Six or Seven Celtic nations?

[Bugbear]

Ya, what he said.

According to the Celtic League, and various other academic institutions, there are six Celtic nations that have survived into the modern era. They base this criteria on a Celtic language still being spoken in the area as well as its attendant culture.

These three nations form the Goidelic branch and their languages (Gaeilge, Gàidhlig, and Gailck, respectively) are mutually intelligible:

Ireland (Éire)
Scotland (Alba)
Isle of Man (Mannin)

These three nations form the Brythonic branch and their languages (Cymraeg, Kernewek, and Breizhonek) are mutually intelligible:

Wales (Cymru)
Cornwall (Kernow)
Brittany (Breizh)

These two groups while from the same original proto-Celtic language are not mutually intelligible (i.e. Welsh is not understood by an Irish speaker in the same way that German is not understood by an English speaker)

Galicia is not a Celtic nation. True, Celtic people inhabitated the area at one time, but they intermingled with later populations and their language (Galego) and attendant culture today is based on the Romance family of languages. No Celtic language has been spoken in the area since the 10th Century. As for loan words, there are actually more loan words of Celtic origin in English and French.
Galician separatist movements in the past have used the "Celtic" card to reinforce their differences from the dominant Castillian Spanish culture of Spain.
Incidentally, there was also a place in modern-day Turkey called Galicia which was inhabited by Celts.

France is not a Celtic nation either by this standard. They lost their Celtic culture after the Roman conquest, became thoroughly Romanised and were later conquered by Germanic peoples like the Franks.

And my parents said my degree was a waste!

Is mise le meas,

Seán Liosliath Ó hAirt

[TheKiltedWonder]

I think that discounting Galicia as a Celtic nation overlooks part of the preserved culture of the people. I have a friend from there who has played in many Galician groups and they always have played music that is more Celtic in nature. Furthermore he identifies himself as Spanish, but is a frequent participant at Celtic festivals, because of his self-identification with Celtic culture.
So while I definitely believe that language has a large impact on culture, in this case I don't believe that poor Galicia should be totally counted out.

And as for France, I don't think anyone was calling them Celtic. They are just the home of Brittany/some Galicians.

[Mael Coluim]

My goodness we are reaching to the past! Welcome PEB to XMarks & tell us about yourself.

[Bugbear]

Hey ya! Welcome PEB from the low desert southwest of U.S. America. I looked at your profile, but forgot to say howdy.

[thescot]

Ya, what he said.

Yeah, well, Slohairt beat me to all the details. So . . . well, I count six!

Actually, I really always heard six, but I could never count beyond five since I didn't know about Britanny, that famous independent nation. (Just kidding PED, and welcome aboard.)

The celtic band, Seven Nations, counted six and added the US since there were so many Celtic descendents here. (I think that's their story!)

[Bugbear]

I'm not even sure why it matters, but it's like these guys know all this stuff about these things, so ya, what they said.
I do remember history classes in colege where the instructor started the first class by saying that everything we learned on the subject in all the classes before his class was wrong.
Anyway thanks for the welcome.

Yeah, well, Slohairt beat me to all the details. So . . . well, I count six!

Actually, I really always heard six, but I could never count beyond five since I didn't know about Britanny, that famous independent nation. (Just kidding PED, and welcome aboard.)

The celtic band, Seven Nations, counted six and added the US since there were so many Celtic descendents here. (I think that's their story!)

[thescot]

I'm not even sure why it matters, but it's like these guys know all this stuff about these things, so ya, what they said.
. . .

Yeah, Ted. This is one really great place for a vast storehouse of knowledge, thought, and foolishness, too. (Some of the knowledge is what my sister used to term "useless knowledge"), but if there's something you want to know, you can probably find it here.

This is a really great place, and the range of interests and expertise is astounding.

And I hope everyone understood my little joke when I implied that I knew all that stuff about the Celtic nations; I had no clue.

[Galician]

Wow, I don't know whether or not I should be glad to have missed this thread when it was hotter.

I thank TKW for pointing out that traditional Galician culture includes many elements common in the wider Celtic culture. While the language (yes, there is a Galician language) might be more Romance-based than those of the British Isles, it still carries some of the Celtic roots. This is more true of the arts of the region, both visual and musical, such as bagpipes. Considering how few residents of Ireland speak anything other than English, though, I do find the linguistic argument bemusing.

I found it VERY interesting to have learned (through this site) of some ancient Irish texts which tell of how the first Irish went to that island from Galicia.

[Riverkilt]

Okay, help me here.

My own Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Society lists EIGHT nations.

Which one(s) of these don't belong on the shorter lists?

Asturias

Brittany

Cornwall

Ireland

Galacia

Isle of Man

Scotland

Wales

And who want's to tell the folks that don't "qualify" that they dont?

Ron

[Galician]

Guess which one they forgot, Ron!!