The Celtic nations, or Celtic countries, are areas in Northwestern Europe where Celtic languages and traditions have remained over time.
Today, six regions are most commonly recognized as Celtic countries: Brittany (Breizh), Cornwall (Kernow), Ireland (Éire), the Isle of Man (Mannin or Ellan Vannin), Scotland (Alba), and Wales (Cymru). In each of these areas, a Celtic language is spoken. Brittonic languages, such as Breton in Brittany, Cornish in Cornwall, and Welsh in Wales, are used in these regions. Goidelic languages, like Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, Irish in Ireland, and Manx on the Isle of Man, are also spoken there. Galicia is sometimes included as a Celtic country, though it is not always considered one.
Before the rise of ancient Rome and the arrival of Germanic and Slavic groups, much of Europe was influenced by Celtic-speaking cultures. These cultures left behind traditions and customs. Some areas in northwestern Iberia, such as Asturias, northern Portugal, León, and Cantabria (historically called Gallaecia and Astures), show evidence of Celtic influence but are not usually considered Celtic nations. Unlike the Insular Celtic languages, no Celtic languages are spoken today in these regions. Similar patterns of Celtic influence without lasting language survival are found in parts of Italy, Austria, and the Czech Republic.
The idea of Celtic nations is supported by groups that promote Celtic unity, such as the Celtic League or the International Celtic Congress. These organizations work to preserve and celebrate Celtic heritage.
Six recognised nations
Each of the six countries has its own Celtic language. In Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, these languages have been spoken continuously over time. In Cornwall and the Isle of Man, the languages were spoken until modern times but later stopped being used by communities. However, in these two areas, efforts to bring the languages back have helped adults learn them again, and some people now speak them naturally.
In Ireland, Wales, Brittany, and Scotland, there are areas where Celtic languages are used daily. In Ireland, these areas are called the Gaeltacht. In Wales, they are called Y Fro Gymraeg. In western Brittany, they are called Breizh-Izel, and in eastern Brittany, they are called Breizh-Uhel. These communities are usually located in the western parts of their countries and in more remote mountain or island areas. Welsh is widely used, with many people in northern and western Wales speaking it as their first language or alongside English. Signs in public places use both Welsh and English in Wales. It is now required to know at least basic Welsh to work for the Welsh government. The term Gàidhealtachd historically described the Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland (the Highlands and islands) and is now also the Gaelic name for the Highland council area, which includes regions where Gaelic is not spoken.
In Wales, the Welsh language is a required subject in schools, and all students study it. Additionally, 20% of schoolchildren in Wales attend schools where lessons are taught entirely in Welsh. In the Republic of Ireland, all students study Irish as one of the three required subjects until the end of secondary school. About 7.4% of primary school education in Ireland is taught in Irish, which is part of the Gaelscoil movement.
Parts of northern Iberia, including Galicia, Cantabria, Asturias in Spain, and the North Region in Portugal, also claim a Celtic heritage. These areas are not traditionally included among the six main "Celtic nations" because they do not have a living Celtic language. However, historical and archaeological evidence shows that Celtic people had a strong influence in the ancient region of Gallaecia, which included modern-day Galicia and northern Portugal.
Many archaeological discoveries, such as castros (hill forts) and items with Celtic designs, support the presence of Celtic-speaking people in Gallaecia during the Iron Age. Ancient writers like Strabo and Pomponius Mela described the Gallaeci and Astures tribes as Celtic, noting similarities in their culture and language to other Celtic groups.
Although no Celtic language has been spoken in northern Iberia since the early Middle Ages, some Celtic words remain in local place names and vocabulary. For example, place names ending in "-briga" (meaning "fortress" or "hill") are common in Galicia and northern Portugal.
In recent years, interest in Celtic heritage has grown in Galicia, Asturias, and northern Portugal. These regions take part in events like the Festival Interceltique de Lorient, where Galicia and Asturias are recognized as part of the Celtic world. The annual Ortigueira's Festival of Celtic World in Galicia, one of Europe's largest celebrations of Celtic music and culture, draws performers and audiences from across the Celtic world.
Irish was once widely spoken in Newfoundland but mostly disappeared by the early 20th century. Some words from Irish remain in Newfoundland English, such as "scrob" for "scratch" and "sleeveen" for "rascal." Today, there are very few people in Newfoundland or Labrador who can speak Irish Gaelic fluently, though some phrases are remembered in traditional stories and songs.
In Atlantic Canada, especially on Cape Breton Island and nearby parts of Nova Scotia, some people still speak Scottish Gaelic. In 2011, there were 1,275 Gaelic speakers in Nova Scotia, and 300 people in the province considered Gaelic their "mother tongue."
Patagonian Welsh is spoken mainly in Y Wladfa, a region in the Chubut Province of Patagonia, Argentina, with a few speakers elsewhere in the country. Estimates suggest between 1,500 and 5,000 people speak Welsh in Patagonia.
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are part of the larger Indo-European language family. According to SIL Ethnologue, there are six living Celtic languages today. Four of these languages have many native speakers. These include the Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx, which all came from Middle Irish) and the Brittonic languages (Welsh, Breton, and Cornish, which all came from Common Brittonic).
In 2010, more than 1.4 million people spoke Celtic languages.
Celtic identity
Formal cooperation between the Celtic nations is active in many areas, such as politics, languages, culture, and music.
The Celtic League is a group that brings together Celtic nations to support their political, language, cultural, and social rights.
The Celtic Congress, created in 1917, is not a political group. It works to promote Celtic culture and languages and to encourage intellectual connections and teamwork among Celtic people.
Festivals that celebrate the culture of the Celtic nations include the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany, Ortigueira's Festival of Celtic World in Galicia, the Pan Celtic Festival in Ireland, CeltFest Cuba in Havana, Cuba, the National Celtic Festival in Portarlington, Australia, the Celtic Media Festival (which highlights films and television from Celtic nations), and the Eisteddfod in Wales.
Music festivals that focus on Celtic traditions include Celtic Connections in Glasgow and the Hebridean Celtic Festival in Stornoway. Because of immigration, a version of Scottish Gaelic called Canadian Gaelic is spoken by some people on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. A small group of people in Chubut Province, Argentina, also speaks Welsh. For some events, such as the Festival Interceltique de Lorient, Gallaecia, Asturias, and Cape Breton Island are considered part of the nine Celtic nations.
Sports events involving teams from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales include rugby union (Pro14, formerly known as the Celtic League), athletics (Celtic Cup), and association football (Nations Cup, also called the Celtic Cup).
Between 1995 and 2007, the Republic of Ireland experienced fast economic growth, which led to the term "Celtic Tiger" being used to describe the country. In 2007, Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, proposed a plan called the "Celtic Lion economy" to help Scotland achieve similar economic success.
A 2006 study by researchers at Oxford University suggested that many Britons, including many English people, are descended from tribes that arrived in Europe from Iberia around 5000 BC, before the spread of Celtic culture. However, later genetic studies showed that this claim was incorrect. These studies found that the haplogroup R1b, common in Celtic-speaking areas like Ireland and Brittany, spread to western Europe during the Bronze Age through large migrations from the Yamnaya culture in the Pontic–Caspian steppe. These migrations also brought Indo-European languages, such as proto-Celtic. The studies analyzed both Y-DNA and autosomal DNA and found a genetic component, called "Yamnaya," that was not present in early European populations. This component mixed with existing Mesolithic and Neolithic populations in western Europe. A 2016 study also found that remains from Rathlin Island in Ireland, over 4,000 years old, were genetically similar to modern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh people, showing that the core of the Celtic genome was already established by that time.
A 2015 study of the United Kingdom showed that there is no single "Celtic" genetic identity compared to non-Celtic regions. The Celtic areas of the UK (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Cornwall) have the most genetic differences among themselves. The study found that Scottish and Cornish populations share more genetic similarities with the English than with other Celtic groups, with the Cornish being especially close genetically to English groups.
The Irish appear to have been least affected by foreign invaders, such as the Anglo-Saxons, compared to other Celtic nations. This is shown by the high presence of the "Insular Celtic" haplogroup R1b-L21 in the Irish population, which is the highest in the world.
Terminology
The term "Celtic nations" comes from the language studies of 16th-century scholar George Buchanan and the polymath Edward Lhuyd. As Assistant Keeper and later Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (1691–1709), Lhuyd traveled widely across Great Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He noticed similarities between the languages of Brittany, Cornwall, and Wales, which he called "P-Celtic" or Brythonic, and the languages of Ireland, the Isle of Man, and Scotland, which he called "Q-Celtic" or Goidelic. Lhuyd published Archaeologia Britannica: An Account of the Languages, Histories and Customs of Great Britain, from Travels through Wales, Cornwall, Bas-Bretagne, Ireland and Scotland in 1707. His work concluded that all six languages shared a common root. Lhuyd believed this root language came from the languages spoken by Iron Age tribes of Gaul, whom Greek and Roman writers called "Celtic." By labeling these languages as Celtic, the people who spoke them also became known as Celtic. Some scholars question whether Lhuyd’s theory is correct. However, the term "Celtic" to describe the languages and people of Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and Scotland was widely accepted by the 18th century and remains in use today.
These regions are sometimes called the "Celt belt" or "Celtic fringe" because they are generally located on the western edges of Europe. For example, Brittany is in northwest France, Cornwall is in southwest Great Britain, Wales is in western Great Britain, and Gaelic-speaking areas of Ireland and Scotland are in the west of those countries. The region is also known as the "Celtic Crescent" because the nations form a shape resembling a crescent moon.
The Celtic names for each nation in each language show some similarities. Although spelling differs, many sounds and words used to describe the Celtic nations are similar in both the names the people use for themselves (endonyms) and the names others use for them (exonyms).
Territories of the ancient Celts
Modern-day people from Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, and northern Portugal often say they have Celtic heritage or identity. Even though Celtic languages in Iberia disappeared during Roman times, evidence of Celtic culture remains in place names, parts of local languages, old writings, stories, and music.
Most people in France connect with the ancient Gauls and know that these people spoke Celtic languages and lived according to Celtic traditions.
In Wallonia, some people describe themselves as "Celts," especially when comparing themselves to the "Teutonic" Flemish or "Latin" French. Others see themselves as Belgian, meaning they are part of a group known as Germano-Celtic people, different from the Gaulish-Celtic French.
The Canegrate culture (13th century BC) may show the first movement of early Celtic people from the northwest Alps. These people traveled through Alpine passes and settled in the western Po Valley between Lake Maggiore and Lake Como (Scamozzina culture). Some researchers suggest that Celtic people may have lived in northwestern Italy even earlier, during the Middle Bronze Age (16th–15th century BC). At that time, bronze tools and ornaments in northwestern Italy were similar to those made by groups in Central Europe, part of the Tumulus culture (1600–1200 BC). Evidence of the La Tène culture, which was linked to the Celts, has been found across mainland Italy, with the southernmost example being a Celtic helmet discovered in Canosa di Puglia.
Italy is home to Lepontic, the oldest known Celtic language, which was spoken as early as the 6th century BC. This language was used in Switzerland and northern-central Italy, from the Alps to Umbria. According to the Recueil des Inscriptions Gauloises, over 760 Gaulish inscriptions have been found in present-day France (except in Aquitaine) and in Italy.
In Italy’s Aosta Valley, where French and Arpitan are spoken, some people also claim Celtic heritage. The Northern League, an autonomist political group, sometimes highlights what it says are the Celtic roots of northern Italy or Padania.
Celtic tribes lived in areas now known as southern Germany and Austria. Many experts link the earliest Celtic people to the Hallstatt culture. Tribes such as the Boii, Scordisci, and Vindelici lived in Central Europe, including modern-day Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria. The Boii gave their name to Bohemia. They built a city on the site of modern Prague, and some of its ruins are now a tourist attraction. Some modern Czechs say their people are as much descendants of the Boii as they are from later Slavic groups or Germanic peoples who lived in the Czech lands. This idea may not only be political: a 2000 study by Semino found that 35.6% of Czech men have a y-chromosome haplogroup called R1b, which is common among Celts but rare among Slavs.