alien culture and language to the majority of the peasants, resulting in the Highland Clearances in Scotland and the Great Famine in Ireland.One of the legacies of these tragedies were the beginnings of Gaelic diasporas in Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, and the United States.
With the rise of standardised schooling, Celtic languages came under threat, both at home and in the diaspora. Manx and Cornish died out completely at one point but have been revived. Now only minorities in each Celtic country can speak a Celtic language varying from relatively strong Welsh, where 11% of the population are fluent and 23% can speak some, to endangered Scottish Gaelic, where only 1.1% of the Scottish population can speak it.
==Talk==
The Celtic languages alive today are Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Cornish and Breton. Still, virtually everyone in Britain and Ireland is fluent in English, and Breton speakers in Brittany are also fluent in French. The modern Galician language is not Celtic, rather it is a Romance language closely related to Portuguese.
See
Museums of Celtic culture
An outdoor, living-history about Gaels in Cape Breton.Celtic Christianity sites
Glendalough, County Wicklow, Ireland
phone: +353 404 45352, or +353 404 45325
Celtic festivals
Celtic Colours FestivalCape Breton, Canada. Spanning hundreds of events across dozens of towns in early-to-mid-October, the music options at Celtic Colours are not solely Celtic but include folk and some Acadian Zydeco (Acadeco) and jazz, and an increasing amount of world music.