Today, the term 'Celtic' generally refers to the languages and cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany; also called the Celtic nations. These are the regions where Celtic languages are still spoken to some extent.
The Celts once spanned much of western, Eastern and central Europe, but many were either assimilated or wiped out by the expanding Roman Empire. The places we think of today as traditionally Celtic, namely Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
Though both came from the same source, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic are very distinct from each other. There's some argument about whether they are different dialects of the same language or different languages altogether, but the fact is — they sound very different. Each nation has its own dialect and vocabulary.
Irish is a Celtic language (as English is a Germanic language, French a Romance language, and so on). This means that it is a member of the Celtic family of languages. Its “sister” languages are Scottish, Gaelic, and Manx (Isle of Man); its more distant “cousins” are Welsh, Breton, and Cornish.
Celt, also spelled Kelt, Latin Celta, plural Celtae, a member of an early Indo-European people who from the 2nd millennium bce to the 1st century bce spread over much of Europe.
Today, Celtic is often used to describe people of the Celtic nations (the Bretons, the Cornish, the Irish, the Manx, the Scots and the Welsh) and their respective cultures and languages.
The Celtic peoples have historically lived across mainland Europe stretching from Swizerland and Turkey in the east to Britain and Ireland In the west. They can be defined by multiple physical characteristics such as red hair, blue and green eyes, tartan clothing, and prominent statures.
New research shows that the Irish definitely have their fair share of Viking heritage–in fact, the Irish are more genetically diverse than most people may assume. The Irish have Viking and Norman ancestry in similar proportions to the English.
Early sources place Celts in western Europe and also occupying land near the headwaters of the Danube River. Their home territories have often been traced to central and eastern France, extending across southern Germany and into the Czech Republic.
Celtic nationality can refer to anyone who is: Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Breton, Manx or Cornish. People who are Celtic may come from the countries where these languages are spoken, or they may be descended from those who were born there. Many Americans, for instance, are descended from Celtic peoples.
While Highland Scots are of Celtic (Gaelic) descent, Lowland Scots are descended from people of Germanic stock. During the seventh century C.E., settlers of Germanic tribes of Angles moved from Northumbria in present-day northern England and southeastern Scotland to the area around Edinburgh.
Scotland and Ireland are close neighbours, and it is no surprise that commercial ancestral Y-DNA testing and the resulting hundreds of Y-DNA Case Studies conducted at Scottish and Irish Origenes have revealed lots of shared ancestry among males with Scottish or Irish origins.
What is Celtic's Irish connection? An Irish identity has been strongly imbued in the fabric of Celtic ever since the club's foundation in 1887. The club was established by an Irishman, Brother Walfrid, whose goal was to help improve the conditions in which the Irish immigrant population in Glasgow lived.
The Celts first arrived in Ireland about 500 BC, there is no reliable information on how or when the Celts became the dominant Irish ethnic group. It is thought that the Celts arrived gradually, spreading slowly across the country, a process that could have taken several hundred years.
They are the Sidhe (pronounced “shee”) – mystical fairy-like people who supposedly inhabited Ireland prior to the arrival of the Celts (the Milesians). The Tuatha de Dannan are credited with naming Ireland.
Essentially, Irish DNA existed in Ireland before the Celts ever set foot on the island. Instead, Irish ancestors may have come to Ireland from the Bible lands in the Middle East. They might have arrived in Ireland from the South Mediterranean and would have brought cattle, cereal, and ceramics with them.
Celtic Hair Color
The Celts were described as tall and blond, and sources note their children had hair that was gray when they were young that darkened with age.
The Celts were not 'one people' – they were a collection of tribes. Contrary to popular belief, they weren't from Ireland or Scotland. The Celts are thought to have arrived in Ireland around 500 BC. Ogham was a Celtic script that was used in Ireland from the 4th century.
They were also found to have most similarity to two main ancestral sources: a 'French' component (mostly northwestern French) which reached highest levels in the Irish and other Celtic populations (Welsh, Highland Scots and Cornish) and showing a possible link to the Bretons; and a 'West Norwegian' component related to ...
From as far back as the 16th century, historians taught that the Irish are the descendants of the Celts, an Iron Age people who originated in the middle of Europe and invaded Ireland somewhere between 1000 B.C. and 500 B.C. That story has inspired innumerable references linking the Irish with Celtic culture.
Experts believe that a majority of Irish people have Celtic roots; however, a study published on Thursday found they may also have a great deal of influence from the Vikings, Anglo-Normans, and British.
If you describe someone as a Celt, you mean that they are part of the racial group which comes from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and some other areas such as Brittany.
The “truest” Celtic bloodlines existing today belong to those from the Scottish Highlands, Perthshire, Northwest Scotland and the descendants of the ancient ruling families in Ireland and Wales.
Most of the inhabitants today of the Galicia region of Spain are fair skinned with light blue or green eyes. This is due to the intermarriage of Celts with the Iberian people. One only has to walk around Santiago de Compostella, the capital of the region, to see the difference in skin complexion.