Pan-Celticism is the name given to various political and cultural movements and organisations that promote greater contact between the Celtic nations. [1] [2]
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Pan-Celticism can operate on one or all of the following levels listed below:
Linguistic organisations promote linguistic ties, notably the Gorsedd in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, and the Irish government-sponsored Columba Initiative between Ireland and Scotland. Often, there is a split here between the Irish, Scots and Manx, who use Q-Celtic Goidelic languages, and the Welsh, Cornish and Bretons, who speak P-Celtic Brythonic languages.
Culturally the main organisation promoting cultural contacts is the Celtic Congress.
Music is a notable aspect of Celtic cultural links. Inter-Celtic festivals have been gaining popularity, and some of the most notable include those at Lorient, Killarney, Kilkenny, Letterkenny and Celtic Connections in Glasgow.[3][4]
Sporting contact is much less common, although Ireland and Scotland play each other at hurling/shinty internationals.[5] There is also the Celtic league involving Rugby union teams from Ireland, Wales and Scotland.[6]
Political groups such as the Celtic League, a notable Pan-Celtic political organisation, along with Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party have co-operated at some levels in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and Plaid Cymru has asked questions in Parliament about Cornwall and cooperates with Mebyon Kernow. The Regional Council of Brittany, the governing body of the Region of Brittany, has developed formal cultural links with the Welsh Senedd and there are fact-finding missions. Political pan-Celticism can be taken to include everything from a full federation of independent Celtic states, to occasional political visits. In 1972 the Provisional IRA adopted a policy of not mounting attacks in "other Celtic countries" - i.e. Scotland and Wales - possibly due to the influence of its chief of staff Seán Mac Stíofáin, a Pan-Celt.[7]
Town twinning is common between Wales - Brittany and Ireland - Brittany, covering hundreds of communities, with exchanges of local politicians, choirs, dancers and school groups.[8]
The kingdom of Dál Riata was a Gaelic overkingdom on the western seaboard of Scotland with some territory on the northern coasts of Ireland. In the late 6th and early 7th century it encompassed roughly what is now Argyll and Bute and Lochaber in Scotland and also County Antrim in Northern Ireland.[9]
As recently as the 13th century, "members of the Scottish elite were still proud to proclaim their Gaelic-Irish origins and identified Ireland as the homeland of the Scots."[10] The 14th century Scottish King Robert the Bruce asserted a common identity for Ireland and Scotland.[10] However, in later medieval times, Irish and Scottish interests diverged for a number of reasons, and the two peoples grew estranged.[11] The conversion of the Scots to Protestantism was one factor.[11] The stronger political position of Scotland in relation to England was another.[11] The disparate economic fortunes of the two was a third reason; by the 1840s Scotland was one of the richest areas in the world and Ireland one of the poorest.[11]
Over the centuries there continued to be considerable contact between Ireland and Scotland, first as Scots Protestants were transplanted into Ulster in the 17th century and then as Irish began to move to Scottish cities in the 19th century. Recently the field of Irish-Scottish studies has developed considerably, with the Irish-Scottish Academic Initiative (ISAI) founded in 1995. To date, three international conferences have been held in Ireland and Scotland, in 1997, 2000 and 2002.[12]
There is some controversy surrounding the term Celts one such example was the Celtic league's Galician crisis.[2] This was a debate over the region Galicia should be admitted. The application was rejected on the basis of language.[2]
Organisations such as the Celtic Congress and the Celtic League use the definition that a 'Celtic nation' is a nation with recent history of a traditional Celtic language.[2]
A number of Europeans from the central and western regions of the continent have some Celtic ancestry. As such it is generally claimed that the 'litmus test' of Celticism is a surviving Celtic language [2] and it was on this criterion that the Celtic league rejected Galicia. The following regions have a surviving Celtic language and it on this criterion that they are considered, by The Pan Celtic Congress in 1904 and Celtic League, to be the Celtic nations.[2][13]
Other regions have been claimed to be or people have claimed as Celtic are
In the Americas there are notable Irish and Scottish Gaelic speaking enclaves in Atlantic Canada.
The Patagonia region of Argentina has a sizeable Welsh speaking population. The Welsh settlement in Argentina started in the 1865 and is known as Y Wladfa.
The Celtic diaspora in the Americas, as well as New Zealand and Australia, is significant and organised enough that there are numerous organisations, cultural festivals and university-level language classes available in major cities throughout these regions.
The Irish Gaelic games of Gaelic football and hurling are played across the world and are organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association while the Scottish game shinty has seen recent growth in the USA[15]
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