Have you ever wondered what it really means to be Celtic?
Mick (Celtic Elegance’s treasurer) takes on the task of answering this question in this informative blog post! Mick was born in England, and the rest of the Celtic Elegance family were born in Wales (a Celtic land). Mick’s family background is Irish, so his heritage is Celtic and we certainly love him here at Celtic Elegance! If you haven’t caught on, England is not considered a Celtic country.
Take it away, Mick!
Celtic nations are defined in Wikipedia as follows: ‘Celtic nations or Celtic countries are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northern Europe where the Celtic language and cultural traits have survived. The termination is used in its original sense to describe a people who share a common identity and culture and are identified with a traditional territory.’
So, which are the Celtic nations?
Wikipedia goes on to identify six Celtic nations – Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales. Yes, Cornwall is in England, but England is not a Celtic nation. We’re keeping you on your toes!
The aforementioned nations all have a Celtic language to some extent. These are truly beautiful languages, and here at Celtic Elegance we are proud to have Welsh speakers amongst our team!
Did you know that per gaelic.co, the Celtic languages spoken in the 21st century are as follows:
Brittonic Branch:
Breton – Brezhoneg
Welsh – Cymraeg
Cornish – Kernowek
Goidelic Branch:
Irish – Gaeilge
Scottish Gaelic – Gaidhlig
Manx Gaelic – Gaelg
Although I was born in England, I have Irish heritage and I married into a beautiful Welsh life! It is incredible to listen to the Celtic languages, and I quickly found a great love for the Celtic lands on my travels. I’ll still take the English jokes from the Celts (because they’ll never end, after all!), and I’m also proud of my English heritage. That’s the great thing about our backgrounds – we can have shared cultures and it’s what shapes our families, our combined histories, and ourselves!
What is your Celtic history?
If we take Ireland as an example, the United States Census Bureau reports that 31.5 million Americans (9.5%) claimed Irish ancestry in 2021! 118,539 reported Ireland as their birthplace in 2021. Did you also know that per the 2021 census, 431,436 people in Cook County, Illinois claimed Irish heritage – the largest Irish American population in the country!
Scotland isn’t close behind – Wikipedia reports that Americans of Scottish descent make up to 8.5% of the American population, and 1.7% of the state of California are made up of people with Scottish or Scottish-Irish descent.
Although the smaller Celtic lands hold a lower percentage of American ancestry, they are still very alive today! As an example, there are many active Welsh societies throughout the States!
We hope this helps briefly explain the Celtic nations! You can check out this website to see where a Celtic festival is happening near you – maybe we’ll see you there! https://www.transceltic.com/celtic-festivals-usa