Pan-Celticism

Pan-Celticism is the name given to a variety of movements that espouse greater contact between various Celtic countries/regions (or regarded as such).

Types of Pan-Celticism

Pan-Celticism can operate on the following levels -

• Linguistic - Many organisations promote linguistic ties, notably the Gorsedd in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, and government sponsored Columba Initiative between Scotland and Ireland. Often, there is a split here between the Scots, Irish and Manx, who use Q-celtic Gaelic languages and the Welsh, Cornish and Breton who speak P-celtic Brythonic languages

• Cultural - The main organisation promoting cultural contacts is the Celtic Congress.

• Music - Inter-Celtic festivals are extremely fashionable now, some of the most notable including those at Lorient, and Celtic Connections in Glasgow

• Political - The Celtic League is the main Pan-Celtic political organisation, although there are others. Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party have co-operated at some levels in Westminster and Plaid Cymru often asks questions in Parliament about Cornwall and cooperates with Mebyon Kernow. Political pan-Celticism can be taken to include everything from a full federation of independent Celtic states, to occasional political visits.

• Sporting - This is much less common, although Scotland and Ireland play each other at Hurling and Shinty internationals. There is also the Celtic League (Rugby Union), and teams from Cornwall and Brittany sometimes engaged in wrestling matches.

The term 'Celtic'

There is great controversy surrounding this term for a variety of reasons. One of these is that some consider it to be an inaccurate term to be applied to modern day peoples, and another is that others do not think that there is sufficient evidence of a link between the ancient Celts and the new 'Celts'. For further discussion on this matter see the wikipedia articles on the ancient Celts and modern Celts.

The Celtic regions/countries

The Celtic Congress and Celtic League consider the following to be the Celtic areas - Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales.

However, in music festivals it is common to find bands from Galicia and Asturias. Val d'Aoste in Italy is sometimes claimed as a Celtic region, as are parts of England (not just Cornwall). See also article on the Modern Celts.

Timeline of Pan-Celticism

• 1820 : Celtic Society of Edinburgh founded
• 1838 : First Celtic Congress, Abergavenny, Wales
• 1845 : Tynwald recognised by UK
• 1867 : Second Celtic Congress, Saint Brieuc, Brittany
• 1888 : Pan-Celtic Society, Dublin
• 1899 : Celtic Association formed at Cardiff eisteddfod
• 1900 : First major Celtic Congress
• 1914-1918 : First World War
• 1919-1922 : Irish War of Independence, 2/3 of Ireland becomes Independent, Northern Ireland gets devolved government
• 1922-1923 : Irish Civil War
• 1923 : Breton party ‘Breizh Atao’ adopts official pan-Celtic policy
• 1929 : a Celtic League founded in Scotland
• 1939-1945 : Second World War and German occupation of Brittany
• 1947 : Irish government sponsors Celtic Congress
• 1949 : Republic of Ireland
• 1952 : Collapse of Celtic Union. A new Celtic Association is also formed in London after a rally of 10,000 people.
• 1953 : First Celtic Congress of Canada
• 1961 : Modern Celtic League founded
• 1966–1970 : Celtic Youth Congress
• 1968 : Welsh League of Youth holds inter-Celtic camps.
• 1971 : Killarney pan-Celtic festival begins
• 1977 : “Pan-Celtic News” founded
• 1985 : Scrif Celtic, the Celtic book fair begins
• 1997 : Columba Initiative began
• 1999 : Scotland and Wales are devolved and the Cornish Constitutional Convention is created finally collecting over 50000 signatures endorsing the call for a Cornish Assembly.
• Late 1990s: Scottish and Irish Youth parliaments begin

See also

• Celtic Congress
• Celtic League
• Celts
• Celtic languages
• Modern Celts
• Pan-Arabism, Pan-Germanism, Pan-Slavism, Pan-Turkism

External links

• Columba Initiative
• Celtic League (Rugby Union)