Jump to content

Gaels: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
Undid revision 829897724 by Catrìona (talk)
Monkbot (talk | contribs)
m Task 20: replace {lang-??} templates with {langx|??} ‹See Tfd› (Replaced 5);
 
(570 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|Celtic ethnic group of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man}}
{{distinguish|Gauls}}
{{distinguish|Gauls}}
{{redirect-multi|2|Gael|Gàidheal|other uses|Gael (disambiguation)|the BBC's Gaelic language radio station|BBC Radio nan Gàidheal}}
{{about|the Gaelic people||Gael (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Gaels<br>{{·}}''{{lang|ga|Na Gaeil}}{{·}}{{lang|gd|Na Gàidheil}}{{·}}{{lang|gv|Ny Gaeil}}''
| group = Gaels
| native_name = {{lang|ga|Na Gaeil}}{{·}}{{lang|gd|Na Gàidheil}}{{·}}{{lang|gv|Ny Gaeil}}
| image = Green Sunburst Flag.svg
| image = The Gaels.png
| caption = Areas which were linguistically and culturally Gaelic c. 1000 (light green) and c. 1700 (medium green); areas that are Gaelic-speaking in the present day (dark green)
| caption = ''[[An Gal Gréine]]'', a traditional Gaelic symbol first mentioned in the ''[[Fiannaíocht]]''.
|population = '''c.'' 1.9 million''' <small>(linguistic)</small>
| population = {{c.}} '''2.1&nbsp;million'''<br/>(linguistic grouping)
|region1 = {{flagcountry|Ireland}}
| region1 = Ireland
| pop1 = 1,873,997 (linguistic)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-30 |title=Education and Irish Language - CSO - Central Statistics Office |url=https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpsr/censusofpopulation2022-summaryresults/educationandirishlanguage/ |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=www.cso.ie |language=en}}</ref>
|pop1 = 1,770,000 <small>(linguistic)</small><ref name="iri"/>
|ref1 =
| ref1 =
|region2 = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom}}
| region2 = United Kingdom
|pop2 = 122,518 <small>(linguistic)</small><ref name="ni"/>
| pop2 = 122,518 (linguistic)<ref name="ni"/>
|ref2 =
| ref2 =
|region3 = {{flagcountry|United States}}
| region3 = United States
|pop3 = 27,475 <small>(linguistic)</small><ref name="osb"/>
| pop3 = 27,475 (linguistic)<ref name="osb"/>
|ref3 =
| ref3 =
|region4 = {{flagcountry|Canada}}
| region4 = Canada
|pop4 = 9,000 <small>(linguistic)</small><ref name="cangd"/>
| pop4 = 9,000 (linguistic)<ref name="cangd"/>
|ref4 =
| ref4 =
|region5 = {{flagcountry|Australia}}
| region5 = Australia
|pop5 = 2,717 <small>(linguistic)</small><ref name="ausg"/>
| pop5 = 2,717 (linguistic)<ref name="ausg"/>
|ref5 =
| ref5 =
|region6 = {{flagcountry|New Zealand}}
| region6 = New Zealand
|pop6 = 670 <small>(linguistic)</small>
| pop6 = 670 (linguistic)
|ref6 =
| ref6 =
| religions = [[Christianity]]{{·}} [[Irreligion]] (historic: [[Irish mythology|Paganism]])
| religions = [[Christianity]]{{·}} [[Irreligion]] (historic: [[Irish mythology|Paganism]])
| languages = [[Irish language|Irish]]{{·}}[[Scottish Gaelic]]{{·}}[[Manx language|Manx]]<br> (Non-Gaelic: [[English language|English]]{{·}}[[Scots language|Scots]])
| languages = [[Gaelic languages]]<br />([[Irish language|Irish]]{{·}}[[Scottish Gaelic]]{{·}}[[Manx language|Manx]]{{·}}[[Shelta]]{{·}}[[Beurla Reagaird]])<br /> also non-Gaelic [[English language|English]] and [[Scots language|Scots]]
| related = [[Norse-Gaels]]{{·}}[[Normans in Ireland|Gaelicised Normans]]
| related = [[Norse-Gaels]]{{·}}[[Normans in Ireland|Gaelicised Normans]]{{·}}[[Celtic Britons]]{{·}}[[Scottish Romani and Itinerant people groups|Scottish Romani Travellers]]
| footnotes =
| footnotes =
}}
}}
The '''Gaels''' ({{IPA-ga|ɡeːlˠ}}, {{IPA-gd|kɛː.əlˠ}}; {{lang-ga|Na Gaeil}}, {{lang-gd|Na Gàidheil}}, {{lang-gv|Ny Gaeil}}) are a culltral and [[ethnolinguistic group]] native to [[northwestern Europe]].{{efn|Gaels have not yet received official recognition of being an [[indigenous peoples|indigenous]] people or the victims of [[colonization]], however this argument has been advanced in regards by Scotland by notable historians such as [[Michael Newton (Gaelic scholar)|Michael Newton]], Alastair MacIntosh and Iain Mackinnon.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1456&context=etd|title=The Highland Clearances and the Politics of Memory |last=Brown |first=Daniel Guy |year=2014|accessdate=2 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Scottish Highlands in Colonial & Psychodynamic Perspective|url=http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/articles/1994_interculture.htm|website=www.alastairmcintosh.com|accessdate=2 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mackinnon|first1=Iain|title=Colonialism and the Highland Clearances|journal=Northern Scotland|date=1 May 2017|volume=8|issue=1|pages=22–48|doi=10.3366/nor.2017.0125|url=http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/nor.2017.0125|accessdate=2 July 2017|issn=0306-5278}}</ref>}} They are associated with the [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic languages]]: a branch of the [[Celtic languages]] comprising [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Manx language|Manx]] and [[Scottish Gaelic]]. Historically, the ethnonyms ''[[Irish people|Irish]]'' and ''[[Scottish people|Scots]]'' referred to the Gaels in general, but the scope of those nationalities is today more complex.


The '''Gaels''' ({{IPAc-en|ɡ|eɪ|l|z}} {{respell|GAYLZ}}; {{langx|ga|Na Gaeil}} {{IPA-ga|n̪ˠə ˈɡeːlʲ|}}; {{langx|gd|Na Gàidheil}} {{IPA-gd|nə ˈkɛː.al|}}; {{langx|gv|Ny Gaeil}} {{IPA-gv|nə ˈɡeːl|}}) are an [[ethnolinguistic group]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bechhofer |first1=Frank |last2=McCrone |first2=David |date=2014-03-04 |title=What makes a Gael? Identity, language and ancestry in the Scottish Gàidhealtachd |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2014.878249 |journal=Identities |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=113–133 |doi=10.1080/1070289X.2014.878249 |s2cid=143971850 |issn=1070-289X}}</ref> native to [[Ireland]], [[Scotland]] and the [[Isle of Man]].{{efn|Origin and migration theories about the Gaelic peoples vary, as do those about the Gaels as victims of [[colonization]] and the roles of the colonists.<ref>{{cite thesis |url=http://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1456&context=etd|title=The Highland Clearances and the Politics of Memory |last=Brown |first=Daniel Guy |year=2014|access-date=2 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Scottish Highlands in Colonial & Psychodynamic Perspective |url=http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/articles/1994_interculture.htm|website=www.alastairmcintosh.com |access-date=2 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mackinnon|first1=Iain |title=Colonialism and the Highland Clearances|journal=Northern Scotland|date=1 May 2017|volume=8|issue=1|pages=22–48 |doi=10.3366/nor.2017.0125|issn=0306-5278|url=https://pure.coventry.ac.uk/ws/files/12616043/Article_2_MacKinnon_NS_8_2017_Highland_Clearances.pdf }}</ref>}}<ref name=Cassidy /> They are associated with the [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic languages]]: a branch of the [[Celtic languages]] comprising [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Manx language|Manx]] and [[Scottish Gaelic]].
Gaelic language and culture originated in [[Gaelic Ireland|Ireland]], extending to [[Dál Riata]] in western [[Scotland in the Middle Ages|Scotland]]. In antiquity the Gaels [[Hiberno-Roman relations|traded with]] the Roman Empire and also [[End of Roman rule in Britain|raided]] [[Roman Britain]]. In the Middle Ages, Gaelic culture became dominant throughout the rest of Scotland and the [[Isle of Man]]. There was also some Gaelic settlement [[Wales in the Roman era#Irish settlement|in Wales]] and Cornwall. In the [[Viking Age]], small numbers of Vikings raided and settled in Gaelic lands, becoming the [[Norse-Gaels]]. In the 9th century, the [[Scots Gaels]] of Dál Riata merged with [[Pictland]] to form the Gaelic [[Kingdom of Alba]]. Meanwhile, [[Gaelic Ireland]] was made up of several kingdoms, with a [[High King of Ireland|High King]] often claiming lordship over them.


Gaelic language and culture originated in [[Gaelic Ireland|Ireland]], extending to [[Dál Riata]] in western [[Scotland in the Middle Ages|Scotland]]. In antiquity, the Gaels [[Hiberno-Roman relations|traded with]] the Roman Empire and also [[End of Roman rule in Britain|raided]] [[Roman Britain]]. In the Middle Ages, Gaelic culture became dominant throughout the rest of [[Scotland]] and the [[Isle of Man]]. There was also some Gaelic settlement [[Wales in the Roman era#Irish settlement|in Wales]], as well as cultural influence through [[Celtic Christianity]]. In the [[Viking Age]], small numbers of [[Early Scandinavian Dublin|Vikings raided and settled]] in Gaelic lands, becoming the [[Norse-Gaels]]. In the 9th century, Dál Riata and [[Pictland]] merged to form the Gaelic [[Kingdom of Alba]]. Meanwhile, [[Gaelic Ireland]] was made up of [[List of Irish kingdoms|several kingdoms]], with a [[High King of Ireland|High King]] often claiming lordship over them.
In the 12th century, [[Normans in Ireland|Normans]] [[Norman invasion of Ireland|conquered]] parts of Ireland (leading to centuries of conflict), while parts of Scotland [[Davidian Revolution|became Normanized]]. However, Gaelic culture remained strong throughout Ireland, the [[Scottish Highlands]] and [[Galloway]]. In the early 17th century, the last Gaelic kingdoms in Ireland fell under English control. [[James VI and I|James I]] sought to subdue the Gaels and wipe out their culture; in Ireland by [[Plantations of Ireland|colonizing Gaelic land]] with English-speaking British settlers, and in the Scottish Highlands via repressive laws such as the [[Statutes of Iona]]. In the following centuries most Gaels were gradually anglicized and Gaelic language mostly supplanted by English. However, it continues to be the main language in Ireland's [[Gaeltacht]] and Scotland's [[Outer Hebrides]]. The modern descendants of the Gaels have spread throughout Britain, the [[Americas]] and [[Australasia]].


In the 12th century, [[Anglo-Normans]] [[Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland|conquered]] parts of Ireland, while parts of Scotland [[Davidian Revolution|became Normanized]]. However, Gaelic culture remained strong throughout Ireland, the [[Scottish Highlands]] and [[Galloway]]. In the early 17th century, the last Gaelic kingdoms in Ireland fell under [[Kingdom of Ireland|English control]]. [[James VI and I]] sought to subdue the Gaels and wipe out their culture;{{cn|reason=this statement does not appear in the text, therefore c.n.|date=February 2024}} first in the Scottish Highlands via repressive laws such as the [[Statutes of Iona]], and then in Ireland by [[Plantations of Ireland|colonizing Gaelic land]] with English and Scots-speaking Protestant settlers. In the following centuries Gaelic language was suppressed and mostly supplanted by English. However, it continues to be the main language in Ireland's ''[[Gaeltacht]]'' and Scotland's [[Outer Hebrides]]. The modern descendants of the Gaels have spread throughout the rest of the British Isles, the [[Americas]] and [[Australasia]].
Gaelic society traditionally centered around the [[clan]], each with its own territory and chieftain, elected through [[tanistry]]. The Gaels were originally [[Celtic polytheism|pagans]] who worshipped the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], [[Veneration of the dead|venerated]] the ancestors and believed in an [[Celtic Otherworld|Otherworld]]. Their four yearly festivals – [[Samhain]], [[Imbolc]], [[Beltane]] and [[Lughnasa]] – continued to be celebrated into modern times. The Gaels have a strong [[oral tradition]], traditionally maintained by [[Seanchaí|shanachies]]. [[Ogham inscription|Inscription]] in the Gaelic [[ogham]] alphabet began in the 1st century. Their conversion to [[Celtic Christianity|Christianity]] accompanied the introduction of writing in the Roman alphabet, and Irish Gaelic has the oldest [[vernacular literature]] in western Europe. [[Irish mythology]] and [[Brehon law]] were preserved, albeit Christianized. Gaelic monasteries were renowned centres of learning and played a key role in developing [[Insular art]], while Gaelic missionaries and scholars were [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|highly influential]] in western Europe. In the Middle Ages, most Gaels lived in [[Roundhouse (dwelling)|roundhouse]]s and [[ringfort]]s. The Gaels had their own style of dress, which (in Scotland) became the [[belted plaid]] and [[kilt]]. They also have distinctive [[Traditional Gaelic music|music]], dance, and [[Gaelic games|sports]]. Gaelic culture continues to be a major component of [[Culture of Ireland|Irish]], [[Culture of Scotland|Scottish]] and [[Culture of the Isle of Man|Manx culture]].


Traditional Gaelic society was organised into [[clans]], each with its own territory and king (or chief), elected through [[tanistry]]. The Irish were previously [[Celtic polytheism|pagans]] who had [[Tuatha Dé Danann|many gods]], [[Veneration of the dead|venerated]] the ancestors and believed in an [[Celtic Otherworld|Otherworld]]. Their four yearly festivals – [[Samhain]], [[Imbolc]], [[Beltane]] and [[Lughnasa]] – continued to be celebrated into modern times. The Gaels have a strong [[oral tradition]], traditionally maintained by [[Seanchaí|shanachies]]. [[Ogham inscription|Inscription]] in the [[ogham]] alphabet began in the 4th century. The Gaels' conversion to [[Christianity]] accompanied the introduction of writing in the Roman alphabet. [[Irish mythology]] and [[Brehon law]] were preserved and recorded by medieval Irish monasteries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Follett |first1=Wesley |title=Céli Dé in Ireland: monastic writing and identity in the early Middle Ages |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |location=Suffolk}}</ref> Gaelic monasteries were renowned centres of learning and played a key role in developing [[Insular art]]; Gaelic missionaries and scholars were [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|highly influential]] in western Europe. In the Middle Ages, most Gaels lived in [[Roundhouse (dwelling)|roundhouse]]s and [[ringfort]]s. The Gaels had their own style of dress, which became the [[belted plaid]] and [[kilt]]. They also have distinctive [[Traditional Gaelic music|music]], dance, [[Feis|festivals]], and [[Gaelic games|sports]]. Gaelic culture continues to be a major component of [[Culture of Ireland|Irish]], [[Culture of Scotland|Scottish]] and [[Culture of the Isle of Man|Manx culture]].
==Ethnonyms==

== Ethnonyms ==
{{Indo-European topics}}
{{Indo-European topics}}
Throughout the centuries, Gaels and Gaelic-speakers have been known by a number of names. The most consistent of these have been ''Gael'', ''[[Irish people|Irish]]'' and ''[[Scottish people|Scots]]''. The latter two have developed more ambiguous meanings, due to the early modern concept of the nation state, which encompasses non-Gaels. Other terms, such as ''[[Milesians (Irish)|Milesian]]'', are not often used. An [[Old Norse]] name for the Gaels was ''[[Vestmenn]]'' ("Westmen").<ref>{{cite book |last=Woolf |first=Alex |date=2007 |title=From Pictland to Alba, 789-1070 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |page=283}}</ref> Informally, archetypal forenames such as ''[[Tadhg]]'' or ''[[Dòmhnall]]'' are sometimes used for Gaels.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Leary|2004|p=376}}.</ref>
Throughout the centuries, Gaels and Gaelic-speakers have been known by a number of names. The most consistent of these have been ''Gael'', ''[[Irish people|Irish]]'' and ''[[Scottish people|Scots]]''. In [[Latin]], the Gaels were called ''[[Scoti]]'',<ref>{{harvnb|O'Duffy|2005|p=698}}</ref> but this later came to mean only the Gaels of [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]]. Other terms, such as ''[[Milesians (Irish)|Milesian]]'', are not as often used.<ref name="mil"/> An [[Old Norse]] name for the Gaels was ''[[Vestmenn]]'' (meaning "Westmen", due to inhabiting the Western fringes of Europe).<ref>{{cite book |last=Woolf |first=Alex |date=2007 |title=From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070 |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |page=283}}</ref> Informally, archetypal forenames such as ''[[Tadhg]]'' or ''[[Dòmhnall]]'' are sometimes used for Gaels.{{sfn|O'Leary|2004|p=376}}


===Gaels===
=== Gael ===
The word ''Gaelic'' is first recorded in print in the [[English language]] in the 1770s,<ref name="gath">{{cite news|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Gaelic&allowed_in_frame=0|publisher=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]|title=Gaelic|date=6 November 2012}}</ref> replacing the earlier word ''Gathelik'' which is attested as far back as 1596.<ref name="gath"/> ''Gael'', defined as a "member of the Gaelic race", is first attested in print in 1810.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Gael&allowed_in_frame=0|publisher=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]|title=Gael|date=6 November 2012}}</ref> The name ultimately derives from the [[Old Irish]] word ''Goídel'', spelled officially today as ''Gaedheal'', ''Gael'' ([[Irish language|Irish]] and [[Manx language|Manx]]) and ''Gàidheal'' ([[Scottish Gaelic]]). In [[early modern Irish]], the words ''Gaelic'' and ''Gael'' were spelled respectively ''Gaoidhealg'' and ''Gaoidheal''.{{sfn|Koch|2004|p=775}} The more antiquarian term ''Goidels'' came to be used by some due to [[Edward Lhuyd]]'s work on the relationship between [[Celtic languages]] (with the Gaelic languages being "Q-Celtic"). This term was further popularised in academia by [[John Rhys]]; the first Professor of Celtic at [[Oxford University]]; due to his work ''Celtic Britain'' (1882).<ref>{{cite journal |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=December 1989|title= Goidel|trans_title= |journal=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |volume= |issue= |pages= |id= |url= http://dictionary.oed.com.dax.lib.unf.edu/cgi/entry/50096518?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=Goidel&first=1&max_to_show=10|accessdate=14 April 2010|quote= }}.</ref>
The word "Gaelic" is first recorded in print in the [[English language]] in the 1770s,<ref name="gath">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Gaelic&allowed_in_frame=0 |dictionary=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |title=Gaelic |date=6 November 2012}}</ref> replacing the earlier word ''Gathelik'' which is attested as far back as 1596.<ref name="gath"/> ''Gael'', defined as a "member of the Gaelic race", is first attested in print in 1810.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Gael&allowed_in_frame=0 |dictionary=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |title=Gael |date=6 November 2012}}</ref> In English, the more antiquarian term ''Goidels'' came to be used by some due to [[Edward Lhuyd]]'s work on the relationship between [[Celtic languages]]. This term was further popularised in academia by [[John Rhys]]; the first Professor of Celtic at [[Oxford University]]; due to his work ''Celtic Britain'' (1882).<ref>{{cite journal|date=December 1989 |title=Goidel |journal=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |url=http://dictionary.oed.com.dax.lib.unf.edu/cgi/entry/50096518?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=Goidel&first=1&max_to_show=10 |access-date=14 April 2010 |archive-date=7 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607092345/https://login.dax.lib.unf.edu/login?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdictionary.oed.com%2Fcgi%2Fentry%2F50096518%3Fsingle%3D1&query_type=word&queryword=Goidel&first=1&max_to_show=10 |url-status=dead}}.</ref>


According to the scholar [[John T. Koch]] in his ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'', the word in the form of ''Guoidel'' was borrowed from a [[History of the Welsh language|Primitive Welsh]] form that became an [[Old Welsh]] term, roughly meaning "forest people", "wild men" or later "warriors".{{sfn|Koch|2004|p=775}} It is recorded as a personal name in the [[Book of Llandaff]]. This term shared a root with the Old Irish ''fíad'' "deer", and was partially cognate with ''Féni'', from the [[Proto-Indo-European]] *''weidh-n-jo-''.{{sfn|Koch|2004|p=775}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198609674.001.0001/acref-9780198609674-e-2175|publisher=[[Oxford Reference]]|title=Féni|date=13 November 2012}}</ref> This latter word is the origin of [[Fianna]] and [[Fenian]].
These names all come from the [[Old Irish]] word ''Goídel/Gaídel''. In [[Early Modern Irish]], it was spelled ''Gaoidheal'' (singular) and ''Gaoidheil/Gaoidhil'' (plural).{{sfn|Koch|2004|p=775}} In modern Irish, it is spelled ''Gael'' (singular) and ''Gaeil'' (plural). According to scholar [[John T. Koch]], the Old Irish form of the name was borrowed from an [[History of the Welsh language|Archaic Welsh]] form ''Guoidel'', meaning "forest people", "wild men" or, later, "warriors".{{sfn|Koch|2004|p=775}} ''Guoidel'' is recorded as a personal name in the ''[[Book of Llandaff]]''. The root of the name is cognate at the [[Proto-Celtic]] level with Old Irish ''fíad'' 'wild', and ''Féni'', derived ultimately from [[Proto-Indo-European]] *''weidh-n-jo-''.{{sfn|Koch|2004|p=775}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198609674.001.0001/acref-9780198609674-e-2175 |publisher=[[Oxford Reference]] |title=Féni |date=13 November 2012 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780198609674.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-860967-4}}</ref> This latter word is the origin of ''[[Fianna]]'' and ''[[Fenian]]''.


In medieval Ireland, the [[Irish bardic poetry|bardic poets]] who were the cultural intelligentsia of the nation, limited the use of ''Gaoidheal'' specifically to those who claimed genealogical descent from the mythical [[Goídel Glas]].<ref name="morris"/> Even the [[Gaelicised]] [[Normans in Ireland|Normans]] who were born in Ireland, spoke Irish and sponsored Gaelic bardic poetry, such as [[Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond|Gearóid Iarla]], were referred to as ''Gall'' ("foreigner") by [[Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh]], then [[Chief Ollam of Ireland]].<ref name="morris"/>
===Irish===
[[File:Ptolemy's Ireland.png|220px|thumb|right|The [[Iverni]] are one of the population groups mentioned in [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Geographia]]''.]]
A common name, passed down to the modern day, is [[Irish people|Irish]]; this existed in the English language during the 13th century in the form of ''Irisce'', which derived from the stem of [[Old English]] ''Iras'' "inhabitant of Ireland", from [[Old Norse]] ''irar''.<ref name="irish">{{cite news|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Irish&allowed_in_frame=0|publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary|title=Irish|date=6 November 2012}}</ref> The ultimate origin of this word is thought to be from the Old Irish [[Ériu]], which is from [[Old Celtic]] ''*Iveriu'', likely associated with the Proto-Indo-European term ''*pi-wer-'' meaning "fertile".<ref name="irish"/> Ériu is mentioned as a goddess in the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'' as a daughter of [[Ernmas]] of the ''[[Tuatha Dé Danann]]''. Along with her sisters [[Banba]] and [[Fódla]], she is said to have made a deal with the Milesians to name the island after her.


=== Irish ===
The [[ancient Greeks]]; in particular [[Ptolemy]] in his 2nd century ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'', possibly based on earlier sources; located a group known as the [[Iverni]] ({{lang-el|Ιουερνοι}}) in the south-west of Ireland.<ref name="tf">{{cite news|url=https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/30007646?sid=21105769297053&uid=70&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=3738032&uid=4|publisher=[[T. F. O'Rahilly]]|title=On the Origin of the Names Érainn and Ériu|date=6 November 2012}}</ref> This group has been associated with the [[Érainn]] of Irish tradition by [[T. F. O'Rahilly]] and others.<ref name="tf"/> The Érainn; claiming descent from a Milesian eponymous ancestor named [[Ailill Érann]]; were the hegemonic power in Ireland prior to the rise of the descendants of [[Conn of the Hundred Battles]] and [[Mug Nuadat]]. The Érainn included peoples such as the [[Corcu Loígde]] and Dál Riata. [[Ancient Roman]] writers, such as [[Caesar]], [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and [[Tacitus]], derived from "''Ivernia''" the name [[Hibernia]].<ref name="tf"/> Thus the name [[Hibernian (disambiguation)|Hibernian]] also comes from this root (although the Romans tended to call the Gaels "''Scoti''").<ref>{{harvnb|Koch|2004|p=709}}.</ref>
[[File:Ptolemy's Ireland.png|thumb|right|The [[Iverni]] are one of the population groups mentioned in [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Geographia]]''.]]
A common name, passed down to the modern day, is "[[Irish people|Irish]]"; this existed in the English language during the 11th century in the form of ''Irisce'', which derived from the stem of [[Old English]] ''Iras'', "inhabitant of Ireland", from [[Old Norse]] ''irar''.<ref name="irish">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Irish&allowed_in_frame=0 |dictionary=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |title=Irish |date=6 November 2012}}</ref> The ultimate origin of this word is thought to be the Old Irish ''[[Ériu]]'', which is from [[Old Celtic]] ''*Iveriu'', likely associated with the Proto-Indo-European term ''*pi-wer-'' meaning "fertile".<ref name="irish"/> Ériu is mentioned as a goddess in the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'' as a daughter of [[Ernmas]] of the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]]. Along with her sisters [[Banba]] and [[Fódla]], she is said to have made a deal with the Milesians to name the island after her.


The [[ancient Greeks]], in particular [[Ptolemy]] in his second century ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'', possibly based on earlier sources, located a group known as the [[Iverni]] ({{langx|el|Ιουερνοι}}) in the south-west of Ireland.<ref name="tf">{{cite news|publisher=[[T. F. O'Rahilly]] |title=On the Origin of the Names Érainn and Ériu |date=6 November 2012 |jstor=30007646}}</ref> This group has been associated with the [[Érainn]] of Irish tradition by [[T. F. O'Rahilly]] and others.<ref name="tf"/> The Érainn, claiming descent from a Milesian eponymous ancestor named [[Ailill Érann]], were the hegemonic power in Ireland before the rise of the descendants of [[Conn of the Hundred Battles]] and [[Mug Nuadat]]. The Érainn included peoples such as the [[Corcu Loígde]] and Dál Riata. [[Ancient Roman]] writers, such as [[Caesar]], [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and [[Tacitus]], derived from ''Ivernia'' the name ''[[Hibernia]]''.<ref name="tf"/> Thus the name "Hibernian" also comes from this root, although the Romans tended to call the isle ''[[Scotia]]'', and the Gaels ''Scoti''.{{sfn|Koch|2004|p=709}} Within Ireland itself, the term ''Éireannach'' (Irish), only gained its modern political significance as a primary denominator from the 17th century onwards, as in the works of [[Geoffrey Keating]], where a Catholic alliance between the native ''Gaoidheal'' and ''[[Normans in Ireland|Seanghaill]]'' ("old foreigners", of Norman descent) was proposed against the ''Nuaghail'' or ''Sacsanach'' (the ascendant Protestant [[Anglo-Irish people|New English]] settlers).<ref name="morris">{{cite news|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/irlan_0183-973x_2007_num_32_1_1785 |publisher=Études irlandaises |title=Race, Language and Social Class in Seventeenth-Century Ireland |date=2007}}</ref>
===Scots===
{{main|Scots Gaels}}
From the 5th to 10th centuries, early Scotland was home to the following people and cultures: the [[Picts]], [[Dál Riata]] also known as Gaels, the Britons, Angles and the [[Vikings]].<ref>S. M. Foster, ''Picts, Gaels and Scots: Early Historic Scotland'', 2014.</ref> The Romans began to use the term ''[[Scoti]]'' to describe the Gaels in [[Latin]] from the 4th century onward.{{sfn|Koch|2004|p=1571}}<ref name="OED">{{cite news|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Scot|publisher=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]|title=Scot|date=13 February 2015}}</ref> In the context of the times, the Gaels were raiding the west coast of Britain for hostages, and they took part in the [[Great Conspiracy]]; it is thus conjectured that the term means "raider, pirate". Although the [[Dál Riata]] settled in Argyll in the 6th century, the term "Scots" did not just apply to them, but to Gaels in general. Examples can be taken from [[Johannes Scotus Eriugena]] and other figures from [[Hiberno-Latin]] culture and the ''[[Schottenkloster]]'' founded by Irish Gaels in Germanic lands. It is also worth noting that eponymous characters were created in medieval Irish pseudo-histories: [[Scota]], described as an Egyptian princess, and her husband [[Goídel Glas]].


=== Scots ===
The Gaels of northern Britain referred to themselves as ''[[Albannaich]]'' in their own tongue and their realm as the [[Kingdom of Alba]] (founded as a successor state to Pictland and Dál Riata). Germanic groups tended to refer to the Gael as "''Scottas''"<ref name="OED"/> and so when Anglo-Saxon influence grew at court with [[Duncan II of Scotland|Duncan II]], the Latin ''Rex Scottorum'' began to be used and the realm was known as [[Scotland]]; this process and cultural shift was put into full effect under [[David I of Scotland|David I]], who let the Normans come to power and furthered the Lowland-Highland divide. Lowland Germanics in Scotland spoke a language called ''[[Early Scots|Inglis]]'', which they started to call ''Scottis'' ([[Scots language|Scots]]) in the 16th century, while they in turn began to refer to Scottish Gaelic as "Erse" (from 'Irish').<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Erse&allowed_in_frame=0|publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary|title=Erse|date=13 February 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Bal element in Scottish placenames.png|thumb|left|Place names in Scotland that contain the element BAL- from the Scottish Gaelic 'baile' meaning home, farmstead, town or city. This data gives some indication of the extent of medieval Gaelic settlement in Scotland.]]

The [[Scots Gaels]] derive from the kingdom of [[Dál Riata]], which included parts of western Scotland and northern Ireland. It has various explanations of its origins, including a [[foundation myth]] of an invasion from Ireland. Other historians believe that the Gaels colonized parts of Western Scotland over several decades and some archaeological evidence may point to a pre-existing maritime province united by the sea and isolated from the rest of Scotland by the [[Scottish Highlands]] or ''Druim Alban'', however, this is disputed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://cscs.academicblogs.co.uk/how-british-is-scotland-archaeological-origins-of-scotland/ |publisher=[[Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies]] |title=How British is Scotland? Archaeological Origins of Scotland |date=26 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="ewancampbell">{{cite journal|last=Campbell |first=Ewan |url=http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/scotsirish.htm |title=Were the Scots Irish? |journal=Antiquity |number=75 |date=2001 |volume=75 |pages=285–292|doi=10.1017/S0003598X00060920 |s2cid=159844564 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The genetical exchange includes passage of the M222 genotype within Scotland.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scotland's DNA: Tartan export |url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/scotland-s-dna-who-do-you-think-you-are-part-4-1-1503458 |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]] |date=3 March 2011 |access-date=30 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402162449/http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/scotland-s-dna-who-do-you-think-you-are-part-4-1-1503458 |archive-date=2 April 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

From the 5th to 10th centuries, early Scotland was home not only to the Gaels of Dál Riata but also the [[Picts]], the [[Celtic Britons|Britons]], [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] and lastly the [[Vikings]].<ref>{{Cite book|first=S. M. |last=Foster |title=Picts, Gaels and Scots: Early Historic Scotland |date=2014}}</ref> The Romans began to use the term ''[[Scoti]]'' to describe the Gaels in Latin from the 4th century onward.{{sfn|Koch|2004|p=1571}}<ref name="OED">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Scot |dictionary=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |title=Scot |date=13 February 2015}}</ref> At the time, the Gaels were raiding the west coast of Britain, and they took part in the [[Great Conspiracy]]; it is thus conjectured that the term means "raider, pirate". Although the Dál Riata settled in Argyll in the 6th century, the term "Scots" did not just apply to them, but to Gaels in general. Examples can be taken from [[Johannes Scotus Eriugena]] and other figures from [[Hiberno-Latin]] culture and the ''[[Schottenkloster]]'' founded by Irish Gaels in Germanic lands.

The Gaels of northern Britain referred to themselves as ''[[Albannaich]]'' in their own tongue and their realm as the [[Kingdom of Alba]] (founded as a successor kingdom to Dál Riata and Pictland). Germanic groups tended to refer to the Gaels as ''Scottas''<ref name="OED"/> and so when Anglo-Saxon influence grew at court with [[Duncan II of Scotland|Duncan II]], the Latin ''Rex Scottorum'' began to be used and the realm was known as Scotland; this process and cultural shift was put into full effect under [[David I of Scotland|David I]], who let the Normans come to power and furthered the Lowland-Highland divide. Germanic-speakers in Scotland spoke a language called ''[[Early Scots|Inglis]]'', which they started to call ''Scottis'' ([[Scots language|Scots]]) in the 16th century, while they in turn began to refer to Scottish Gaelic as ''Erse'' (meaning "Irish").<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Erse&allowed_in_frame=0 |dictionary=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |title=Erse |date=13 February 2015}}</ref>


==Population==
==Population==
Line 64: Line 72:
===Kinship groups===
===Kinship groups===
{{Main|Irish clans|Scottish clans}}
{{Main|Irish clans|Scottish clans}}
[[File:MacGregor Red and Green tartan.png|200px|thumb|right|Clan [[tartan]] of the [[MacGregors]]. Distinctive patterns were adopted during the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] era.]]
[[File:MacGregor Red and Green tartan.png|thumb|right|Clan [[tartan]] of the [[MacGregors]]. Distinctive patterns were adopted during the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] era.]]
In traditional Gaelic society, a patrilineal kinship group is referred to as a ''[[clann]]'';<ref name="clann">{{cite news|url=http://www.cosca.scot/wp-content/uploads/What-is-a-Clan.pdf|publisher=Dr. Bruce Durie|title=What is a Clan?|date=28 July 2015}}</ref> this signifies a tribal grouping descended from a common ancestor, much larger than a personal family, which may also consist of various kindreds and [[septs]]. Using the Munster-based [[Eóganachta]] as an example, members of this ''clann'' claim patrilineal descent from [[Éogan Mór]]. It is further divided into major kindreds, such as the [[Eóganacht Chaisil]], [[Eóganacht Glendamnach|Glendamnach]], [[Eóganacht Áine|Áine]], Locha Léin and Raithlind.<ref>{{harvnb|Byrne|1973|p=291}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|O'Duffy|2005|p=263}}.</ref> These kindreds themselves contain septs that have passed down as [[Irish surnames|Irish Gaelic surnames]], for example the Eóganacht Chaisil includes O'Callaghan, MacCarthy, O'Sullivan and others.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.eoganachtsepts.com/|publisher=Eoganacht Septs|title=Surnames in the Eoganacht sept project|date=26 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Eo%C2%B4ganacht%20septs|publisher=[[Family Tree DNA]]|title=Eo´ganacht septs|date=26 January 2015}}</ref>
In traditional Gaelic society, a patrilineal kinship group is referred to as a ''[[clan]]n''<ref name="clann">{{cite news|url=http://www.cosca.scot/wp-content/uploads/What-is-a-Clan.pdf|publisher=Dr. Bruce Durie|title=What is a Clan?|date=28 July 2015|access-date=28 June 2015|archive-date=1 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701013751/http://www.cosca.scot/wp-content/uploads/What-is-a-Clan.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> or, in Ireland, a ''fine.''<ref>Ó Dónaill, Niall (1992). Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla. Dublin, Ireland: An Gúm. {{ISBN|1-85791-037-0}}</ref><ref name="fine">{{cite web |url=http://dil.ie/22114 |title=fine |publisher=eDil |access-date=27 November 2021}}</ref> Both in technical use signify a dynastic grouping descended from a common ancestor, much larger than a personal family, which may also consist of various kindreds and [[septs]]. (''Fine'' is not to be confused with the term ''[[fian]]'', a 'band of roving men whose principal occupations were hunting and war, also a troop of professional fighting-men under a leader; in wider sense a company, number of persons; a warrior (late and rare)'<ref name="fian">{{cite web |url=http://dil.ie/21945 |title=fían |publisher=eDil |access-date=27 November 2021}}</ref>).


Using the Munster-based [[Eóganachta]] as an example, members of this ''clann'' claim patrilineal descent from [[Éogan Mór]]. It is further divided into major kindreds, such as the [[Eóganacht Chaisil]], [[Eóganacht Glendamnach|Glendamnach]], [[Eóganacht Áine|Áine]], Locha Léin and Raithlind.<ref>{{harvnb|Byrne|1973|p=291}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|O'Duffy|2005|p=263}}.</ref> These kindreds themselves contain septs that have passed down as [[Irish surnames|Irish Gaelic surnames]], for example the Eóganacht Chaisil includes O'Callaghan, MacCarthy, O'Sullivan and others.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.eoganachtsepts.com/|publisher=Eoganacht Septs|title=Surnames in the Eoganacht sept project|date=26 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Eo%C2%B4ganacht%20septs|publisher=[[Family Tree DNA]]|title=Eo´ganacht septs|date=26 January 2015}}</ref>
The Irish Gaels can be grouped into the following major historical clans; [[Connachta]] (including [[Uí Néill]], [[Airgíalla|Clan Colla]], [[Uí Maine]], etc.), [[Dál gCais]], Eóganachta, [[Iverni|Érainn]] (including [[Dál Riata]], [[Dál Fiatach]], etc.), [[Laigin]] and [[Ulaid]] (including [[Dál nAraidi]]). In the Highlands, the various Gaelic-originated clans tended to claim descent from one of the Irish groups, particularly those from [[Ulster]]. The [[Dál Riata]] (i.e. – MacGregor, MacDuff, MacLaren, etc.) claimed descent from [[Síl Conairi]], for instance.<ref>{{harvnb|Thornton|2003|p=201}}.</ref> Some arrivals in the High Middle Ages (i.e. – MacNeill, Buchanan, Munro, etc.) claimed to be of the Uí Néill. As part of their self-justification; taking over power from the [[Norse-Gael]] [[Clan MacLeod|MacLeod]] in the Hebrides; the [[Clan Donald|MacDonalds]] claimed to be from Clan Colla.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://clandonald-heritage.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102:clann-cholla&catid=37:beginnings-of-clan-donald&Itemid=56|publisher=Clan Donald Heritage|title=Origins Part 2: Clan Colla and the Origins of Clan Donald|date=26 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.peterspioneers.com/colla.htm|publisher=Peter Biggins|title=DNA of the Three Collas|date=26 January 2015}}</ref>


The Irish Gaels can be grouped into the following major historical groups; [[Connachta]] (including [[Uí Néill]], [[Airgíalla|Clan Colla]], [[Uí Maine]], etc.), [[Dál gCais]], [[Eóganachta]], [[Iverni|Érainn]] (including [[Dál Riata]], [[Dál Fiatach]], etc.), [[Laigin]] and [[Ulaid]] (including [[Dál nAraidi]]). In the Highlands, the various Gaelic-originated clans tended to claim descent from one of the Irish groups, particularly those from [[Ulster]]. The [[Dál Riata]] (i.e. – MacGregor, MacDuff, MacLaren, etc.) claimed descent from [[Síl Conairi]], for instance.<ref>{{harvnb|Thornton|2003|p=201}}.</ref> Some arrivals in the High Middle Ages (i.e. – MacNeill, Buchanan, Munro, etc.) claimed to be of the Uí Néill. As part of their self-justification; taking over power from the [[Norse-Gael]] [[Clan MacLeod|MacLeod]] in the Hebrides; the [[Clan Donald|MacDonalds]] claimed to be from Clan Colla.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://clandonald-heritage.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102:clann-cholla&catid=37:beginnings-of-clan-donald&Itemid=56|publisher=Clan Donald Heritage|title=Origins Part 2: Clan Colla and the Origins of Clan Donald|date=26 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.peterspioneers.com/colla.htm|publisher=Peter Biggins|title=DNA of the Three Collas|date=26 January 2015}}</ref>
For the Irish Gaels, the old clan system did not survive the incorporation of the Gaelic realms into the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] and the subsequent [[Flight of the Earls]]. As a result of the [[Gaelic revival]], there has been renewed interest in [[Irish genealogy]]; the [[Irish Government]] recognised Gaelic [[Chiefs of the Name]] since the 1940s.<ref>{{harvnb|Ellis|2002|p=351}}.</ref> The ''[[Finte na hÉireann]]'' (Clans of Ireland) was founded in 1989 to gather together clan associations;<ref>{{harvnb|Ellis|2002|p=95}}.</ref> individual clan associations operate throughout the world and produce journals for their septs.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.clansofireland.ie/baile/|publisher=Finte na hÉireann|title=About the Clans of Ireland|date=29 January 2015}}</ref> The Highland clans held out until the 18th century [[Jacobite risings]]. During the Victorian-era, symbolic tartans, crests and badges were retroactively applied to clans. Clan associations built up over time and ''[[Association of Highland Clans and Societies|Na Fineachan Gàidhealach]]'' (The Highland Clans) was founded in 2013.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.highlandclans.org/About-clans.htm|publisher=Association of Highland Clans & Societies|title=The Highland origin of Clans|date=29 January 2015}}</ref>

For the Irish Gaels, their culture did not survive the conquests and colonisations by the English between 1534 and 1692 (see [[History of Ireland (1536–1691)]], [[Tudor conquest of Ireland]], [[Plantations of Ireland]], [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland]], [[Williamite War in Ireland]]. As a result of the [[Gaelic revival]], there has been renewed interest in [[Irish genealogy]]; the [[Irish Government]] recognised Gaelic [[Chiefs of the Name]] since the 1940s.<ref>{{harvnb|Ellis|2002|p=351}}.</ref> The ''[[Finte na hÉireann]]'' (Clans of Ireland) was founded in 1989 to gather together clan associations;<ref>{{harvnb|Ellis|2002|p=95}}.</ref> individual clan associations operate throughout the world and produce journals for their septs.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.clansofireland.ie/baile/|publisher=Finte na hÉireann|title=About the Clans of Ireland|date=29 January 2015|access-date=29 January 2015|archive-date=8 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208141733/http://www.clansofireland.ie/baile/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Highland clans held out until the 18th century [[Jacobite risings]]. During the Victorian-era, symbolic tartans, crests and badges were retroactively applied to clans. Clan associations built up over time and ''[[Association of Highland Clans and Societies|Na Fineachan Gàidhealach]]'' (The Highland Clans) was founded in 2013.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.highlandclans.org/About-clans.htm|publisher=Association of Highland Clans & Societies|title=The Highland origin of Clans|date=29 January 2015|access-date=29 January 2015|archive-date=11 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211023509/http://www.highlandclans.org/About-clans.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>


===Human genetics===
===Human genetics===
[[File:Geographical distribution of haplogroup frequency of hgR1b1b2.png|240px|thumb|right|Distribution of Y-chromosomal [[Haplogroup R-M269]] in Europe.]]
[[File:Geographical distribution of haplogroup frequency of hgR1b1b2.png|thumb|right|Distribution of Y-chromosomal [[Haplogroup R-M269]] in Europe]]
At the turn of the 21st century, the principles of [[human genetics]] and [[genetic genealogy]] were applied to the study of populations of Gaelic origin.<ref>{{cite news|pmc=1380239|publisher=[[American Journal of Human Genetics]]|title=A Y-Chromosome Signature of Hegemony in Gaelic Ireland|date=26 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/rss/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291096-8644|publisher=[[American Journal of Physical Anthropology]]|title=Genetic investigation of the patrilineal kinship structure of early Medieval Ireland|date=26 January 2015}}</ref> It was found that the overwhelming majority belonged to [[Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)|haplogroup R1b]] in their [[Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup|Y-chromosome DNA]] (as with much of [[Western Europe]]).<ref name="eup">{{cite news|url=http://www.eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_R1b_Y-DNA.shtml|publisher=Eupedia|title=Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)|date=26 January 2015}}</ref> The two other peoples who recorded higher than 85% for R1b in a 2009 study published in the scientific journal, [[PLOS Biology]], were the [[Welsh people|Welsh]] and the [[Basques]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000285|publisher=PLOS Biology|title=A Predominantly Neolithic Origin for European Paternal Lineages|date=26 January 2015}}</ref>
At the turn of the 21st century, the principles of [[human genetics]] and [[genetic genealogy]] were applied to the study of populations of [[Irish people|Irish]] origin.<ref>{{cite news|pmc=1380239|publisher=[[American Journal of Human Genetics]]|title=A Y-Chromosome Signature of Hegemony in Gaelic Ireland|date=26 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/rss/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291096-8644|publisher=[[American Journal of Physical Anthropology]]|title=Genetic investigation of the patrilineal kinship structure of early Medieval Ireland|date=26 January 2015|doi=10.1002/(ISSN)1096-8644}}</ref> The two other peoples who recorded higher than 85% for R1b in a 2009 study published in the scientific journal, [[PLOS Biology]], were the [[Welsh people|Welsh]] and the [[Basques]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=PLOS Biology|title=A Predominantly Neolithic Origin for European Paternal Lineages|date=26 January 2015|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000285|last1=Balaresque|first1=Patricia|last2=Bowden|first2=Georgina R.|last3=Adams|first3=Susan M.|last4=Leung|first4=Ho-Yee|last5=King|first5=Turi E.|last6=Rosser|first6=Zoë H.|last7=Goodwin|first7=Jane|last8=Moisan|first8=Jean-Paul|last9=Richard|first9=Christelle|last10=Millward|first10=Ann|last11=Demaine|first11=Andrew G.|last12=Barbujani|first12=Guido|last13=Previderè|first13=Carlo|last14=Wilson|first14=Ian J.|last15=Tyler-Smith|first15=Chris|last16=Jobling|first16=Mark A.|volume=8|issue=1 |pages=e1000285|pmid=20087410 |pmc=2799514 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The development of in-depth studies of DNA sequences known as [[STRs]] and [[Single-nucleotide polymorphism|SNPs]] have allowed geneticists to associate subclades with specific Gaelic kindred groupings (and their surnames), vindicating significant elements of [[Gaelic genealogy]], as found in works such as the ''[[Leabhar na nGenealach]]''. Examples can be taken from the [[Uí Néill]] (i.e. – O'Neill, O'Donnell, Gallagher, etc.), who are associated with R-M222<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jogg.info/22/ONeill.htm|publisher=Edwin. B. O'Neill|title=Insights into the O'Neills of Ireland from DNA Testing|date=26 January 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230502/http://www.jogg.info/22/ONeill.htm|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> and the [[Dál gCais]] (i.e. – O'Brien, McMahon, Kennedy, etc.) who are associated with R-L226.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jogg.info/51/files/Wright.htm|publisher=Denis M. Wright|title=A Set of Distinctive Marker Values Defines a Y-STR Signature for Gaelic Dalcassian Families|date=26 January 2015|access-date=26 January 2015|archive-date=24 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120824020357/http://www.jogg.info/51/files/Wright.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> With regard to Gaelic genetic genealogy studies, these developments in subclades have aided people in finding their original clan group in the case of a [[non-paternity event]], with [[Family Tree DNA]] having the largest such database at present.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/KingJobling09.TiG.SurnamesReview.pdf|publisher=Cell Press|title=What's in a name? Y chromosomes, surnames and the genetic genealogy revolution|date=6 February 2015|access-date=6 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055838/https://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/KingJobling09.TiG.SurnamesReview.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>


In 2016, a study analyzing [[ancient DNA]] found [[Irish Bronze Age|Bronze Age]] remains from [[Rathlin Island]] in Ireland to be most genetically similar to the modern indigenous populations of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and to a lesser degree that of England. The majority of the genomes of the [[insular Celts]] would therefore have emerged by 4,000 years ago. It was also suggested that the arrival of [[proto-Celtic]] language, possibly ancestral to [[Gaelic languages]], may have occurred around this time.<ref name=Cassidy>[http://www.pnas.org/content/113/2/368 Neolithic and Bronze Age migration to Ireland and establishment of the insular Atlantic genome] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308063812/https://www.pnas.org/content/113/2/368 |date=8 March 2021 }} "Three Bronze Age individuals from Rathlin Island (2026–1534 cal BC), including one high coverage (10.5×) genome, showed substantial Steppe genetic heritage indicating that the European population upheavals of the third millennium manifested all of the way from southern Siberia to the western ocean. This turnover invites the possibility of accompanying introduction of Indo-European, perhaps early Celtic, language. Irish Bronze Age haplotypic similarity is strongest within modern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh populations, and several important genetic variants that today show maximal or very high frequencies in Ireland appear at this horizon. These include those coding for lactase persistence, blue eye color, Y chromosome R1b haplotypes, and the hemochromatosis C282Y allele; to our knowledge, the first detection of a known Mendelian disease variant in prehistory. These findings together suggest the establishment of central attributes of the Irish genome 4,000 y ago."</ref> Several genetic traits found at maximum or very high frequencies in the modern populations of Gaelic ancestry were also observed in the Bronze Age period. These traits include a hereditary disease known as [[HFE hereditary haemochromatosis]], [[Y-DNA]] [[Haplogroup R-M269]], [[lactase persistence]] and [[eye colour|blue eyes]].<ref name=Cassidy /><ref>{{cite web|title=Haemochromatosis - The Celtic Disease|url=http://info.wirral.nhs.uk/document_uploads/CurrentVersion/Haemochromatosis%20-%20The%20Celtic%20Disease.pdf|access-date=8 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030213/http://info.wirral.nhs.uk/document_uploads/CurrentVersion/Haemochromatosis%20-%20The%20Celtic%20Disease.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Another trait very common in Gaelic populations is [[red hair]], with 10% of Irish and at least 13% of Scots having red hair, much larger numbers being carriers of variants of the [[Melanocortin 1 receptor|MC1R gene]], and which is possibly related to an adaptation to the cloudy conditions of the regional climate.<ref name=Cassidy /><ref>{{cite web|last1=Moffat|first1=Alistair|title=Celts' red hair could be attributed to the cloudy weather|url=http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/could-irelands-cloudy-weather-be-the-reason-for-the-stereotypical-red-hair-178077221-237789031.html|access-date=31 December 2014}}</ref><ref>Katsara, M. and Nothnagel, M. (2019). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1872497318303387 True colors: A literature review on the spatial distribution of eye and hair pigmentation]. ''Forensic Science International: Genetics, 39,''109-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2019.01.001</ref>
The development of in-depth studies of DNA sequences known as [[STRs]] and [[Single-nucleotide polymorphism|SNPs]], have allowed geneticists to associate subclades with specific Gaelic kindred groupings (and their surnames), vindicating significant elements of [[Gaelic genealogy]], as found in works such as the ''[[Leabhar na nGenealach]]''. Examples can be taken from the [[Uí Néill]] (i.e. – O'Neill, O'Donnell, Gallagher, etc.), who are associated with R-M222<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jogg.info/22/ONeill.htm|publisher=Edwin. B. O'Neill|title=Insights Into the O'Neills of Ireland from DNA Testing|date=26 January 2015|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230502/http://www.jogg.info/22/ONeill.htm|archivedate=3 March 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and the [[Dál gCais]] (i.e. – O'Brien, McMahon, Kennedy, etc.) who are associated with R-L226.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jogg.info/51/files/Wright.htm|publisher=Denis M. Wright|title=A Set of Distinctive Marker Values Defines a Y-STR Signature for Gaelic Dalcassian Families|date=26 January 2015}}</ref> With regard to Gaelic genetic genealogy studies, these developments in subclades have aided people in finding their original clan group in the case of a [[non-paternity event]], with [[Family Tree DNA]] having the largest such database at present.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/KingJobling09.TiG.SurnamesReview.pdf|publisher=Cell Press|title=What's in a name? Y chromosomes, surnames and the genetic genealogy revolution|date=6 February 2015}}</ref>


===Demographics===
===Demographics===
In countries where Gaels live, census records documenting population statistics have taken place. The following includes the number of speakers of a [[Gaelic language]] (either ''Gaeilge'', also known as Irish, ''Gàidhlig'', known as Scottish Gaelic, or ''Gaelg'', known as Manx). The question of [[ethnic identity]] is slightly more complex, but included below are those who identify with [[Irish people|Irish]] or [[Scottish people|Scottish]] ethnicity. It should be taken into account that not all will have Gaelic descent, especially in the case of [[Scotland]], due to the nature of the [[Scottish Lowlands|Lowlands]]. It also depends on the self-reported response of the individual and so is a rough guide rather than an exact science.
In countries where Gaels live, census records documenting population statistics exist. The following chart shows the number of speakers of the [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic languages]] (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, or Manx). The question of [[ethnic identity]] is slightly more complex, but included below are those who identify as ethnic [[Irish people|Irish]], [[Manx people|Manx]] or [[Scottish people|Scottish]]. It should be taken into account that not all are of Gaelic descent, especially in the case of Scotland, due to the nature of the [[Scottish Lowlands|Lowlands]]. It also depends on the self-reported response of the individual and so is a rough guide rather than an exact science.


The two comparatively "major" Gaelic nations in the modern era are Ireland (which in the 2002 census had 185,838 people who spoke Irish "daily" and 1,570,894 who were "able" to speak it)<ref>[http://beyond2020.cso.ie/Census/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=1219 Central Statistics Office Ireland Irish ability, persons aged 3 years and over.]</ref> and [[Scotland]] (58,552 "Gaelic speakers" and 92,400 with "some Gaelic language ability" in the 2001 census<ref>[http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files1/stats/gaelic-rep-english-commentary.pdf General Register Office, Scotland's Census 2001, Gaelic Report] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911080702/http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files1/stats/gaelic-rep-english-commentary.pdf |date=11 September 2008 }}</ref>). Communities where the languages are still spoken natively are restricted largely to the west coast of each country and especially the [[Hebrides]] in Scotland. However, a large proportion of the Gaelic speaking population now lives in the cities of [[Glasgow]] and [[Edinburgh]] in Scotland, and [[Donegal]], [[Galway]], [[Cork (city)|Cork]] and [[Dublin]] in Ireland. There are about 2,000 Scottish Gaelic speakers in Canada ([[Canadian Gaelic]] dialect), although many are elderly and concentrated in [[Nova Scotia]] and more specifically [[Cape Breton Island]].<ref>[http://www.gov.ns.ca/oga/aboutgaelic.asp?lang=en ''Oifis Iomairtean na Gaidhlig/Office of Gaelic Affairs''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029055757/http://www.gov.ns.ca/oga/aboutgaelic.asp?lang=en |date=29 October 2008 }}</ref> According to the 2000 US Census,<ref name="osb"/> there are over 25,000 Irish-speakers in the United States with the majority found in urban areas with large Irish-American communities such as [[Boston]], New York City and Chicago.
The two comparatively "major" Gaelic nations in the modern era are Ireland (which had 71,968 "daily" Irish speakers and 1,873,997 people claiming "some ability of Irish", as of the [[2022 census of Ireland|2022 census]])<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023-05-30 |title=Education and Irish Language - CSO - Central Statistics Office |url=https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpsr/censusofpopulation2022-summaryresults/educationandirishlanguage/ |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=www.cso.ie |language=en}}</ref> and Scotland (58,552 fluent "Gaelic speakers" and 92,400 with "some Gaelic language ability" in the 2001 census).<ref>[http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files1/stats/gaelic-rep-english-commentary.pdf General Register Office, Scotland's Census 2001, Gaelic Report] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911080702/http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files1/stats/gaelic-rep-english-commentary.pdf |date=11 September 2008 }}</ref> Communities where the languages still are spoken natively are restricted largely to the west coast of each country and especially the [[Hebrides]] islands in Scotland. However, a large proportion of the Gaelic-speaking population now lives in the cities of [[Glasgow]] and [[Edinburgh]] in Scotland, and [[Dublin]], [[Cork (city)|Cork]] as well as Counties [[County Donegal|Donegal]] and [[County Galway|Galway]] in Ireland. There are about 2,000 Scottish Gaelic speakers in Canada ([[Canadian Gaelic]] dialect), although many are elderly and concentrated in [[Nova Scotia]] and more specifically [[Cape Breton Island]].<ref>[http://www.gov.ns.ca/oga/aboutgaelic.asp?lang=en ''Oifis Iomairtean na Gaidhlig/Office of Gaelic Affairs''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029055757/http://www.gov.ns.ca/oga/aboutgaelic.asp?lang=en |date=29 October 2008 }}</ref> According to the U.S. Census in 2000,<ref name="osb"/> there are more than 25,000 Irish-speakers in the United States, with the majority found in urban areas with large Irish-American communities such as [[Boston]], New York City and Chicago.


{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
Line 87: Line 99:
! Ethnic Irish
! Ethnic Irish
! ''Gàidhlig''
! ''Gàidhlig''
! Ethnic Scots
! Ethnic Scots
! ''Gaelg''
! ''Gaelg''
! Ethnic Manx
! Ethnic Manx
|-
|-
| align="left"| {{flag|Ireland}}
| align="left"| Ireland
| align="center"| 1,873,997 <small>(2022)</small><ref name=":0" />
| align="center"| 1,770,000 <small>(2011)</small><ref name="iri">{{cite news|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/census-2011-1-77m-say-they-are-able-to-speak-irish-400442-Mar2012/|publisher=The Journal|title=Census 2011: 1.77m say they are able to speak Irish|date=7 February 2014}}</ref>
| align="center"| 3,969,319 <small>(2011)</small>
| align="center"| 3,969,319 <small>(2011)</small>
| align="center"|''not recorded''
| align="center"|''not recorded''
Line 99: Line 111:
| align="center"|''not recorded''
| align="center"|''not recorded''
|-
|-
| align="left"| {{flag|United Kingdom}} and [[crown dependency|dependencies]]
| align="left"| United Kingdom and [[crown dependency|dependencies]]
{{efn|The census returns for the United Kingdom are broken down on a [[constituency country]] basis. [[White Irish]] was an option in the ethnicity section of the [[2011 Census of the United Kingdom]]; this did not distinguish between those of Gaelic Irish descent and those of Anglo-Irish descent. The results for this were; 531,087 in [[England and Wales]], 517,907 in [[Northern Ireland]] and 53,000 in [[Scotland]]. According to the census, 83% (or 4,399,000) of the population in Scotland identified as "Scottish" and this did not distinguish between Gaelic Highlander and Anglo Lowlander ethnicities. In the rest of the United Kingdom, the Scots were included under [[White British]].}}
{{efn|Census data for the United Kingdom are broken down on a [[constituency country]] basis. [[White Irish]] was an option in the ethnicity section of the [[2011 Census of the United Kingdom]]; this did not distinguish between those of Gaelic-Irish descent and those of Anglo-Irish descent. The results for this were: 531,087 in [[England and Wales]]; 517,907 in Northern Ireland; and 53,000 in Scotland. According to the census, 83% (or 4,399,000) of the population in Scotland identified as "Scottish" and this did not distinguish between Gaelic Highlander and Anglo Lowlander ethnicities. In the rest of the United Kingdom, the Scots were included under [[White British]].}}
| align="center"| 64,916 <small>(2011)</small><ref name="ni">{{cite news|url=http://www.nisra.gov.uk/Census/key_report_2011.pdf|publisher= Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency|title=Census 2011: Key Statistics for Northern Ireland|date=7 February 2014}}</ref>
| align="center"| 64,916 <small>(2011)</small><ref name="ni">{{cite news|url=http://www.nisra.gov.uk/Census/key_report_2011.pdf|publisher= Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency|title=Census 2011: Key Statistics for Northern Ireland|date=7 February 2014}}</ref>
| align="center"| 1,101,994 <small>(2011)</small><ref name="ni"/><ref name="en">{{cite news|url=http://www.bvsc.org/sites/default/files/files/brapCensus2011Figures.pdf|publisher=BRAP|title=2011 Census for England and Wales: Religion and Ethnicity Data Overview|date=7 February 2014}}</ref>
| align="center"| 1,101,994 <small>(2011)</small><ref name="ni"/><ref name="en">{{cite news|url=http://www.bvsc.org/sites/default/files/files/brapCensus2011Figures.pdf|publisher=BRAP|title=2011 Census for England and Wales: Religion and Ethnicity Data Overview|date=7 February 2014|access-date=7 February 2015|archive-date=31 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331205912/https://www.bvsc.org/sites/default/files/files/brapCensus2011Figures.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| align="center"| 57,602 <small>(2011)</small>
| align="center"| 57,602 <small>(2011)</small>
| align="center"| 4,446,000 <small>(2011)</small>
| align="center"| 4,446,000 <small>(2011)</small>
| align="center"| 1,689 <small>(2000)</small><ref name="manx">{{cite news |url=http://www.minorityrights.org/5411/united-kingdom/manx.html |publisher=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples |title=Manx |date=7 February 2014 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307045739/http://www.minorityrights.org/5411/united-kingdom/manx.html |archivedate=7 March 2015 |df=dmy }}</ref>
| align="center"| 1,689 <small>(2000)</small><ref name="manx">{{cite news |url=http://www.minorityrights.org/5411/united-kingdom/manx.html |publisher=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples |title=Manx |date=7 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307045739/http://www.minorityrights.org/5411/united-kingdom/manx.html |archive-date=7 March 2015}}</ref>
| align="center"| 38,108 <small>(2011)</small>
| align="center"| 38,108 <small>(2011)</small>
|-
|-
| align="left"| {{flag|United States}}
| align="left"| United States
| align="center"| 25,870 <small>(2000)</small><ref name="osb">{{harvnb|Osbourn|2006|p=204}}.</ref>
| align="center"| 25,870 <small>(2000)</small><ref name="osb">{{harvnb|Osbourn|2006|p=204}}.</ref>
| align="center"| [[Irish American|33,348,049]] <small>(2013)</small><ref name="usa">{{cite web| url = http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/DP02 | title = Selected Social Characteristics in the United States (DP02): 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates| publisher = U.S. Census Bureau | accessdate = December 11, 2014}}</ref>
| align="center"| [[Irish American|33,348,049]] <small>(2013)</small><ref name="usa">{{cite web| url = http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/DP02 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20200212093727/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/DP02 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 12 February 2020 | title = Selected Social Characteristics in the United States (DP02): 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates| publisher = U.S. Census Bureau | access-date = 11 December 2014}}</ref>
| align="center"| 1,605 <small>(2000)</small><ref name="osb"/>
| align="center"| 1,605 <small>(2000)</small><ref name="osb"/>
| align="center"| [[Scottish American|5,310,285]] <small>(2013)</small><ref name="usa"/>
| align="center"| [[Scottish American|5,310,285]] <small>(2013)</small><ref name="usa"/>
Line 116: Line 128:
| align="center"| [[Manx American|6,955]]
| align="center"| [[Manx American|6,955]]
|-
|-
| align="left"| {{flag|Canada}}
| align="left"| Canada
| align="center"| 7,500 <small>(2011)</small><ref name="cangd"/>
| align="center"| 7,500 <small>(2011)</small><ref name="cangd"/>
| align="center"| [[Irish Canadian|4,354,155]] <small>(2006)</small><ref name="cana">{{cite web| url = https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/fs-fi/index.cfm?LANG=ENG&VIEW=D&format=jpg&PRCODE=01&TOPIC_ID=11 | title = Visual census, Ethnic origin and visible minorities, Canada | publisher = Statistics Canada| accessdate = 7 February 2015}}</ref>
| align="center"| [[Irish Canadian|4,354,155]] <small>(2006)</small><ref name="cana">{{cite web| url = https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/fs-fi/index.cfm?LANG=ENG&VIEW=D&format=jpg&PRCODE=01&TOPIC_ID=11 | title = Visual census, Ethnic origin and visible minorities, Canada | publisher = Statistics Canada| access-date = 7 February 2015| date = 7 December 2010 }}</ref>
| align="center"| 1,500 <small>(2011)</small><ref name="cangd">{{cite web| url = http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E | title = National Household Survey (NHS) 2011| publisher = Statistics Canada| accessdate = 7 February 2015}}</ref>
| align="center"| 1,500 <small>(2011)</small><ref name="cangd">{{cite web| url = http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E | title = National Household Survey (NHS) 2011| publisher = Statistics Canada| access-date = 7 February 2015| date = 8 May 2013}}</ref>
| align="center"| [[Scottish Canadian|4,719,850]] <small>(2006)</small><ref name="cana"/>
| align="center"| [[Scottish Canadian|4,719,850]] <small>(2006)</small><ref name="cana"/>
| align="center"|''not recorded''
| align="center"|''not recorded''
| align="center"| [[Manx Canadian|4,725]]
| align="center"| [[Manx Canadian|4,725]]
|-
|-
| align="left"| {{flag|Australia}}
| align="left"| Australia
| align="center"| 1,895 <small>(2011)</small><ref name="ausg">{{cite news|url=https://www.academia.edu/1152975/The_Irish_language_in_Australia_sociocultural_identity_in_diasporic_minority_language_use|publisher=Jill Vaughan|title=The Irish language in Australia: sociocultural identity in diasporic minority language use|date=7 February 2015}}</ref>
| align="center"| 1,895 <small>(2011)</small><ref name="ausg">{{cite news|url=https://www.academia.edu/1152975|publisher=Jill Vaughan|title=The Irish language in Australia: sociocultural identity in diasporic minority language use|date=7 February 2015}}</ref>
| align="center"| [[Irish Australian|2,087,800]] <small>(2011)</small><ref name="aus">{{cite news|url=https://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/immigration-update/people-australia-2013-statistics.pdf|publisher=Department of Immigration and Border Protection |title=The People of Australia: Statistics from the 2013 Census|date=7 February 2015}}</ref>
| align="center"| [[Irish Australian|2,087,800]] <small>(2011)</small><ref name="aus">{{cite news|url=https://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/immigration-update/people-australia-2013-statistics.pdf|publisher=Department of Immigration and Border Protection|title=The People of Australia: Statistics from the 2013 Census|date=7 February 2015|access-date=7 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714131850/https://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/immigration-update/people-australia-2013-statistics.pdf|archive-date=14 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| align="center"| 822 <small>(2001)</small>
| align="center"| 822 <small>(2001)</small>
| align="center"| [[Scottish Australian|1,876,560]] <small>(2011)</small>
| align="center"| [[Scottish Australian|1,876,560]] <small>(2011)</small>
Line 132: Line 144:
| align="center"| [[Manx Australian|46,000]]
| align="center"| [[Manx Australian|46,000]]
|-
|-
| align="left"| {{flag|New Zealand}}
| align="left"| New Zealand
| align="center"| ''not recorded''
| align="center"| ''not recorded''
| align="center"| 14,000 <small>(2013)</small><ref name="nzi">{{cite news|url=http://www.irishecho.com.au/2014/10/14/census-reveals-scale-of-nz-irish-population/32913 |publisher=Irish Echo |title=Census reveals scale of NZ Irish population |date=7 February 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208021900/http://www.irishecho.com.au/2014/10/14/census-reveals-scale-of-nz-irish-population/32913 |archivedate=8 February 2015 |df=dmy }}</ref>
| align="center"| 14,000 <small>(2013)</small><ref name="nzi">{{cite news|url=http://www.irishecho.com.au/2014/10/14/census-reveals-scale-of-nz-irish-population/32913 |publisher=Irish Echo |title=Census reveals scale of NZ Irish population |date=7 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208021900/http://www.irishecho.com.au/2014/10/14/census-reveals-scale-of-nz-irish-population/32913 |archive-date=8 February 2015}}</ref>
| align="center"| 670 <small>(2006)</small>
| align="center"| 670 <small>(2006)</small>
| align="center"| [[Scottish New Zealander|12,792]] <small>(2006)</small>
| align="center"| [[Scottish New Zealander|12,792]] <small>(2006)</small>
Line 141: Line 153:
|-
|-
| align="left"| '''Total'''
| align="left"| '''Total'''
| align="center"| 1,870,181
| align="center"| 1,974,178
| align="center"| 44,875,317
| align="center"| 44,875,317
| align="center"| 62,199
| align="center"| 62,199
Line 152: Line 164:
{{Main|Irish diaspora|Scottish diaspora}}
{{Main|Irish diaspora|Scottish diaspora}}


[[Image:William Allsworth - The emigrants - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|250px|''The Emigrants'', painting from 1844. This depicts a Highland Scots family in Gaelic dress migrating to [[New Zealand]].]]
[[Image:William Allsworth - The emigrants - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''The Emigrants'', painting from 1844. This depicts a Highland Scots family in Gaelic dress migrating to New Zealand.]]
As the Western Roman Empire began to collapse, the Gaels (along with the Anglo-Saxons) were one of the peoples able to take advantage in [[Great Britain]] from the 4th century onwards. The proto-Eóganachta [[Uí Liatháin]] and the [[Déisi Muman]] of [[Kingdom of Dyfed|Dyfed]] both established colonies in today's [[Wales]]. Further to the north, the Érainn's Dál Riata colonised [[Argyll]] (eventually founding [[Kingdom of Alba|Alba]]) and there was a significant Gaelic influence in [[Northumbria]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ608220.pdf|publisher=Colin Ireland|title=Seventh-Century Ireland as a Study Abroad Destination|date=10 February 2015}}</ref> and the [[House of Óengus|MacAngus]] clan arose to the Pictish kingship by the 8th century. Gaelic [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Christian missionaries]] were also active across the [[Frankish Empire]]. With the coming of the [[Viking Age]] and their slave markets, Gaels were also dispersed in this way across the realms under Viking control; as a legacy, in genetic studies, [[Icelanders]] exhibit high levels of Gaelic-derived [[Mitochondrial DNA|mDNA]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://history.rutgers.edu/honors-papers-2009/152-they-accuse-us-of-being-descended-from-slaves/file|publisher=Rutgers University|title="They Accuse Us of Being Descended from Slaves": Settlement History, Cultural Syncretism and the Foundation of Medieval Icelandic Identity|date=10 February 2015}}</ref>
As the Western Roman Empire began to collapse, the Irish (along with the Anglo-Saxons) were one of the peoples able to take advantage in [[Great Britain]] from the 4th century onwards. The proto-Eóganachta [[Uí Liatháin]] and the [[Déisi Muman]] of [[Kingdom of Dyfed|Dyfed]] both established colonies in today's [[Wales]]. Further to the north, the Érainn's Dál Riata colonised [[Argyll]] (eventually founding [[Kingdom of Alba|Alba]]) and there was a significant Gaelic influence in [[Northumbria]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ608220.pdf|publisher=Colin Ireland|title=Seventh-Century Ireland as a Study Abroad Destination|date=10 February 2015}}</ref> and the [[House of Óengus|MacAngus]] clan arose to the Pictish kingship by the 8th century. Gaelic [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Christian missionaries]] were also active across the [[Frankish Empire]]. With the coming of the [[Viking Age]] and their slave markets, Irish were also dispersed in this way across the realms under Viking control; as a legacy, in genetic studies, [[Icelanders]] exhibit high levels of Gaelic-derived [[Mitochondrial DNA|mDNA]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://history.rutgers.edu/honors-papers-2009/152-they-accuse-us-of-being-descended-from-slaves/file|publisher=Rutgers University|title="They Accuse Us of Being Descended from Slaves": Settlement History, Cultural Syncretism and the Foundation of Medieval Icelandic Identity|date=10 February 2015|access-date=10 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211011903/http://history.rutgers.edu/honors-papers-2009/152-they-accuse-us-of-being-descended-from-slaves/file|archive-date=11 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Since the fall of Gaelic polities, the Gaels have made their way across parts of the world, mainly under the auspices of the [[British Empire]], but to a lesser extent under the [[Spanish Empire]]. Core destinations for "exiles" have been [[North America]] (what is today the [[United States]] and [[Canada]]) and [[Oceania]] ([[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]]). There has also been a mass "internal migration" within the British Isles from the 19th century, with Gaelic Irish peasantry and Highlanders migrating to the English-speaking industrial cities of [[London]], [[Dublin]], [[Glasgow]], [[Liverpool]], [[Manchester]], [[Birmingham]], [[Cardiff]], [[Leeds]], [[Edinburgh]] and others. Many underwent a linguistic "Anglicisation" and some eventually merged with Anglo populations.
Since the fall of Gaelic polities, the Gaels have made their way across parts of the world, successively under the auspices of the [[Spanish Empire]], [[French colonial empire|French Empire]], and the [[British Empire]]. Their main destinations were Iberia, France, the West Indies, North America (what is today the United States and Canada) and [[Oceania]] (Australia and New Zealand). There has also been a mass "internal migration" within Ireland and Britain from the 19th century, with Irish and Scots migrating to the English-speaking industrial cities of [[London]], [[Dublin]], [[Glasgow]], [[Liverpool]], [[Manchester]], [[Birmingham]], [[Cardiff]], [[Leeds]], [[Edinburgh]] and others. Many underwent a linguistic "Anglicisation" and eventually merged with Anglo populations.


In a more narrow interpretation of the term ''Gaelic diaspora'', it could be interpreted as referring to the [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic-speaking]] minority among the [[Irish diaspora|Irish]], [[Scottish diaspora|Scottish]], and [[Manx people|Manx]] diaspora. However, the use of the term "diaspora" in relation to the Gaelic languages (i.e., in a narrowly linguistic rather than a more broadly cultural context) is arguably not appropriate, as it may suggest that Gaelic speakers and people interested in Gaelic necessarily have Gaelic ancestry, or that people with such ancestry naturally have an interest or fluency in their ancestral language. Research shows that this assumption is inaccurate.<ref>MacCaluim, Alasdair (2001). ''Research on Language Policy and Planning''. Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh.</ref>
==History==


===Origins===
==History==
[[File:Scota & Gaedel Glas.jpg|thumb|220px|[[Scota]] and [[Goídel Glas]] voyaging from Egypt. From the 15th century chronicle the ''[[Scotichronicon]]''.]]
In their own [[national epic]] contained within medieval works such as the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'', the Gaels trace the origin of their people to an eponymous ancestor named [[Goídel Glas]]. He is described as a [[Scythian]] prince (the grandson of [[Fénius Farsaid]]), who is credited with creating the [[Gaelic languages]]. Goídel's mother is called [[Scota]], described as an Egyptian princess (some modern writers associate her with [[Meritaten Tasherit|Meritaten]]). The Gaels are depicted as wandering from place to place for hundreds of years; they spend time in [[Egypt]], [[Crete]], [[Scythia]], the [[Caspian Sea]] and [[Gaetuli|Getulia]], before arriving in [[Iberia]], where their king, [[Breogán]], is said to have founded [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]].


===Origin legends===
The Gaels are then said to have sailed to [[Ireland]] via Galicia in the form of the [[Milesians (Irish)|Milesians]], sons of [[Míl Espáine]]. The Gaels fight a battle of sorcery with the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], the gods, who inhabited Ireland at the time. [[Ériu]], a goddess of the land, promises the Gaels that Ireland shall be theirs so long as they pay tribute to her. They agree, and their bard [[Amergin Glúingel|Amergin]] recites an incantation known as the ''Song of Amergin''. The two groups agree to divide Ireland between them: the Gaels take the world above, while the Tuath Dé take the world below (i.e. the [[Celtic Otherworld|Otherworld]]).
[[File:Scota & Gaedel Glas.jpg|thumb|[[Scota]] and [[Goídel Glas]] voyaging from Egypt. From the 15th century chronicle the ''[[Scotichronicon]]''.]]
In their own [[national epic]] contained within medieval works such as the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'', the Gaels trace the origin of their people to an eponymous ancestor named [[Goídel Glas]]. He is described as a [[Scythian]] prince (the grandson of [[Fénius Farsaid]]), who is credited with creating the [[Gaelic languages]]. Goídel's mother is called [[Scota]], described as an Egyptian princess. The Gaels are depicted as wandering from place to place for hundreds of years; they spend time in [[Egypt]], [[Crete]], [[Scythia]], the [[Caspian Sea]] and [[Gaetuli|Getulia]], before arriving in [[Iberia]], where their king, [[Breogán]], is said to have founded [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]].<ref name="mil">{{cite news|url=https://www.historyireland.com/pre-history-archaeology/did-the-irish-come-from-spain/|publisher=History Ireland|title=Did the Irish Come from Spain?|date=Autumn 2001}}</ref>


The Gaels are then said to have sailed to Ireland via Galicia in the form of the [[Milesians (Irish)|Milesians]], sons of [[Míl Espáine]].<ref name="mil"/> The Gaels fight a battle of sorcery with the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], the gods, who inhabited Ireland at the time. [[Ériu]], a goddess of the land, promises the Gaels that Ireland shall be theirs so long as they pay tribute to her. They agree, and their bard [[Amergin Glúingel|Amergin]] recites an incantation known as the ''Song of Amergin''. The two groups agree to divide Ireland between them: the Gaels take the world above, while the Tuath Dé take the world below (i.e. the [[Celtic Otherworld|Otherworld]]).
Advances in [[DNA]] studies have revealed some clues about the origin of the Gaels (who are associated with paternal [[R-L21]]).<ref name="eup"/> [[Haplogroup R-M207|Haplogroup R]] originated 26,800 years ago in [[Central Asia]] during the [[Last glacial period|Last Ice Age]]. The [[R1b]] branch had broken off by the [[Paleolithic]] and its derivative [[R-M269]] was found at the [[Pontic-Caspian steppe]] by the [[Chalcolithic]] (the [[Kurgan hypothesis]] makes these speakers of [[Proto-Indo-European]]).<ref name="eup"/> First entering Europe proper 7,000 years ago, the [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-Europeans]] developed [[Bronze Age|bronze weapons]] and domesticated the horse, giving them the upper hand in their conquest of the [[Old Europe (archaeology)|Old Europe]] and the proliferation of their lineages.<ref name="eup"/> After the [[R-L51]] subclade founded the [[Unetice culture]], a derivative R-L21 moved West, arriving in [[Britons (Celtic people)|Britain]] ''c.'' 2100 BCE and Ireland ''c.'' 2000 BCE, becoming the Gaelic people.<ref name="eup"/>


===Ancient===
===Ancient===
{{see also|Prehistoric Ireland|Prehistoric Scotland|Protohistory of Ireland|Scotland during the Roman Empire}}
{{see also|Prehistoric Ireland|Prehistoric Scotland|Protohistory of Ireland|Scotland during the Roman Empire}}
[[File:Lia Fail.jpg|thumb|220px|The ''[[Lia Fáil]]'' at the Hill of Tara, sacred site of inauguration for the Gaelic High Kings.]]
[[File:Lia Fail.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Lia Fáil]]'' at the Hill of Tara, sacred site of inauguration for the Gaelic High Kings.]]
There is some disagreement about when [[Celts|Celtic]] speakers first arrived in Ireland. It is thought by some scholars to be associated with the [[Bell Beaker people]] of the [[Bronze Age Europe|Bronze Age]], however others argue that "Celts" arrived much later at the beginning of the [[Iron Age Europe|Iron Age]].<ref>J.X.W.P. Corcoram, "The origin of the Celts", in Nora Chadwick, ''The Celts'' (1970); David W. Anthony, ''[[The Horse, the Wheel and Language|The Horse, the Wheel and Language: How Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian steppes shaped the modern world]]'' (2007).</ref>
According to the ''[[Annals of the Four Masters]]'', the early branches of the Milesian Gaels were the [[Heremonians]], the [[Heberians]] and the [[Irians]], descended from the three brothers [[Érimón]], [[Éber Finn]] and [[Ír]] respectively. Another group were the Ithians, descended from [[Íth]] (an uncle of Milesius) who were located in South Leinster (associated with the [[Brigantes]]) but they later became extinct. The Four Masters date the start of Milesian rule from 1700 BCE. Initially, the Heremonians dominated the [[High Kingship of Ireland]] from their stronghold of [[Kingdom of Mide|Mide]], the Heberians were given [[Kingdom of Munster|Munster]] and the Irians were given [[Kingdom of Ulster|Ulster]]. At this early point of the Milesian-era, the non-Gaelic [[Fir Domnann]] held [[Kingdom of Leinster|Leinster]] and the [[Fir Ol nEchmacht]] held what was later known as [[Connacht]] (possibly remnants of the [[Fir Bolg]]).


During the [[Iron Age]] there was heightened activity at a number of important royal ceremonial sites, including [[Hill of Tara|Tara]], [[Dún Ailinne]], [[Rathcroghan]] and [[Emain Macha]].{{sfn|Ó Cróinín|2005|p=166}} Each was associated with a Gaelic tribe. The most important was Tara, where the High King (also known as the [[King of Tara]]) was inaugurated on the ''[[Lia Fáil]]'' (Stone of Destiny), which stands to this day. According to the Annals, this era also saw, during the 7th century BCE, a branch of the Heremonians known as the [[Laigin]], descending from [[Úgaine Mór]]'s son [[Lóegaire Lorc]], displacing the Fir Bolg remnants in Leinster. This was also a critical period for the [[Ulaid]] (earlier known as the Irians) as their kinsman [[Rudraige mac Sithrigi|Rudraige Mór]] took over the High Kingship in the 3rd century BCE; his offspring would be the subject of the [[Ulster Cycle]] of heroic tradition, including the epic ''[[Táin Bó Cúailnge]]''. This includes the struggle between [[Conchobar mac Nessa]] and [[Fergus mac Róich]].
During the [[Iron Age]], there was heightened activity at a number of important [[Royal sites of Ireland|royal ceremonial sites]], including [[Hill of Tara|Tara]], [[Dún Ailinne]], [[Rathcroghan]] and [[Emain Macha]].{{sfn|Ó Cróinín|2005|p=166}} Each was associated with a Gaelic tribe. The most important was Tara, where the High King (also known as the [[King of Tara]]) was inaugurated on the ''[[Lia Fáil]]'' (Stone of Destiny), which stands to this day.


After regaining power, the Heremonians, in the form of [[Fíachu Finnolach]] were overthrown in a 1st-century AD provincial coup. His son, [[Túathal Techtmar]] was exiled to [[Roman Britain]] before returning to claim Tara. Based on the accounts of [[Tacitus]], some modern historians associate him with an "Irish prince" said to have been entertained by [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|Agricola]], Governor of Britain and speculate at Roman sponsorship.{{sfn|Rankin|2002|p=306}} His grandson, [[Conn Cétchathach]], is the ancestor of the [[Connachta]] who would dominate the Irish Middle Ages. They gained control of what would now be named Connacht. Their close relatives the [[Érainn]] (both groups descend from [[Óengus Tuirmech Temrach]]) and the Ulaid would later lose out to them in Ulster, as the descendants of the [[Three Collas]] in [[Airgíalla]] and [[Niall Noígíallach]] in [[Kings of Ailech|Ailech]] extended their hegemony.<ref>{{harvnb|Byrne|1973|p=73}}.</ref>
According to medieval Irish legend, High King [[Túathal Techtmar]] was exiled to [[Roman Britain]] before returning to claim Tara. Based on the accounts of [[Tacitus]], some modern historians associate him with an "Irish prince" said to have been entertained by [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|Agricola]], Governor of Britain, and speculate at Roman sponsorship.{{sfn|Rankin|2002|p=306}} His grandson, [[Conn Cétchathach]], is the ancestor of the [[Connachta]] who would dominate the Irish Middle Ages. They gained control of what would now be named Connacht. Their close relatives the [[Érainn]] (both groups descend from [[Óengus Tuirmech Temrach]]) and the Ulaid would later lose out to them in Ulster, as the descendants of the [[Three Collas]] in [[Airgíalla]] and [[Niall Noígíallach]] in [[Kings of Ailech|Ailech]] extended their hegemony.<ref>{{harvnb|Byrne|1973|p=73}}.</ref>


The Gaels emerged into the clear historical record during the classical era, with [[ogham inscriptions]] and quite detailed references in [[Greco-Roman]] ethnography (most notably by [[Ptolemy]]). The [[Roman Empire]] conquered most of Britain in the 1st century, but did not conquer Ireland or the far north of Britain. The Gaels had [[Hiberno-Roman relations|relations with the Roman world]], mostly through trade. Roman jewellery and coins have been found at several Irish royal sites, for example.<ref name="foster5-7">{{cite book |last=Foster |first=Robert |date=2001 |title=The Oxford History of Ireland |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryofi00rffo |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryofi00rffo/page/5 5–7]}}</ref> Gaels, known to the Romans as ''[[Scoti]]'', also carried out raids on [[Roman Britain]], together with the [[Picts]]. These raids increased in the 4th century, as [[End of Roman rule in Britain|Roman rule in Britain began to collapse]].<ref name="foster5-7"/> This era was also marked by a Gaelic presence in Britain; in what is today Wales, the [[Déisi]] founded the [[Kingdom of Dyfed]] and the [[Uí Liatháin]] founded [[Brycheiniog]].<ref>{{harvnb|Byrne|1973|p=72}}.</ref> There was also some Irish settlement in [[Cornwall]].<ref name="foster5-7"/> To the north, the [[Dál Riata]] are held to have established a territory in [[Argyll]] and the [[Hebrides]].{{efn|A minority of historical revisionists have come to challenge the traditional account of the origins of [[Gaelic Scotland]] as being derived directly from [[Gaelic Ireland]] via population movement as laid out in works such as the ''[[Senchus fer n-Alban]]'' and the ''[[Annals of Tigernach]]''. The pioneering figure in this direction is Dr. [[Ewan Campbell]] of the [[University of Glasgow]] with his 2001 paper ''Were the Scots Irish?''; an archaeologist, he argues that there is no evidence of mass population movement across the [[Irish Sea]] for this time period at [[Dunadd]].}}
[[File:Map Gaels Brythons Picts.png|thumb|right|220px|[[British Isles|The Isles]] in the 5th century.

===Medieval===
{{main|Medieval Ireland|Scotland in the Middle Ages}}
[[File:Map Gaels Brythons Picts.png|thumb|upright=0.8|left|[[British Isles|The Isles]] in the 5th century.
{{legend|#548556|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic]] areas.}}
{{legend|#548556|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic]] areas.}}
{{legend|#2272c4|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly [[Pictish language|Pictish]] areas.}}
{{legend|#2272c4|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly [[Pictish language|Pictish]] areas.}}
{{legend|#de3333|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly [[Brythonic languages|Brythonic]] areas.}}]]
{{legend|#de3333|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly [[Brythonic languages|Brythonic]] areas.}}]]
The Gaels emerged into the clear historical record during the classical-era, with [[ogham inscriptions]] and quite detailed references in [[Greco-Roman]] ethnography (most notably by [[Ptolemy]]). The [[Roman Empire]] conquered most of Britain in the 1st century, but did not conquer Ireland or the far north of Britain. The Gaels had [[Hiberno-Roman relations|relations with the Roman world]], mostly through trade. Roman jewelry and coins have been found at several Irish royal sites, for example.<ref name="foster5-7">{{cite book |last=Foster |first=Robert |date=2001 |title=The Oxford History of Ireland |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=5–7}}</ref> Gaels, known to the Romans as ''[[Scoti]]'', also carried out raids on [[Roman Britain]], together with the [[Picts]]. These raids increased in the 4th century, as [[End of Roman rule in Britain|Roman rule in Britain began to collapse]].<ref name="foster5-7"/> This era was also marked by a Gaelic presence in Britain; in what is today Wales, the [[Déisi]] founded the [[Kingdom of Dyfed]] and the [[Uí Liatháin]] founded [[Brycheiniog]].<ref>{{harvnb|Byrne|1973|p=72}}.</ref> There was also some Irish settlement in [[Cornwall]].<ref name="foster5-7"/> To the north, the [[Dál Riata]] are held to have established a territory in [[Argyll]] and the [[Hebrides]].{{efn|A minority of historical revisionists have come to challenge the traditional account of the origins of [[Gaelic Scotland]] as being derived directly from [[Gaelic Ireland]] via population movement as laid out in works such as the ''[[Senchus fer n-Alban]]'' and the ''[[Annals of Tigernach]]''. The pioneering figure in this direction is Dr. [[Ewan Campbell]] of the [[University of Glasgow]] with his 2001 paper ''Were the Scots Irish?''; an archaeologist, he argues that there is no evidence of mass population movement across the [[Irish Sea]] for this time period at [[Dunadd]].}}

===Medieval===
{{main|Medieval Ireland|Scotland in the Middle Ages}}
[[Christianity]] reached Ireland during the 5th century, most famously through a [[Britons (Celtic people)|Romano-British]] slave [[Saint Patrick|Patrick]],<ref name="martz"/> but also through Gaels such as [[Declán of Ardmore|Declán]], [[Finnian of Clonard|Finnian]] and the [[Twelve Apostles of Ireland]]. The abbot and the monk eventually took over certain cultural roles of the ''[[aos dána]]'' (not least the roles of ''[[druí]]'' and ''[[seanchaí]]'') as the oral culture of the Gaels was transmitted to script by the arrival of literacy. Thus [[Christianity in Ireland]] during this early time retained elements of [[Gaelic culture]].<ref name="martz"/>
[[Christianity]] reached Ireland during the 5th century, most famously through a [[Britons (Celtic people)|Romano-British]] slave [[Saint Patrick|Patrick]],<ref name="martz"/> but also through Gaels such as [[Declán of Ardmore|Declán]], [[Finnian of Clonard|Finnian]] and the [[Twelve Apostles of Ireland]]. The abbot and the monk eventually took over certain cultural roles of the ''[[aos dána]]'' (not least the roles of ''[[druí]]'' and ''[[seanchaí]]'') as the oral culture of the Gaels was transmitted to script by the arrival of literacy. Thus [[Christianity in Ireland]] during this early time retained elements of [[Gaelic culture]].<ref name="martz"/>


In the Middle Ages, [[Gaelic Ireland]] was divided into a hierarchy of territories ruled by a hierarchy of kings or chiefs. The smallest territory was the ''[[túath]]'' (plural: ''túatha''), which was typically the territory of a single kin-group. Several ''túatha'' formed a ''mór túath'' (overkingdom), which was ruled by an overking. Several overkingdoms formed a ''cóiced'' (province), which was ruled by a provincial king. In the early Middle Ages the ''túath'' was the main political unit, but during the following centuries the overkings and provincial kings became ever more powerful.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stafford |first=Pauline |year=2013 |title=A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland c.500 - 1100 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |page= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2S7WbK-0x48C&lpg=PT340&ots=6l7YyE9j7_&dq=%22the%20kingdoms%20of%20ireland%3A%20national%20and%20regional%20identities%22&pg=PT340#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Duffy |first=Seán |date=2005 |title=Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Routledge |page=421 }}</ref> By the 6th century, the division of Ireland into two spheres of influence ([[Leath Cuinn and Leath Moga]]) was largely a reality. In the south, the influence of the [[Eóganachta]] based at [[Rock of Cashel|Cashel]] grew further, to the detriment of Érainn clans such as the [[Corcu Loígde]] and [[Clann Conla]]. Through their vassals the [[Déisi Muman|Déisi]] (descended from [[Fiacha Suidhe]] and later known as the [[Dál gCais]]), Munster was extended north of the [[River Shannon]], laying the foundations for [[Thomond]].<ref>{{harvnb|Byrne|1973|p=180}}.</ref> Aside from their gains in Ulster (excluding the Érainn's [[Ulaid]]), the [[Uí Néill]]'s southern branch had also pushed down into [[Kingdom of Meath|Mide]] and [[Kings of Brega|Brega]]. By the 9th century, some of the most powerful kings were being acknowledged as [[High King of Ireland]].
In the Middle Ages, [[Gaelic Ireland]] was divided into a hierarchy of territories ruled by a hierarchy of kings or chiefs. The smallest territory was the ''[[túath]]'' (plural: ''túatha''), which was typically the territory of a single kin-group. Several ''túatha'' formed a ''mór túath'' (overkingdom), which was ruled by an overking. Several overkingdoms formed a ''cóiced'' (province), which was ruled by a provincial king. In the early Middle Ages the ''túath'' was the main political unit, but during the following centuries the overkings and provincial kings became ever more powerful.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stafford |first=Pauline |year=2013 |title=A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland c.500 1100 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2S7WbK-0x48C&q=%22the%20kingdoms%20of%20ireland%3A%20national%20and%20regional%20identities%22&pg=PT340|isbn=9781118499474}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Duffy |first=Seán |date=2005 |title=Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Routledge |page=421 }}</ref> By the 6th century, the division of Ireland into two spheres of influence ([[Leath Cuinn and Leath Moga]]) was largely a reality. In the south, the influence of the [[Eóganachta]] based at [[Rock of Cashel|Cashel]] grew further, to the detriment of Érainn clans such as the [[Corcu Loígde]] and [[Clann Conla]]. Through their vassals the [[Déisi Muman|Déisi]] (descended from [[Fiacha Suidhe]] and later known as the [[Dál gCais]]), Munster was extended north of the [[River Shannon]], laying the foundations for [[Thomond]].{{sfn|Byrne|1973|p=180}} Aside from their gains in Ulster (excluding the Érainn's [[Ulaid]]), the [[Uí Néill]]'s southern branch had also pushed down into [[Kingdom of Meath|Mide]] and [[Kings of Brega|Brega]]. By the 9th century, some of the most powerful kings were being acknowledged as [[High King of Ireland]].


[[File:KellsFol292rIncipJohn.jpg|thumb|right|A page from the 9th century [[Book of Kells]], one of the finest examples of [[Insular art]]. It is believed to have been made in Gaelic monasteries in Ireland and Scotland.]]
[[File:KellsFol292rIncipJohn.jpg|thumb|right|A page from the 9th century [[Book of Kells]], one of the finest examples of [[Insular art]]. It is believed to have been made in Gaelic monasteries in Ireland and Scotland.]]
Some, particularly champions of Christianity, hold the 6th to 9th centuries to be a [[Golden age (metaphor)|Golden Age]] for the Gaels. This is due to the influence which the Gaels had across [[Western Europe]] as part of their [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Christian missionary]] activities. Similar to the [[Desert Fathers]], Gaelic monastics were known for their [[asceticism]].<ref name="kos"/> Some of the most celebrated figures of this time were [[Columba of Iona|Columba]], [[Aidan of Lindisfarne|Aidan]], [[Columbanus]] and others.<ref name="kos">{{cite news|url=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/12/1064080/-Ancient-Ireland-The-Monastic-Tradition|publisher=Daily Kos|title=Ancient Ireland: The Monastic Tradition|date=28 March 2015}}</ref> Learned in [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin language|Latin]] during an age of cultural collapse,<ref>{{harvnb|MacManus|1921|p=215}}.</ref> the Gaelic scholars were able to gain a presence at the court of the [[Carolingian]] [[Frankish Empire]]; perhaps the best known example is [[Johannes Scotus Eriugena]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scottus-eriugena/|publisher=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|title=John Scottus Eriugena|date=28 March 2015}}</ref> Aside from their activities abroad, [[insular art]] flourished domestically, with artifacts such as the [[Book of Kells]] and [[Tara Brooch]] surviving. [[Clonmacnoise]], [[Glendalough]], [[Clonard Abbey|Clonard]], [[Durrow Abbey|Durrow]] and [[Inis Cathaigh]] are some of the more prominent Ireland-based monasteries founded during this time.
Some, particularly champions of Christianity, hold the 6th to 9th centuries to be a [[Golden age (metaphor)|Golden Age]] for the Gaels. This is due to the influence which the Gaels had across [[Western Europe]] as part of their [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Christian missionary]] activities. Similar to the [[Desert Fathers]], Gaelic monastics were known for their [[asceticism]].<ref name="kos"/> Some of the most celebrated figures of this time were [[Columba of Iona|Columba]], [[Aidan of Lindisfarne|Aidan]], [[Columbanus]] and others.<ref name="kos">{{cite news|url=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/12/1064080/-Ancient-Ireland-The-Monastic-Tradition|publisher=Daily Kos|title=Ancient Ireland: The Monastic Tradition|date=28 March 2015}}</ref> Learned in [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin language|Latin]] during an age of cultural collapse,<ref>{{harvnb|MacManus|1921|p=215}}.</ref> the Gaelic scholars were able to gain a presence at the court of the [[Carolingian]] [[Frankish Empire]]; perhaps the best known example is [[Johannes Scotus Eriugena]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scottus-eriugena/|encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|title=John Scottus Eriugena|date=28 March 2015}}</ref> Aside from their activities abroad, [[insular art]] flourished domestically, with artifacts such as the [[Book of Kells]] and [[Tara Brooch]] surviving. [[Clonmacnoise]], [[Glendalough]], [[Clonard Abbey|Clonard]], [[Durrow Abbey|Durrow]] and [[Inis Cathaigh]] are some of the more prominent Ireland-based monasteries founded during this time.


[[File:A sculpture of Máel Seachnaill II in Trim, Co. Meath, by James McKenna.jpg|thumb|right|High King [[Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill]] was one of the leaders in the struggle with the Norsemen.]]
There is some evidence that the Gaels may have visited the [[Faroe Islands]] and [[Iceland]] before the [[Norsemen|Norse]], and that Gaelic monks known as [[papar]] lived there before being driven out by the incoming Norsemen.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ureland |first=Per Sture |date=1996 |title=Language Contact across the North Atlantic |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |pages=115–116}}</ref>
There is some evidence in early [[Icelandic sagas]] such as the ''[[Íslendingabók]]'' that the Gaels may have visited the [[Faroe Islands]] and [[Iceland]] before the [[Norsemen|Norse]], and that Gaelic monks known as ''[[papar]]'' (meaning father) lived there before being driven out by the incoming Norsemen.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ureland |first=Per Sture |date=1996 |title=Language Contact across the North Atlantic |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |pages=115–116}}</ref>


The late 8th century heralded outside involvement in Gaelic affairs, as Norsemen from [[Scandinavia]], known as the [[Vikings]], began to raid and pillage settlements. The earliest recorded raids were on [[Rathlin]] and [[Iona]] in 795; these hit and run attacks continued for some time until the Norsemen began to settle in the 840s at [[Dublin]] (setting up a large slave market), [[Limerick]], [[Waterford]] and elsewhere. The Norsemen also took most of the Hebrides and the [[Isle of Man]] from the Dál Riata clans and established the [[Kingdom of the Isles]].
[[File:A sculpture of Máel Seachnaill II in Trim, Co. Meath, by James McKenna.jpg|220px|thumb|right|High King [[Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill]] was one of the leaders in the struggle with the Norsemen.]]
The late 8th century heralded outside involvement in Gaelic affairs, as Norsemen from [[Scandinavia]], known as the [[Vikings]], began to raid and pillage settlements looking for booty. The earliest recorded raids were on [[Rathlin]] and [[Iona]] in 795; these hit and run attacks continued for some time until the Norsemen began to settle in the 840s at [[Dublin]] (setting up a large slave market), [[Limerick]], [[Waterford]] and elsewhere. The Norsemen also took most of the Hebrides and the [[Isle of Man]] from the Dál Riata clans and established the [[Kingdom of the Isles]].


The monarchy of [[Pictland]] had kings of Gaelic origin, since the 7th century with [[Bruide mac Der-Ilei]], around the times of the ''[[Cáin Adomnáin]]''. However, Pictland remained a separate realm from Dál Riata, until the latter gained full hegemony during the reign of [[Kenneth MacAlpin]] from the [[House of Alpin]], whereby Dál Riata and Pictland were merged to form the [[Kingdom of Alba]]. This meant an acceleration of Gaelicisation in the northern part of Great Britain. The [[Battle of Brunanburh]] in 937 defined the Anglo-Saxon [[Kingdom of England]] as the hegemonic force in Great Britain, over a Gaelic-Viking alliance.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ncmh/dna/brunanburh.aspx|publisher=University of Nottingham|title=Battle of Brunanburh AD937|date=12 March 2020|access-date=12 March 2020|archive-date=31 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231234307/https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ncmh/dna/Brunanburh.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>
At the same time, the [[Picts]] were becoming Gaelicised, and the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata merged with [[Pictland]] to form the [[Kingdom of Alba]]. [[Kenneth MacAlpin]] and the [[House of Alpin]] are most associated with this process.


After a spell when the Norsemen were driven from Dublin by Leinsterman [[Cerball mac Muirecáin]], they returned in the reign of [[Niall Glúndub]], heralding a second Viking period. The Dublin Norse—some of them, such as [[Uí Ímair]] king [[Ragnall ua Ímair]] now partly Gaelicised as the [[Norse-Gaels]]—were a serious regional power, with territories across [[Northumbria]] and [[Scandinavian York|York]]. At the same time, the Uí Néill branches were involved in an internal power struggle for hegemony between the northern or southern branches. [[Donnchad Donn]] raided [[Munster]] and took [[Cellachán Caisil]] of the Eóganachta hostage. The destabilisation led to the rise of the Dál gCais and [[Brian Bóruma]]. Through military might, Brian went about building a Gaelic [[Imperium]] under his High Kingship, even gaining the submission of [[Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill]]. They were involved in a series of battles against the Vikings: [[Battle of Tara (Ireland)|Tara]], [[Battle of Glenmama|Glenmama]] and [[Battle of Clontarf|Clontarf]]. The last of these saw Brian's death in 1014. Brian's campaign is glorified in the ''[[Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib]]'' ("The War of the Gaels with the Foreigners").
After a spell when the Norsemen were driven from Dublin by Leinsterman [[Cerball mac Muirecáin]], they returned in the reign of [[Niall Glúndub]], heralding a second Viking period. The Dublin Norse—some of them, such as [[Uí Ímair]] king [[Ragnall ua Ímair]] now partly Gaelicised as the [[Norse-Gaels]]—were a serious regional power, with territories across [[Northumbria]] and [[Scandinavian York|York]]. At the same time, the Uí Néill branches were involved in an internal power struggle for hegemony between the northern or southern branches. [[Donnchad Donn]] raided [[Munster]] and took [[Cellachán Caisil]] of the Eóganachta hostage. The destabilisation led to the rise of the Dál gCais and [[Brian Bóruma]]. Through military might, Brian went about building a Gaelic [[Imperium]] under his High Kingship, even gaining the submission of [[Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill]]. They were involved in a series of battles against the Vikings: [[Battle of Tara (Ireland)|Tara]], [[Battle of Glenmama|Glenmama]] and [[Battle of Clontarf|Clontarf]]. The last of these saw Brian's death in 1014. Brian's campaign is glorified in the ''[[Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib]]'' ("The War of the Gaels with the Foreigners").


The Irish Church became closer to Continental models with the [[Synod of Ráth Breasail]] and the arrival of the [[Cistercians]]. There was also more trade and communication with Normanised Britain and France. Between themselves, the [[Ó Briain]] and the [[Ó Conchobhair]] attempted to build a national monarchy.
The Irish Church became closer to Continental models with the [[Synod of Ráth Breasail]] and the arrival of the [[Cistercians]]. There was also more trade and communication with Normanised Britain and France. Between themselves, the [[Ó Briain]] and the [[Ó Conchobhair]] attempted to build a national monarchy.
[[File:Ireland 1450.png|thumb|left|upright|Political boundaries in Ireland in 1450, before the [[plantations of Ireland|plantations]]]]

The remainder of the Middle Ages was marked by conflict between Gaels and [[Anglo-Normans]]. The [[Norman invasion of Ireland]] took place in stages during the late 12th century. Norman mercenaries landed in [[Leinster]] in 1169 at the request of [[Diarmait Mac Murchada]], who sought their help in regaining his throne. By 1171 the Normans had gained control of Leinster, and King [[Henry II of England]], with the backing of the Papacy, established the [[Lordship of Ireland]]. The Norman kings of England claimed sovereignty over this territory, leading to centuries of conflict between the Normans and the native Irish. The origins of a literary anti-Gaelic sentiment was born at this time, and developed by the likes of [[Gerald of Wales]], as part of a propaganda campaign (with a [[Gregorian Reform|Gregorian "reform"]] gloss) to justify taking Gaelic lands. Scotland also came under Anglo-Norman influence in the 12th century. The [[Davidian Revolution]] saw the Normanisation of Scotland's monarchy, government and church; the founding of [[burgh]]s, which became mainly English-speaking; and the royally-sponsored immigration of Norman aristocrats.<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Alice |date=2016 |title=The Shape of the State in Medieval Scotland, 1124-1290 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=17–18}}</ref> This Normanisation was mainly limited to the [[Scottish Lowlands]]. In Ireland, the Normans carved out their own semi-independent lordships, but many Gaelic Irish kingdoms remained outside Norman control and [[gallowglass]] warriors were brought in from the Highlands to fight for various Irish kings.
The remainder of the Middle Ages was marked by conflict between Gaels and [[Anglo-Normans]]. The [[Norman invasion of Ireland]] took place in stages during the late 12th century. Norman mercenaries landed in [[Leinster]] in 1169 at the request of [[Diarmait Mac Murchada]], who sought their help in regaining his throne. By 1171 the Normans had gained control of Leinster, and King [[Henry II of England]], with the backing of the Papacy, established the [[Lordship of Ireland]]. The Norman kings of England claimed sovereignty over this territory, leading to centuries of conflict between the Normans and the native Irish. At this time, a literary anti-Gaelic sentiment was born and developed by the likes of [[Gerald of Wales]] as part of a propaganda campaign (with a [[Gregorian Reform|Gregorian "reform"]] gloss) to justify taking Gaelic lands. Scotland also came under Anglo-Norman influence in the 12th century. The [[Davidian Revolution]] saw the Normanisation of Scotland's monarchy, government and church; the founding of [[burgh]]s, which became mainly English-speaking; and the royally-sponsored immigration of Norman aristocrats.<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Alice |date=2016 |title=The Shape of the State in Medieval Scotland, 1124–1290 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=17–18}}</ref> This Normanisation was mainly limited to the [[Scottish Lowlands]]. In Ireland, the Normans carved out their own semi-independent lordships, but many Gaelic Irish kingdoms remained outside Norman control and [[gallowglass]] warriors were brought in from the Highlands to fight for various Irish kings.


In 1315, a [[Bruce campaign in Ireland|Scottish army landed in Ireland]] as part of Scotland's [[First War of Scottish Independence|war against England]]. It was led by [[Edward Bruce]], brother of Scottish king [[Robert the Bruce]]. Despite his own Norman ancestry, Edward urged the Irish to ally with the Scots by invoking a shared Gaelic ancestry and culture, and most of the northern kings acknowledged him as High King of Ireland.<ref>{{cite book |last=Duffy |first=Seán |date=2002 |title=Robert the Bruce's Irish Wars |publisher=Tempus Publishing |page=129}}</ref> However, the campaign ended three years later with Edward's defeat and death in the [[Battle of Faughart]].
In 1315, a [[Bruce campaign in Ireland|Scottish army landed in Ireland]] as part of Scotland's [[First War of Scottish Independence|war against England]]. It was led by [[Edward Bruce]], brother of Scottish king [[Robert the Bruce]]. Despite his own Norman ancestry, Edward urged the Irish to ally with the Scots by invoking a shared Gaelic ancestry and culture, and most of the northern kings acknowledged him as High King of Ireland.<ref>{{cite book |last=Duffy |first=Seán |date=2002 |title=Robert the Bruce's Irish Wars |publisher=Tempus Publishing |page=129}}</ref> However, the campaign ended three years later with Edward's defeat and death in the [[Battle of Faughart]].
Line 208: Line 220:
A Gaelic Irish resurgence began in the mid-14th century: English royal control shrank to an area known as [[the Pale]] and, outside this, many Norman lords adopted Gaelic culture, becoming culturally Gaelicised. The English government tried to prevent this through the [[Statutes of Kilkenny]] (1366), which forbade English settlers from adopting Gaelic culture, but the results were mixed and particularly in the West, some Normans became Gaelicised.
A Gaelic Irish resurgence began in the mid-14th century: English royal control shrank to an area known as [[the Pale]] and, outside this, many Norman lords adopted Gaelic culture, becoming culturally Gaelicised. The English government tried to prevent this through the [[Statutes of Kilkenny]] (1366), which forbade English settlers from adopting Gaelic culture, but the results were mixed and particularly in the West, some Normans became Gaelicised.


[[File:Gaelic clothing Ireland.jpg|thumb|220px|Gaelic Irish men and noblewomen, c.1575]]
[[File:Gaelic clothing Ireland.jpg|thumb|Gaelic Irish men and noblewomen, c.1575]]
[[File:Geschichte_des_Kost%C3%BCms_(1905)_(14597696020).jpg|thumb|300px|Scottish Highlanders depicted in [[R. R. McIan]]'s ''Clans of The Scottish Highlands'' (1845)]]
[[File:Geschichte_des_Kost%C3%BCms_(1905)_(14597696020).jpg|thumb|300px|Scottish Highlanders depicted in [[R. R. McIan]]'s ''Clans of The Scottish Highlands'' (1845)]]

===Imperial===
===Imperial===
{{see also|History of Ireland (1536–1691)|Scotland in the early modern period}}
{{see also|History of Ireland (1536–1691)|Scotland in the early modern period}}
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Gaels were affected by the policies of the [[Tudors]] and the [[House of Stuart|Stewarts]] who sought to anglicise the population and bring both Ireland and the Highlands under stronger centralised control,<ref name="wedg">{{cite news|url=http://www.historyireland.com/early-modern-history-1500-1700/driving-a-wedge-within-gaeldom/|publisher=History Ireland|title=Driving a Wedge within Gaeldom|date=24 February 2015}}</ref> as part of what would become the [[British Empire]]. In 1542, [[Henry VIII of England]] declared the Lordship of Ireland [[Kingdom of Ireland|a Kingdom]] and himself King of Ireland. The new English, whose power lay in the Pale of Dublin, then began to [[Tudor conquest of Ireland|conquer the island]]. Gaelic kings were encouraged to apply for a [[surrender and regrant]]: to surrender their lands to the king, and then have them regranted as [[freehold (English law)|freeholds]]. Those who surrendered were also expected to follow English law and customs, speak English, and convert to the Protestant [[Church of Ireland|Anglican Church]]. Decades of conflict followed in the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]], culminating in the [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War]] (1594–1603). The war ended in defeat for the Irish Gaelic alliance, and brought an end to the independence of the last Irish Gaelic kingdoms.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Gaels were affected by the policies of the [[Tudors]] and the [[House of Stuart|Stewarts]] who sought to anglicise the population and bring both Ireland and the Highlands under stronger centralised control,<ref name="wedg">{{cite news|url=http://www.historyireland.com/early-modern-history-1500-1700/driving-a-wedge-within-gaeldom/|publisher=History Ireland|title=Driving a Wedge within Gaeldom|date=24 February 2015}}</ref> as part of what would become the [[British Empire]]. In 1542, [[Henry VIII of England]] declared the Lordship of Ireland [[Kingdom of Ireland|a Kingdom]] and himself King of Ireland. The new English, whose power lay in the Pale of Dublin, then began to [[Tudor conquest of Ireland|conquer the island]]. Gaelic kings were encouraged to apply for a [[surrender and regrant]]: to surrender their lands to the king, and then have them regranted as [[freehold (English law)|freeholds]]. Those who surrendered were also expected to follow English law and customs, speak English, and convert to the Protestant [[Church of Ireland|Anglican Church]]. Decades of conflict followed in the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]], culminating in the [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War]] (1594–1603). The war ended in defeat for the Irish Gaelic alliance and brought an end to the independence of the last Irish Gaelic kingdoms.


In 1603, with the [[Union of the Crowns]], King [[James VI and I|James of Scotland]] also became king of England and Ireland. James saw the Gaels as a barbarous and rebellious people in need of civilising,<ref name="ellis296">{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Steven |date=2014 |title=The Making of the British Isles: The State of Britain and Ireland, 1450-1660 |publisher=Routledge |page=296}}</ref> and believed that Gaelic culture should be wiped out.<ref>{{cite book |last=Szasz |first=Margaret |date=2007 |title=Scottish Highlanders and Native Americans |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |page=48}}</ref> Also, while most of Britain had converted to Protestantism, most Gaels had held on to Catholicism. When the leaders of the Irish Gaelic alliance [[Flight of the Earls|fled Ireland]] in 1607, their lands were confiscated. James set about colonising this land with English-speaking Protestant settlers from Britain, in what became known as the [[Plantation of Ulster]]. It was meant to establish a loyal British Protestant colony in Ireland's most rebellious region and to sever Gaelic Ulster's links with Gaelic Scotland.<ref name="ellis296"/> In Scotland, James attempted to subdue the Gaelic clans and suppress their culture through laws such as the [[Statutes of Iona]].<ref name="wedg"/> He also attempted to colonise the [[Isle of Lewis]] with [[Gentleman Adventurers of Fife|settlers from the Lowlands]].
In 1603, with the [[Union of the Crowns]], King [[James VI and I|James of Scotland]] also became king of England and Ireland. James saw the Gaels as a barbarous and rebellious people in need of civilising,<ref name="ellis296">{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Steven |date=2014 |title=The Making of the British Isles: The State of Britain and Ireland, 1450–1660 |publisher=Routledge |page=296}}</ref> and believed that Gaelic culture should be wiped out.<ref>{{cite book |last=Szasz |first=Margaret |date=2007 |title=Scottish Highlanders and Native Americans |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |page=48}}</ref> Also, while most of Britain had converted to Protestantism, most Gaels had held on to Catholicism. When the leaders of the Irish Gaelic alliance [[Flight of the Earls|fled Ireland]] in 1607, their lands were confiscated. James set about colonising this land with English-speaking Protestant settlers from Britain, in what became known as the [[Plantation of Ulster]]. It was meant to establish a loyal British Protestant colony in Ireland's most rebellious region and to sever Gaelic Ulster's links with Gaelic Scotland.<ref name="ellis296"/> In Scotland, James attempted to subdue the Gaelic clans and suppress their culture through laws such as the [[Statutes of Iona]].<ref name="wedg"/> He also attempted to colonise the [[Isle of Lewis]] with [[Gentleman Adventurers of Fife|settlers from the Lowlands]].


Since then, the Gaelic language has gradually diminished in most of Ireland and Scotland. The 19th century was the turning point as [[The Great Hunger]] in Ireland, and across the [[Irish Sea]] the [[Highland Clearances]], caused mass emigration (leading to Anglicisation, but also a large [[Irish diaspora|diaspora]]). The language was rolled back to the Gaelic strongholds of the [[Highlands of Scotland|north west]] of Scotland, the west of Ireland and [[Cape Breton Island]] in Nova Scotia.
Since then, the Gaelic language has gradually diminished in most of Ireland and Scotland. The 19th century was the turning point as [[The Great Hunger]] in Ireland, and across the [[Irish Sea]] the [[Highland Clearances]], caused mass emigration (leading to Anglicisation, but also a large [[Irish diaspora|diaspora]]). The language was rolled back to the Gaelic strongholds of the [[Highlands of Scotland|north west]] of Scotland, the west of Ireland and [[Cape Breton Island]] in Nova Scotia.
Line 225: Line 238:
==Culture==
==Culture==
{{Main|Gaelic Ireland|Culture of Scotland in the High Middle Ages}}
{{Main|Gaelic Ireland|Culture of Scotland in the High Middle Ages}}
Gaelic society was traditionally made up of kin groups known as clans, each with its own territory and headed by a male chieftain. [[Order of succession|Succession]] to the chieftainship or kingship was through [[tanistry]]. When a man became chieftain or king, a relative was elected to be his deputy or 'tanist' (''tánaiste''). When the chieftain or king died, his tanist would automatically succeed him. The tanist had to share the same great-grandfather as his predecessor (i.e. was of the same ''[[derbfhine]]'') and he was elected by freemen who also shared the same great-grandfather.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nicholls |first=Kenneth W. |chapter=Chapter XIV: Gaelic society and economy |editor-last=Cosgrove |editor-first=Art |title=A New History of Ireland, Volume II: Medieval Ireland 1169-1534 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8vSht2aNHR4C&pg=PA397 |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-953970-3 |pages=397–438|orig-year=1987 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199539703.003.0015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Newton |first=Michael |date=2000 |title=A handbook of the Scottish Gaelic world |publisher=Four Courts Press |page=114}}</ref> Gaelic law is known as the ''Fénechas'' or [[Brehon law]]. The Gaels have always had a strong [[oral tradition]], maintained by [[shanachie]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Glaser |first=Konstanze |date=2007 |title=Minority Languages and Cultural Diversity in Europe |publisher=Multilingual Matters |pages=265–266}}</ref> In the ancient and medieval era, most Gaels lived in [[Roundhouse (dwelling)|roundhouses]] and [[ringforts]]. The Gaels had their own style of dress, which became the modern [[belted plaid]] and [[kilt]] in Scotland. They also have their own style of [[Traditional Gaelic music|music]] and dance, and their own sports (see [[Gaelic games]] and [[Highland games]]).
Gaelic society was traditionally made up of kin groups known as clans, each with its own territory and headed by a male chieftain. [[Order of succession|Succession]] to the chieftainship or kingship was through [[tanistry]]. When a man became [[Scottish clan chief|chieftain]] or [[Lists of Irish kings|king]], a relative was elected to be his deputy or 'tanist' (''tánaiste''). When the chieftain or king died, his tanist would automatically succeed him. The tanist had to share the same great-grandfather as his predecessor (i.e. was of the same ''[[derbfhine]]'') and he was elected by freemen who also shared the same great-grandfather.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nicholls |first=Kenneth W. |chapter=Chapter XIV: Gaelic society and economy |editor-last=Cosgrove |editor-first=Art |title=A New History of Ireland, Volume II: Medieval Ireland 1169–1534 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8vSht2aNHR4C&pg=PA397 |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-953970-3 |pages=397–438|orig-year=1987 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199539703.003.0015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Newton |first=Michael |date=2000 |title=A handbook of the Scottish Gaelic world |publisher=Four Courts Press |page=114}}</ref> Gaelic law is known as the ''Fénechas'' or [[Brehon law]]. The Gaels have always had a strong [[oral tradition]], maintained by [[shanachie]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Glaser |first=Konstanze |date=2007 |title=Minority Languages and Cultural Diversity in Europe |publisher=Multilingual Matters |pages=265–266}}</ref> In the ancient and medieval era, most Gaels lived in [[Roundhouse (dwelling)|roundhouses]] and [[ringforts]]. The Gaels had their own style of dress, which became the modern [[belted plaid]] and [[kilt]] in Scotland. They also have their own extensive [[Gaelic literature]], style of [[Traditional Gaelic music|music]] and dances ([[Irish dancing]] and [[Highland dancing]]), social gatherings ([[Feis]] and [[Ceilidh]]), and their own sports ([[Gaelic games]] and [[Highland games]]).


===Language===
===Language===


{{Main|History of the Irish language}}
{{main|History of the Irish language|History of the Manx language|History of Scottish Gaelic}}
{{See also|Gaelic languages|Scots language|Scottish English|Hiberno-English|Highland English|Manx English}}


====Emergence====
====Emergence====
[[File:Book of Ballymote 170r.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Auraicept na n-Éces]]'', 7th century, explaining [[ogham]].]]
[[File:Book of Ballymote 170r.jpg|thumb|right|upright|''[[Auraicept na n-Éces]]'', 7th century, explaining [[ogham]].]]
The [[Gaelic languages]] are part of the [[Celtic languages]] and fall under the wider [[Indo-European language]] family. There are two main historical theories concerning the origin and development of the Gaelic languages from a [[Proto-Celtic]] root: the North Atlantic-based [[Insular Celtic languages|Insular Celtic hypothesis]] posits that Goidelic and [[Brythonic languages]] have a more recent common ancestor than [[Continental Celtic languages]], while the Q-Celtic and [[Gallo-Brittonic languages|P-Celtic hypothesis]] posits that Goidelic is more closely related to the [[Celtiberian language]], while Brythonic is closer to the [[Gaulish language]].
The [[Gaelic languages]] are part of the [[Celtic languages]] and fall under the wider [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]] family. There are two main historical theories concerning the origin and development of the Gaelic languages from a [[Proto-Celtic]] root: the North Atlantic-based [[Insular Celtic languages|Insular Celtic hypothesis]] posits that Goidelic and [[Brythonic languages]] have a more recent common ancestor than [[Continental Celtic languages]], while the Q-Celtic and [[Gallo-Brittonic languages|P-Celtic hypothesis]] posits that Goidelic is more closely related to the [[Celtiberian language]], while Brythonic is closer to the [[Gaulish language]].


Estimates of the emergence of proto-Gaelic in Ireland vary widely from the introduction of agriculture {{circa}} 7000–6000 BC to around the first{{clarify|date=April 2017}} few centuries BC. Little can be said with certainty, as the language now known as [[Old Irish]]—ancestral to modern [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Scots Gaelic]] and [[Manx language|Manx]]—only began to be properly recorded with the [[Christianisation of Ireland]] in the 4th century, after the introduction of the [[Roman script]]. Primitive Irish does appear in a specialised written form, using a unique script known as [[Ogham]]. The oldest examples of Ogham have survived in the form of memorial inscriptions or short [[epitaphs]] on pillar-like stone monuments (see [[Mac Cairthinn mac Coelboth]]). Ogham stones are found throughout Ireland and neighbouring parts of Britain. This form of written Primitive Irish is thought to have been in use as early as 1000 BC. The script frequently encodes a name or description of the owner and surrounding region, and it is possible that the inscribed stones may have represented territorial claims.
Estimates of the emergence of proto-Gaelic in Ireland vary widely from the introduction of agriculture {{circa}} 7,000–6,000 BC to around the first{{clarify|date=April 2017}} few centuries BC. Little can be said with certainty, as the language now known as [[Old Irish]]—ancestral to modern [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Scottish Gaelic]] and [[Manx language|Manx]]—only began to be properly recorded with the [[Christianisation of Ireland]] in the 4th century, after the introduction of the [[Roman script]]. Primitive Irish does appear in a specialised written form, using a unique script known as [[Ogham]]. The oldest examples of Ogham have survived in the form of memorial inscriptions or short [[epitaphs]] on pillar-like stone monuments (see [[Mac Cairthinn mac Coelboth]]). Ogham stones are found throughout Ireland and neighbouring parts of Britain. This form of written Primitive Irish is thought to have been in use as early as 1000 BC. The script frequently encodes a name or description of the owner and surrounding region, and it is possible that the inscribed stones may have represented territorial claims.


====Contemporary====
====Contemporary====
{{multiple image|align=right|image1=Irish speakers in 2011.png|width1={{#expr: (225 * 388 / 579) round 0}}|image2=Scots Gaelic speakers in the 2011 census.png|width2={{#expr: (225 * 336 / 589) round 0}}|footer=Respondents who stated they could speak Irish and Gaelic in the 2011 censuses.}}
{{multiple image|align=right|total_width=330|image1=Irish speakers in 2011.png|image2=Scots Gaelic speakers in the 2011 census.png|footer=Respondents who stated they could speak Irish and Scottish Gaelic in the 2011 censuses.}}
The Gaelic languages have been in steep decline since the beginning of the 19th century, when they were majority languages of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands; today they are [[endangered language]]s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blog.marylhurst.edu/blog/2013/04/23/irish-as-an-endangered-language/ |publisher=Marlyhurst University |title=Irish as an endangered language |date=21 July 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906202149/http://blog.marylhurst.edu/blog/2013/04/23/irish-as-an-endangered-language/ |archivedate=6 September 2015 |df=dmy }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/endangered-gaelic-on-map-of-world-s-dead-languages-1-830316|publisher=The Scotsman|title='Endangered' Gaelic on map of world's dead languages|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> The spread of the [[English language]] has resulted in a vast majority of people of Gaelic ancestry being unable to speak a Goidelic language. As far back as the [[Statutes of Kilkenny]] in 1366, the British government had dissuaded use of Gaelic for political reasons.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq/vol28/iss3/7/|publisher=Collin Meissner|title=Words Between Worlds: The Irish Language, the English Army, and the Violence of Translation in Brian Friel's Translations|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> The [[Statutes of Iona]] in 1609 and the [[Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge#SSPCK in Scotland|SSPCK]] in the Highlands (for most of its history) are also notable examples. As the old Gaelic aristocracy were displaced or assimilated, the language lost its prestige and became primarily a peasant language, rather than one of education and government.
The Gaelic languages have been in steep decline since the beginning of the 19th century, when they were majority languages of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands; today they are [[endangered language]]s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blog.marylhurst.edu/blog/2013/04/23/irish-as-an-endangered-language/ |publisher=Marlyhurst University |title=Irish as an endangered language |date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906202149/http://blog.marylhurst.edu/blog/2013/04/23/irish-as-an-endangered-language/ |archive-date=6 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/endangered-gaelic-on-map-of-world-s-dead-languages-1-830316|newspaper=The Scotsman|title='Endangered' Gaelic on map of world's dead languages|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> As far back as the [[Statutes of Kilkenny]] in 1366, the English government had dissuaded use of Gaelic for political reasons.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq/vol28/iss3/7/|publisher=Collin Meissner|title=Words Between Worlds: The Irish Language, the English Army, and the Violence of Translation in Brian Friel's Translations|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> The [[Statutes of Iona]] in 1609 and the [[Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge]] in the Highlands (for most of its history) are also notable examples. As the old Gaelic aristocracy was displaced or assimilated, the language lost its prestige and became primarily a peasant language, rather than one of education and government. The spread of the [[English language]] has resulted in a vast majority of people of Gaelic ancestry being unable to speak a Goidelic language.


During the 19th century, a number of ''Gaeilgeoir'' organisations were founded to promote a broad cultural and linguistic revival. ''[[Conradh na Gaeilge]]'' ({{lang-en|the Gaelic League}}) was set up in 1893 and had its origins in [[Charles Owen O'Conor]]'s Gaelic Union, itself a derivative of the [[Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language]]. Similar Highland Gaelic groups existed, such as ''[[An Comunn Gàidhealach]]''. At this time, Irish Gaelic was widely spoken along the Western seaboard (and a few other enclaves) and the Gaelic League began defining it as the "''[[Gaeltacht]]''", idealised as the core of true Irish-Ireland, rather than the Anglo-dominated Dublin.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/columnists/victoria-white/lets-speak-gaeilge-however-we-can-and-wherever-we-want-346511.html|publisher=Irish Examiner|title=Let's speak Gaeilge however we can and wherever we want|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> Although the Gaelic League itself aimed to be apolitical, this ideal was attractive to militant republicans such as the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]], who formulated and led the Irish Revolution at the turn of the 20th century; a key leader, [[Pádraig Pearse]], imagined an Ireland "Not merely Free but Gaelic as well – Not merely Gaelic but Free as well." Scottish Gaelic did not undergo as extensive of a politicalisation at this juncture, as nationalists there tended to focus on the Lowland mythos of [[William Wallace]] rather than the ''[[Gàidhealtachd]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Tanner|2006|p=65}}.</ref>
During the 19th century, a number of ''Gaeilgeoir'' organisations were founded to promote a broad cultural and linguistic revival. ''[[Conradh na Gaeilge]]'' ({{langx|en|the Gaelic League}}) was set up in 1893 and had its origins in [[Charles Owen O'Conor]]'s Gaelic Union, itself a derivative of the [[Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language]]. Similar Highland Gaelic groups existed, such as ''[[An Comunn Gàidhealach]]''. At this time, Irish Gaelic was widely spoken along the Western seaboard (and a few other enclaves) and the Gaelic League began defining it as the "''[[Gaeltacht]]''", idealised as the core of true Irish-Ireland, rather than the Anglo-dominated Dublin.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/columnists/victoria-white/lets-speak-gaeilge-however-we-can-and-wherever-we-want-346511.html|newspaper=Irish Examiner|title=Let's speak Gaeilge however we can and wherever we want|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> Although the Gaelic League itself aimed to be apolitical, this ideal was attractive to militant republicans such as the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]], who formulated and led the Irish Revolution at the turn of the 20th century; a key leader, [[Pádraig Pearse]], imagined an Ireland "Not merely Free but Gaelic as well – Not merely Gaelic but Free as well." Scottish Gaelic did not undergo as extensive of a politicisation at this juncture, as nationalists there tended to focus on the Lowland mythos of [[William Wallace]] rather than the ''[[Gàidhealtachd]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Tanner|2006|p=65}}.</ref>


During the 1950s, the independent Irish state developed ''[[An Caighdeán Oifigiúil]]'' as a national standard for the Irish language (using elements from local dialects but leaning towards [[Connacht Irish]]), with a simplified spelling. Until 1973, school children had to pass Modern Irish to achieve a [[Leaving Certificate (Ireland)|Leaving Cert]] and studying the subject remains obligatory. There are also ''[[Gaelscoileanna]]'' where children are taught exclusively through the medium of Irish. In the ''Gaeltacht'' itself, the language has continued to be in crisis under the pressure of globalism, but there are institutions such as ''[[Údarás na Gaeltachta]]'' and a [[Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs|Minister for the Gaeltacht]], as well as media outlets such as ''[[TG4]]'' and ''[[RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta]]'' to support it. The last native Manx Gaelic speaker died in 1974, although there are ongoing attempts at revival.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21242667|publisher=BBC|title=Manx: Bringing a language back from the dead|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> While the ''Gàidhealtachd'' has retracted in the Highlands, Scottish Gaelic has enjoyed renewed support<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/2014/02/springtime-gaelic|publisher=New Statesman|title=Language as activism: the big Gaelic comeback|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> with the [[Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005]], establishing the ''[[Bòrd na Gàidhlig]]'' under the devolved [[Scottish Government]]. This has seen the growth of [[Gaelic medium education in Scotland|Gaelic medium education]]. There are also media outlets such as ''[[BBC Alba]]'' and ''[[BBC Radio nan Gàidheal]]'', although these have been criticized for excessive use of English and pandering to an English-speaking audience.<ref>{{cite news |title= BBC Alba is not a Gaelic channel|author= |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/naidheachdan/29125194|newspaper= |date= 9 September 2014|accessdate=12 September 2014 |work=BBCAlbaNews}}</ref>
During the 1950s, the independent Irish state developed ''[[An Caighdeán Oifigiúil]]'' as a national standard for the Irish language (using elements from local dialects but leaning towards [[Connacht Irish]]), with a simplified spelling. Until 1973, school children had to pass Modern Irish to achieve a [[Leaving Certificate (Ireland)|Leaving Cert]] and studying the subject remains obligatory. There are also {{lang|ga|[[Gaelscoileanna]]}} where children are taught exclusively through the medium of Irish. In the ''Gaeltacht'' itself, the language has continued to be in crisis under the pressure of globalism, but there are institutions such as ''[[Údarás na Gaeltachta]]'' and a [[Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht]], as well as media outlets such as ''[[TG4]]'' and ''[[RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta]]'' to support it. The last native Manx Gaelic speaker died in 1974, although there are ongoing attempts at revival.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21242667|publisher=BBC|title=Manx: Bringing a language back from the dead|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> While the ''Gàidhealtachd'' has retracted in the Highlands, Scottish Gaelic has enjoyed renewed support<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/2014/02/springtime-gaelic|magazine=New Statesman|title=Language as activism: the big Gaelic comeback|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> with the [[Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005]], establishing the ''[[Bòrd na Gàidhlig]]'' under the devolved [[Scottish Government]]. This has seen the growth of [[Gaelic medium education in Scotland|Gaelic medium education]]. There are also media outlets such as ''[[BBC Alba]]'' and ''[[BBC Radio nan Gàidheal]]'', although these have been criticised for excessive use of English and pandering to an English-speaking audience.<ref>{{cite news |title= BBC Alba is not a Gaelic channel|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/naidheachdan/29125194|date= 9 September 2014|access-date=12 September 2014 |work=BBCAlbaNews}}</ref>


===Religion===
===Religion===
====Pre-Christian====
====Pre-Christian====

[[File:Heroes of the dawn (1914) (14750481494).jpg|thumb|right|200px|An artistic rendering of the hero [[Fionn mac Cumhaill]]]]
{{main|Ancient Celtic religion}}
[[File:Heroes of the dawn (1914) (14750481494).jpg|thumb|right|upright|An artistic rendering of the hero [[Fionn mac Cumhaill]]]]

The traditional, or "[[pagan]]", worldview of the pre-Christian Gaels of Ireland is typically described as [[Celtic animism|animistic]],<ref>{{harvnb|Welch|1992|p=4}}.</ref> [[Celtic polytheism|polytheistic]], [[Veneration of the dead|ancestor venerating]] and focused on the [[hero]] cult of archetypal Gaelic warriors such as [[Cú Chulainn]] and [[Fionn mac Cumhaill]]. The four seasonal festivals celebrated in the [[Gaelic calendar]], still observed to this day, are [[Imbolc]], [[Beltane]], [[Lughnasadh]] and [[Samhain]].<ref>{{harvnb|Welch|1992|p=12}}.</ref> While the general worldview of the Gaelic tradition has been recovered, a major issue for academic scholars is that Gaelic [[Oral literature|culture was oral]] prior to the coming of Christianity and monks were the first to record the beliefs of this rival worldview as a [[Irish mythology|"mythology"]]. Unlike other religions, there is no overall "[[holy book]]" systematically setting out exact rules to follow, but various works, such as the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'', ''[[Dindsenchas]]'', ''[[Táin Bó Cúailnge]]'' and ''[[Acallam na Senórach]]'', represent the metaphysical orientation of ''Gaelachas''.
The traditional, or "[[pagan]]", worldview of the pre-Christian Gaels of Ireland is typically described as [[Celtic animism|animistic]],<ref>{{harvnb|Welch|1992|p=4}}.</ref> [[Celtic polytheism|polytheistic]], [[Veneration of the dead|ancestor venerating]] and focused on the [[hero]] cult of archetypal Gaelic warriors such as [[Cú Chulainn]] and [[Fionn mac Cumhaill]]. The four seasonal festivals celebrated in the [[Gaelic calendar]], still observed to this day, are [[Imbolc]], [[Beltane]], [[Lughnasadh]] and [[Samhain]].<ref>{{harvnb|Welch|1992|p=12}}.</ref> While the general worldview of the Gaelic tradition has been recovered, a major issue for academic scholars is that Gaelic [[Oral literature|culture was oral]] prior to the coming of Christianity and monks were the first to record the beliefs of this rival worldview as a [[Irish mythology|"mythology"]]. Unlike other religions, there is no overall "[[holy book]]" systematically setting out exact rules to follow, but various works, such as the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'', ''[[Dindsenchas]]'', ''[[Táin Bó Cúailnge]]'' and ''[[Acallam na Senórach]]'', represent the metaphysical orientation of ''Gaelachas''.


The main gods held in high regard were the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], the superhuman beings said to have ruled Ireland before the coming of the Milesians, known in later times as the ''[[aes sídhe]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Welch|1992|p=2}}.</ref> Among the gods were male and female deities such as [[The Dagda]], [[Lugh]], [[Nuada]], [[The Morrígan]], [[Aengus]], [[Brigid]] and [[Áine]], as well as many others. Some of them were associated with specific social functions, seasonal events and personal archetypal qualities. Some physical locations of importance in Ireland related to these stories include the [[Brú na Bóinne]], [[Hill of Tara]] and [[Hill of Uisneach]]. Although the ''sídhe'' were held to intervene in worldly affairs sometimes, particularly battles and issues of sovereignty, the gods were held to reside in [[Celtic Otherworld|the Otherworld]], also known as ''[[Mag Mell]]'' (Plain of Joy) or ''[[Tír na nÓg]]'' (Land of the Young). This realm was variously held to be located on a set of islands or underground. The Gaels believed that certain heroic persons could gain access to this spiritual realm, as recounted in the various ''[[echtra]]'' (adventure) and ''[[immram]]'' (voyage) tales.
The main gods held in high regard were the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], the superhuman beings said to have ruled Ireland before the coming of the Milesians, known in later times as the ''[[aes sídhe]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Welch|1992|p=2}}.</ref> Among the gods were male and female deities such as [[The Dagda]], [[Lugh]], [[Nuada]], [[The Morrígan]], [[Aengus]], [[Brigid]] and [[Áine]], as well as many others. Some of them were associated with specific social functions, seasonal events and personal archetypal qualities. Some physical locations of importance in Ireland related to these stories include the [[Brú na Bóinne]], [[Hill of Tara]] and [[Hill of Uisneach]]. Although the ''sídhe'' were held to intervene in worldly affairs sometimes, particularly battles and issues of sovereignty, the gods were held to reside in [[Celtic Otherworld|the Otherworld]], also known as ''[[Mag Mell]]'' (Plain of Joy) or ''[[Tír na nÓg]]'' (Land of the Young). This realm was variously held to be located on a set of islands or underground. The Gaels believed that certain heroic persons could gain access to this spiritual realm, as recounted in the various ''[[echtra]]'' (adventure) and ''[[immram]]'' (voyage) tales.


====Christianity====
====Christianity====
{{main article|Gaelic Christianity}}
{{main|Gaelic Christianity}}
[[File:Monasterboice West Cross West Face 2013 09 27.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Medieval [[high cross]] at [[Monasterboice]]]]
[[File:Monasterboice West Cross West Face 2013 09 27.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Medieval [[high cross]] at [[Monasterboice]]]]
The Gaels underwent [[Christianisation]] during the 5th century and that religion, ''de facto'', remains the predominant one to this day, although [[irreligion]] is fast rising.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/religiosity-plummets-ireland-declines-worldwide-atheism_n_1757453.html|publisher=Huffington Post|title=Religiosity Plummets in Ireland and Declines Worldwide; Atheism On the Rise|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> At first the [[Christian Church]] had difficulty infiltrating Gaelic life: Ireland had never been part of the [[Roman Empire]] and was a decentralised tribal society, making patron-based mass conversion problematic.<ref name="martz">{{cite news|url=http://publish.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=caaurj|publisher=Thomas Martz|title=The Adoption of Christianity by the Irish and Anglo-Saxons: The Creation of Two Different Christian Societies|date=8 February 2015}}</ref> It gradually penetrated through the remnants of [[Roman Britain]] and is especially associated with the activities of [[Saint Patrick|Patrick]], a [[Britons (Celtic people)|Briton]] who had been a slave in Ireland.<ref name="martz"/> He tried to explain its doctrines by using elements of native folk tradition, so Gaelic culture itself was not completely cast aside and to some extent local Christianity was Gaelicised.<ref name="martz"/> The last High King inaugurated in the pagan style was [[Diarmait mac Cerbaill]]. The 6th-9th centuries are generally held to be the height of [[Celtic Christianity|Gaelic Christianity]], with numerous saints, scholars and works of devotional art.
The Gaels underwent [[Christianisation]] during the 5th century and that religion, ''de facto'', remains the predominant one to this day, although [[irreligion]] is fast rising.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/religiosity-plummets-ireland-declines-worldwide-atheism_n_1757453.html|work=Huffington Post|title=Religiosity Plummets in Ireland and Declines Worldwide; Atheism on the Rise|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> At first the [[Christian Church]] had difficulty infiltrating Gaelic life: Ireland had never been part of the [[Roman Empire]] and was a decentralised tribal society, making patron-based mass conversion problematic.<ref name="martz">{{cite news|url=http://publish.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=caaurj|publisher=Thomas Martz|title=The Adoption of Christianity by the Irish and Anglo-Saxons: The Creation of Two Different Christian Societies|date=8 February 2015}}</ref> It gradually penetrated through the remnants of [[Roman Britain]] and is especially associated with the activities of [[Saint Patrick|Patrick]], a [[Britons (Celtic people)|Briton]] who had been a slave in Ireland.<ref name="martz"/> He tried to explain its doctrines by using elements of native folk tradition, so Gaelic culture itself was not completely cast aside and to some extent local Christianity was Gaelicised.<ref name="martz"/> The last High King inaugurated in the pagan style was [[Diarmait mac Cerbaill]]. The 6th–9th centuries are generally held to be the height of [[Celtic Christianity|Gaelic Christianity]], with numerous saints, scholars and works of devotional art.


This balance began to unravel during the 12th century with the polemics of [[Bernard of Clairvaux]], who attacked various Gaelic customs (including [[polygamy]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.historyireland.com/medieval-history-pre-1500/marriage-in-medieval-ireland-by-art-cosgrove/|publisher=History Ireland|title=Marriage in Medieval Ireland by Art Cosgrove|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> and hereditary clergy) as "pagan".<ref>{{harvnb|Bradshaw|1993|p=26}}.</ref> The [[Catholic Church]] of the time, fresh from its split with the [[Orthodox Church]], was becoming more centralised and uniform throughout Europe with the [[Gregorian Reform]] and military reliance on Germanic peoples at the fringes of [[Latin Christendom]], particularly the warlike Normans. As part of this, the Catholic Church actively participated in the Norman conquest of Gaelic Ireland, with the issuing of ''[[Laudabiliter]]'' (claiming to gift the [[King of England]] the title "[[Lord of Ireland]]") and in Scotland [[David I and the Scottish Church|strongly encouraged]] king David who [[Davidian Revolution|Normanised that country]]. Even within orders such as the [[Franciscans]], ethnic tensions between Norman and Gael continued throughout the later Middle Ages,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.historyireland.com/medieval-history-pre-1500/two-nations-one-order-the-franciscans-in-medieval-ireland/|publisher=History Ireland|title=Two nations, one order: the Franciscans in medieval Ireland|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> as well as competition for ecclesiastic posts.
This balance began to unravel during the 12th century with the polemics of [[Bernard of Clairvaux]], who attacked various Gaelic customs (including [[polygamy]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.historyireland.com/medieval-history-pre-1500/marriage-in-medieval-ireland-by-art-cosgrove/|publisher=History Ireland|title=Marriage in Medieval Ireland by Art Cosgrove|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> and hereditary clergy) as "pagan".<ref>{{harvnb|Bradshaw|1993|p=26}}.</ref> The [[Catholic Church]] of the time, fresh from its split with the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], was becoming more centralised and uniform throughout Europe with the [[Gregorian Reform]] and military reliance on Germanic peoples at the fringes of [[Latin Christendom]], particularly the warlike Normans. As part of this, the Catholic Church actively participated in the Norman conquest of Gaelic Ireland, with the issuing of ''[[Laudabiliter]]'' (claiming to gift the [[King of England]] the title "[[Lord of Ireland]]") and in Scotland [[David I and the Scottish Church|strongly encouraged]] king David who [[Davidian Revolution|Normanised that country]]. Even within orders such as the [[Franciscans]], ethnic tensions between Norman and Gael continued throughout the later Middle Ages,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.historyireland.com/medieval-history-pre-1500/two-nations-one-order-the-franciscans-in-medieval-ireland/|publisher=History Ireland|title=Two nations, one order: the Franciscans in medieval Ireland|date=21 July 2015}}</ref> as well as competition for ecclesiastic posts.


During the 16th century, with the emergence of [[Protestantism in Ireland|Protestantism]] and [[Council of Trent|Tridentine]] Catholicism, a distinct Christian [[sectarianism]] made its way into Gaelic life, with societal effects carrying on down to this day. The Tudor state used the [[Church of Ireland|Anglican Church]] to bolster their power and enticed native elites into the project, without making much initial effort to convert the Irish Gaelic masses; meanwhile, the mass of Gaeldom (as well as the "[[Old English (Ireland)|Old English]]") became [[Irish Catholic|staunchly Catholic]]. Due to the geopolitical rivalry between Protestant Britain and Catholic France and Spain, the Catholic religion and its mostly Gaelic followers in Ireland were persecuted for a long time. In the Scottish Highlands too, the Gaels were generally slow to accept the Scottish Reformation. Efforts at persuading Highlanders in general of the value of this primarily Lowland movement were hampered by the complicated politics of the Highlands, with religious rivalries and clan antagonism becoming entwined (a prominent example was the intense rivalry, even hatred, between the generally [[Clan Campbell|Presbyterian Campbells]] and the generally [[Clan Donald|Catholic MacDonalds]]), but most Highlanders later converted to [[Presbyterianism]] in the 19th century during the breakdown of the clan system. In a few remote areas, however, Catholicism was kept alive and even rejuvenated to some extent by Irish Franciscan missionaries,{{cn|reason=retained in S. Hebrides and Moidart/Ardnamurchan but by native Scottish Gaels afaik|date=July 2017}} but in most of the Highlands it was replaced by Presbyterianism.
During the 16th century, with the emergence of [[Protestantism in Ireland|Protestantism]] and [[Council of Trent|Tridentine]] Catholicism, a distinct Christian [[sectarianism]] made its way into Gaelic life, with societal effects carrying on down to this day. The Tudor state used the [[Church of Ireland|Anglican Church]] to bolster their power and enticed native elites into the project, without making much initial effort to convert the Irish Gaelic masses; meanwhile, the mass of Gaeldom (as well as the "[[Old English (Ireland)|Old English]]") became [[Irish Catholic|staunchly Catholic]]. Due to the geopolitical rivalry between Protestant Britain and Catholic France and Spain, the Catholic religion and its mostly Gaelic followers in Ireland were persecuted for a long time. In the Scottish Highlands too, the Gaels were generally slow to accept the Scottish Reformation. Efforts at persuading Highlanders in general of the value of this primarily Lowland movement were hampered by the complicated politics of the Highlands, with religious rivalries and clan antagonism becoming entwined (a prominent example was the intense rivalry, even hatred, between the generally [[Clan Campbell|Presbyterian Campbells]] and the generally [[Clan Donald|Catholic MacDonalds]]), but most Highlanders later converted to [[Presbyterianism]] in the 19th century during the breakdown of the clan system. In a few remote areas, however, Catholicism was kept alive and even rejuvenated to some extent by Irish Franciscan missionaries,{{citation needed|reason=retained in S. Hebrides and Moidart/Ardnamurchan but by native Scottish Gaels afaik|date=July 2017}} but in most of the Highlands it was replaced by Presbyterianism.


The adoption of the [[Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900)]] in the Highlands following the [[Disruption of 1843]] was a reassertion of Gaelic identity in opposition to forces of improvement and clearance.<ref>{{cite book|page=85|last1=Lynch|first1=Michael|title=The Oxford Companion to Scottish History|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0199234825|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=65A-KFw1GU8C&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=free+church+patronage+highlands&source=bl&ots=YX_OTky1vr&sig=RQ8GAQWDyvOWMJvTjsQ0jAOenaY&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwitmqb6zurUAhUCPj4KHSiuCacQ6AEIVTAI#v=onepage&q=free%20church%20patronage%20highlands&f=false|accessdate=2 July 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Withers|first1=Charles W. J.|title=Gaelic Scotland: The Transformation of a Culture Region|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317332817|page=342|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=faA0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA342&dq=%22free+church%22+gaelic&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG6ujSzerUAhWKbD4KHXT7CYc4ChDoAQhHMAU#v=onepage&q=%22free%20church%22%20gaelic&f=false|language=en}}</ref><ref name="vale">{{cite journal|last1=Symonds|first1=James|title=Toiling in the Vale of Tears: Everyday Life and Resistance in South Uist, Outer Hebrides, 1760—1860|journal=International Journal of Historical Archaeology|date=1999|volume=3|issue=2|pages=101–122|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20852924?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents|accessdate=1 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>
The adoption of the [[Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900)]] in the Highlands following the [[Disruption of 1843]] was a reassertion of Gaelic identity in opposition to forces of improvement and clearance.<ref>{{cite book|page=85|last1=Lynch|first1=Michael|title=The Oxford Companion to Scottish History|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199234820|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=65A-KFw1GU8C&q=free+church+patronage+highlands&pg=PA85|access-date=2 July 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Withers|first1=Charles W. J.|title=Gaelic Scotland: The Transformation of a Culture Region|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317332817|page=342|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=faA0CwAAQBAJ&q=%22free+church%22+gaelic&pg=PA342|language=en}}</ref><ref name="vale">{{cite journal|last1=Symonds|first1=James|title=Toiling in the Vale of Tears: Everyday Life and Resistance in South Uist, Outer Hebrides, 1760—1860|journal=International Journal of Historical Archaeology|date=1999|volume=3|issue=2|pages=101–122|jstor=20852924|language=en|doi=10.1023/A:1021949701139|s2cid=160384214}}</ref>


==Notes==
==Notes==
Line 267: Line 284:


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{reflist}}


===Bibliography===
===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|2}}
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |title=The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change, 950-1350|last=Bartlett|first=Robert|year=1994|publisher=Penguin|isbn=0140154094|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|title=The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change, 950–1350|last=Bartlett|first=Robert|year=1994|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0140154092|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780140154092}}
* {{cite book |title=Duanaire Na Sracaire: Songbook of the Pillagers, Anthology of Scottish Gaelic Verse to 1600|last=Bateman|first=Mary|year=2007|publisher=Birlinn|isbn=184158181X|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Duanaire Na Sracaire: Songbook of the Pillagers, Anthology of Scottish Gaelic Verse to 1600|last=Bateman|first=Mary|year=2007|publisher=Birlinn|isbn=978-1841581811}}
* {{cite book |title=Representing Ireland: Literature and the Origins of Conflict, 1534-1660|last=Bradshaw|first=Brendan|year=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521416345|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|title=Representing Ireland: Literature and the Origins of Conflict, 1534-1660|last=Bradshaw|first=Brendan|year=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521416344|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521416344}}
* {{cite book |title='And so began the Irish Nation': Nationality, National Consciousness and Nationalism in Pre-modern Ireland|last=Bradshaw|first=Brendan|year=2015|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|isbn=1472442563|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title='And so began the Irish Nation': Nationality, National Consciousness and Nationalism in Pre-modern Ireland|last=Bradshaw|first=Brendan|year=2015|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|isbn=978-1472442567}}
* {{cite book |title=Irish Kings and High Kings|last=Byrne|first=Francis J.|year=1973|publisher=Four Courts Press|isbn=1851821961|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|title=Irish Kings and High Kings|last=Byrne|first=Francis J.|year=1973|publisher=Four Courts Press|isbn=978-1851821969|url=https://archive.org/details/irishkingshighki00byrn_0}}
* {{cite book |title=White People, Indians, and Highlanders: Tribal People and Colonial Encounters in Scotland and America|last=Calloway|first=Colin G.|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199737826|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=White People, Indians, and Highlanders: Tribal People and Colonial Encounters in Scotland and America |last= Calloway |first=Colin G. |year=2010 |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 978-0199737826 }}
* {{cite book |title=Making Ireland British, 1580-1650|last=Canny|first=Nicholas|year=2001|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780199259052|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Making Ireland British, 1580-1650 |last=Canny |first=Nicholas |year= 2001 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn= 978-0199259052 }}
* {{cite book |title=Early Christian Ireland|last=Charles-Edwards|first=T. M.|year=2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521037167|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Early Christian Ireland |last=Charles-Edwards |first=T. M. |year=2007 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn= 9780521037167 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Triumph Tree: Scotland's Earliest Poetry AD 550-1350|last=Clancy|first=Thomas Owen|year=2008|publisher=Canongate Classics|isbn=0862417872|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=The Triumph Tree: Scotland's Earliest Poetry AD 550-1350 |last= Clancy |first=Thomas Owen |year=2008 |publisher= Canongate Classics |isbn= 978-0862417871 }}
* {{cite book |title=Contested Island: Ireland 1460-1630|last=Connolly|first=S. J.|year=2009|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=0199563713|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Contested Island: Ireland 1460-1630 |last=Connolly |first=S. J. |year=2009 |publisher= OUP Oxford |isbn= 978-0199563715 }}
* {{cite book |title=Divided Kingdom: Ireland 1630-1800|last=Connolly|first=S. J.|year=2010|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=0199583870|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Divided Kingdom: Ireland 1630-1800 |last=Connolly |first=S. J. |year= 2010 |publisher= OUP Oxford |isbn= 978-0199583874 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Famine Plot: England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy|last=Coogan|first=Tim Pat|year=2013|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=1137278838|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=The Famine Plot: England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy |last=Coogan |first=Tim Pat |year=2013 |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan |isbn= 978-1137278838 }}
* {{cite book |title=Wars of Words: The Politics of Language in Ireland 1537-2004|last=Crowley|first=Tony|year=2008|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=0199532761|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Wars of Words: The Politics of Language in Ireland 1537-2004 |last=Crowley |first=Tony |year=2008 |publisher= OUP Oxford |isbn= 978-0199532766 }}
* {{cite book |title=A History of the Irish Language: From the Norman Invasion to Independence|last=Doyle|first=Aidan|year=2015|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=0198724764|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=A History of the Irish Language: From the Norman Invasion to Independence |last=Doyle |first=Aidan |year=2015 |publisher= OUP Oxford |isbn= 978-0198724766 }}
* {{cite book |title=Erin's Blood Royal: The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland|last=Ellis|first=Peter Berresford|year=2002|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=0312230494|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Erin's Blood Royal: The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland |last=Ellis |first=Peter Berresford |year=2002 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0312230494 |url=https://archive.org/details/erinsbloodroyal00elli }}
* {{cite book |title=The Irish in Britain from the Earliest Times to the Fall and Death of Parnell|last=Denvir|first=John|year=1892|publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=The Irish in Britain from the Earliest Times to the Fall and Death of Parnell |last=Denvir |first=John |year=1892 |publisher= Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner }}
* {{cite book |title=Gaelic Gothic: Race, Colonization and Irish Culture|last=Gibbons|first=Luke|year=2004|publisher=Alren House|isbn=1903631394|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Gaelic Gothic: Race, Colonization and Irish Culture |last=Gibbons |first=Luke |year=2004 |publisher= Alren House |isbn=978-1903631393 }}
* {{cite book |title=From Chiefdom to State in Early Ireland|last=Gibson|first=D. Blair|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=1107015634|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title= From Chiefdom to State in Early Ireland |last=Gibson |first=D. Blair |year=2012 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn= 978-1107015630 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Golden Age of Irish Art: The Medieval Achievement 600-1200|last=Harbison|first=Peter|year=1999|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=0500019274|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=The Golden Age of Irish Art: The Medieval Achievement 600-1200 |last= Harbison |first=Peter |year=1999 |publisher= Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0500019276 }}
* {{cite book |title=An Duanaire 1600-1900: Poems of the Dispossessed|last=Kinsella|first=Thomas|year=1981|publisher=Dolmen Press|isbn=9780851053646|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=An Duanaire 1600-1900: Poems of the Dispossessed |last=Kinsella |first=Thomas |year=1981 |publisher= Dolmen Press |isbn= 978-0851053646 }}
* {{cite journal |title=Celts, Britons, and Gaels—Names, Peoples, and Identities |journal=Trafodion Anhrydeddus Gymdeithas y Cymmrodorion; Cyfres Newydd |volume=9 |year=2003 |pages=41–56 |last=Koch |first=John T. |publisher=The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion |issn=0959-3632 |url=https://www.academia.edu/7142081}}
* {{cite book |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia|last=Koch|first=John T.|year=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781851094400|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Mere Irish and Fior-Ghael: Studies in the Idea of Irish Nationality, Its Development and Literary Expression Prior to the Nineteenth Century|last=Leerssen|first=Joep|year=1997|publisher=University of Notre Dame Press|isbn=0268014272|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title= Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |last=Koch |first=John T. |year=2004 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn= 978-1851094400 }}
* {{cite book |title=Consolidating Conquest: Ireland 1603-1727|last=Lenihan|first=Patrick|year=2007|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0582772176|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Mere Irish and Fior-Ghael: Studies in the Idea of Irish Nationality, Its Development and Literary Expression Prior to the Nineteenth Century |last= Leerssen |first=Joep |year=1997 |publisher= University of Notre Dame Press |isbn= 978-0268014278 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Irish Language in Ireland: From Goídel to Globalisation|last=Mac Giolla Chríost|first=Diarmait|year=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415320461|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title= Consolidating Conquest: Ireland 1603-1727 |last=Lenihan |first=Patrick |year=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn= 978-0582772175 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Broken Harp: Identity and Language in Modern Ireland|last=Mac Síomoín|first=Tomás|year=2014|publisher=Nuascealta|isbn=1502974576|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=The Irish Language in Ireland: From Goídel to Globalisation |last= Mac Giolla Chríost |first=Diarmait |year=2005 |publisher= Routledge |isbn= 978-0415320467 }}
* {{cite book |title=Highlanders: A History of the Gaels|last=Macleod|first=John|year=1997|publisher=Sceptre|isbn=0340639911|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=The Broken Harp: Identity and Language in Modern Ireland |last=Mac Síomoín |first=Tomás |year=2014 |publisher= Nuascealta |isbn= 978-1502974570 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Story of the Irish Race: A Popular History of Ireland|last=MacManus|first=Seamus|year=1921|publisher=The Irish Publishing Company|isbn=0-517-06408-1|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Highlanders: A History of the Gaels |last=Macleod |first=John |year=1997 |publisher=Sceptre |isbn= 978-0340639917 }}
* {{cite book |title=Divided Gaels: Gaelic Cultural Identities in Scotland and Ireland C.1200-C.1650|last=McLeod|first=Wilson|year=2004|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=0199247226|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|title=The Story of the Irish Race: A Popular History of Ireland|last=MacManus|first=Seamus|year=1921|publisher=The Irish Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-517-06408-5|url=https://archive.org/details/storyofirishra00macm}}
* {{cite book |title=A Handbook of the Scottish Gaelic World|last=Newton|first=Michael|year=2000|publisher=Four Courts Press|isbn=185182541X|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Divided Gaels: Gaelic Cultural Identities in Scotland and Ireland C.1200-C.1650|last=McLeod|first=Wilson|year=2004|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0199247226}}
* {{cite book |title=Warriors of the Word: The World of the Scottish Highlanders|last=Newton|first=Michael|year=2009|publisher=Birlinn|isbn=1841588261|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=A Handbook of the Scottish Gaelic World|last=Newton|first=Michael|year=2000|publisher=Four Courts Press|isbn=978-1851825417}}
* {{cite book |title=To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland|last=O'Callaghan|first=Sean|year=2001|publisher=Brandon|isbn=0863222870|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Warriors of the Word: The World of the Scottish Highlanders|last=Newton|first=Michael|year=2009|publisher=Birlinn|isbn=978-1841588261}}
* {{cite book |title=[[Dissertations On the Ancient History of Ireland]]|last=O'Conor Don|first=Charles|year=1753|publisher=J. Christie|isbn=|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland|last=O'Callaghan|first=Sean|year=2001|publisher=Brandon|isbn=978-0863222870}}
* {{cite book |title=A New History of Ireland, Volume I: Prehistoric and Early Ireland|last=Ó Cróinín|first=Dáibhí|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199226658|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Dissertations on the Ancient History of Ireland|last=O'Conor Don|first=Charles|year=1753|publisher=J. Christie|title-link=Dissertations on the Ancient History of Ireland}}
* {{cite book |title=Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia|last=O'Duffy|first=Séan|year=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1135948240|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=A New History of Ireland, Volume I: Prehistoric and Early Ireland|last=Ó Cróinín|first=Dáibhí|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199226658}}
* {{cite book |title=[[Ogygia: A Chronological Account of Irish Events]]|last=Ó Flaithbheartaigh|first=Ruaidhrí|year=1685|publisher=B. Tooke|isbn=|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia|last=O'Duffy|first=Séan|year=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1135948245}}
* {{cite book |title=[[A General History of Ireland]]|last=O'Halloran|first=Sylvester|year=1778|publisher=Hamilton|isbn=|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Ogygia: A Chronological Account of Irish Events|last=Ó Flaithbheartaigh|first=Ruaidhrí|year=1685|publisher=B. Tooke|title-link=Ogygia: A Chronological Account of Irish Events}}
* {{cite book |title=The Sacred Isle: Belief and Religion in Pre-Christian Ireland|last=Ó hÓgáin|first=Dáithí|year=2001|publisher=Boydell Press|isbn=9780851157474|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=A General History of Ireland|last=O'Halloran|first=Sylvester|year=1778|publisher=Hamilton|title-link=A General History of Ireland}}
* {{cite book |title=The Prose Literature of the Gaelic Revival, 1881-1921|last=O'Leary|first=Philip|year=2004|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press|isbn=0271025964|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=The Sacred Isle: Belief and Religion in Pre-Christian Ireland|last=Ó hÓgáin|first=Dáithí|year=2001|publisher=Boydell Press|isbn=9780851157474}}
* {{cite book |title=[[The Great Book of Irish Genealogies]]|last=Ó Muraíle|first=Nollaig|year=2004|publisher=De Burca Books|isbn=0946130361|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=The Prose Literature of the Gaelic Revival, 1881-1921|last=O'Leary|first=Philip|year=2004|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press|isbn=978-0271025964}}
* {{cite book |title=Teaching World Languages for Social Justice: A Sourcebook of Principles and Practices|last=Osbourn|first=Terry A.|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1135609853|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=The Great Book of Irish Genealogies|last=Ó Muraíle|first=Nollaig|year=2004|publisher=De Burca Books|isbn=978-0946130368|title-link=The Great Book of Irish Genealogies}}
* {{cite book |title=Cattle Lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland|last=Patterson|first=Nerys T.|year=1991|publisher=Garland Press|isbn=9780268008000|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Catholic History of Ireland|last=O'Sullivan Beare|first=Philip|year=1621|publisher=Spain}}
* {{cite book |title=Celts and the Classical World|last=Rankin|first=David|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1134747217|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Teaching World Languages for Social Justice: A Sourcebook of Principles and Practices|last=Osbourn|first=Terry A.|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1135609856}}
* {{cite book |title=Patrick Sellar and the Highland Clearances: Homicide, Eviction and the Price of Progress|last=Richards|first=Eric|year=1999|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=9781902930138|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|title=Cattle Lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland|last=Patterson|first=Nerys T.|year=1991|publisher=Garland Press|isbn=9780268008000|url=https://archive.org/details/cattlelordsclans00patt}}
* {{cite book |title=The Last of the Celts|last=Tanner|first=Marcus|year=2006|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=9780300115352|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Celts and the Classical World|last=Rankin|first=David|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1134747214}}
* {{cite book |title=Kings, Chronologies, and Genealogies: Studies in the Political History of Early Medieval Ireland and Wales|last=Thornton|first=David E.|year=2003|publisher=Occasional Publications UPR|isbn=1900934094|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Patrick Sellar and the Highland Clearances: Homicide, Eviction and the Price of Progress|last=Richards|first=Eric|year=1999|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=9781902930138}}
* {{cite book |title=Irish Writers and Religion|last=Welch|first=Robert|year=1992|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=0389209635|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=The Last of the Celts|last=Tanner|first=Marcus|year=2006|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=9780300115352}}
* {{cite book |title=The Edinburgh Companion to the Gaelic Language|last=Watson|first=Moray|year=2010|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=0748637095|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Kings, Chronologies, and Genealogies: Studies in the Political History of Early Medieval Ireland and Wales|last=Thornton|first=David E.|year=2003|publisher=Occasional Publications UPR|isbn=978-1900934091}}
* {{cite book |title=From Pictland to Alba, 789-1070|last=Woolfe|first=Alex|year=2007|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=0748612335|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book |title=Irish Writers and Religion|last=Welch|first=Robert|year=1992|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0389209638}}
* {{cite book |title=The Edinburgh Companion to the Gaelic Language|last=Watson|first=Moray|year=2010|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0748637096}}
* {{cite book |title=From Pictland to Alba, 789-1070|last=Woolfe|first=Alex|year=2007|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0748612338}}
{{refend|2}}
{{refend|2}}


Line 326: Line 345:
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150303010203/http://www.culturevannin.im/cms/ Culture Vannin]&nbsp;– Manx agency promoting the language
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150303010203/http://www.culturevannin.im/cms/ Culture Vannin]&nbsp;– Manx agency promoting the language
* [http://www.colmcille.net/ The Columba Project]&nbsp;– Pan-Gaelic cultural initiative
* [http://www.colmcille.net/ The Columba Project]&nbsp;– Pan-Gaelic cultural initiative
* [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/special-collections/a-z/gaelic Gaelic Society Collection] at [[University College London]] (c. 700 items collected by the Gaelic Society of London)


{{Gaels}}
{{Gaels}}
{{Celts}}
{{Gaeltacht}}
{{Gaeltacht}}
{{Irish linguistics}}
{{Scottish Gaelic linguistics}}
{{Navboxes
{{Navboxes
|title=Additional articles related to Gaels
|title=Additional articles related to Gaels
Line 341: Line 360:
{{Ulaid}}
{{Ulaid}}
}}
}}

{{authority control}}

{{Ireland topics}}


[[Category:Gaels| ]]
[[Category:Gaels| ]]
[[Category:Celtic ethnolinguistic groups]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Argentina]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Argentina]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Australia]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Australia]]
Line 350: Line 374:
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Mexico]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Mexico]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in New Zealand]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in New Zealand]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Scotland]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in the United States]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in the United States]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Uruguay]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Uruguay]]
[[Category:Highlands and Islands of Scotland]]
[[Category:Highlands and Islands of Scotland]]
[[Category:Ireland]]
[[Category:Manx language]]
[[Category:Manx language]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Europe]]
[[Category:Indo-European peoples]]

Latest revision as of 20:24, 22 October 2024

Gaels
Na Gaeil · Na Gàidheil · Ny Gaeil
Areas which were linguistically and culturally Gaelic c. 1000 (light green) and c. 1700 (medium green); areas that are Gaelic-speaking in the present day (dark green)
Total population
c. 2.1 million
(linguistic grouping)
Regions with significant populations
Ireland1,873,997 (linguistic)[1]
United Kingdom122,518 (linguistic)[2]
United States27,475 (linguistic)[3]
Canada9,000 (linguistic)[4]
Australia2,717 (linguistic)[5]
New Zealand670 (linguistic)
Languages
Gaelic languages
(Irish · Scottish Gaelic · Manx · Shelta · Beurla Reagaird)
also non-Gaelic English and Scots
Religion
Christianity · Irreligion (historic: Paganism)
Related ethnic groups
Norse-Gaels · Gaelicised Normans · Celtic Britons · Scottish Romani Travellers

The Gaels (/ɡlz/ GAYLZ; Irish: Na Gaeil [n̪ˠə ˈɡeːlʲ]; Scottish Gaelic: Na Gàidheil [nə ˈkɛː.al]; Manx: Ny Gaeil [nə ˈɡeːl]) are an ethnolinguistic group[6] native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.[a][10] They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic.

Gaelic language and culture originated in Ireland, extending to Dál Riata in western Scotland. In antiquity, the Gaels traded with the Roman Empire and also raided Roman Britain. In the Middle Ages, Gaelic culture became dominant throughout the rest of Scotland and the Isle of Man. There was also some Gaelic settlement in Wales, as well as cultural influence through Celtic Christianity. In the Viking Age, small numbers of Vikings raided and settled in Gaelic lands, becoming the Norse-Gaels. In the 9th century, Dál Riata and Pictland merged to form the Gaelic Kingdom of Alba. Meanwhile, Gaelic Ireland was made up of several kingdoms, with a High King often claiming lordship over them.

In the 12th century, Anglo-Normans conquered parts of Ireland, while parts of Scotland became Normanized. However, Gaelic culture remained strong throughout Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and Galloway. In the early 17th century, the last Gaelic kingdoms in Ireland fell under English control. James VI and I sought to subdue the Gaels and wipe out their culture;[citation needed] first in the Scottish Highlands via repressive laws such as the Statutes of Iona, and then in Ireland by colonizing Gaelic land with English and Scots-speaking Protestant settlers. In the following centuries Gaelic language was suppressed and mostly supplanted by English. However, it continues to be the main language in Ireland's Gaeltacht and Scotland's Outer Hebrides. The modern descendants of the Gaels have spread throughout the rest of the British Isles, the Americas and Australasia.

Traditional Gaelic society was organised into clans, each with its own territory and king (or chief), elected through tanistry. The Irish were previously pagans who had many gods, venerated the ancestors and believed in an Otherworld. Their four yearly festivals – Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasa – continued to be celebrated into modern times. The Gaels have a strong oral tradition, traditionally maintained by shanachies. Inscription in the ogham alphabet began in the 4th century. The Gaels' conversion to Christianity accompanied the introduction of writing in the Roman alphabet. Irish mythology and Brehon law were preserved and recorded by medieval Irish monasteries.[11] Gaelic monasteries were renowned centres of learning and played a key role in developing Insular art; Gaelic missionaries and scholars were highly influential in western Europe. In the Middle Ages, most Gaels lived in roundhouses and ringforts. The Gaels had their own style of dress, which became the belted plaid and kilt. They also have distinctive music, dance, festivals, and sports. Gaelic culture continues to be a major component of Irish, Scottish and Manx culture.

Ethnonyms

[edit]

Throughout the centuries, Gaels and Gaelic-speakers have been known by a number of names. The most consistent of these have been Gael, Irish and Scots. In Latin, the Gaels were called Scoti,[12] but this later came to mean only the Gaels of Scotland. Other terms, such as Milesian, are not as often used.[13] An Old Norse name for the Gaels was Vestmenn (meaning "Westmen", due to inhabiting the Western fringes of Europe).[14] Informally, archetypal forenames such as Tadhg or Dòmhnall are sometimes used for Gaels.[15]

Gael

[edit]

The word "Gaelic" is first recorded in print in the English language in the 1770s,[16] replacing the earlier word Gathelik which is attested as far back as 1596.[16] Gael, defined as a "member of the Gaelic race", is first attested in print in 1810.[17] In English, the more antiquarian term Goidels came to be used by some due to Edward Lhuyd's work on the relationship between Celtic languages. This term was further popularised in academia by John Rhys; the first Professor of Celtic at Oxford University; due to his work Celtic Britain (1882).[18]

These names all come from the Old Irish word Goídel/Gaídel. In Early Modern Irish, it was spelled Gaoidheal (singular) and Gaoidheil/Gaoidhil (plural).[19] In modern Irish, it is spelled Gael (singular) and Gaeil (plural). According to scholar John T. Koch, the Old Irish form of the name was borrowed from an Archaic Welsh form Guoidel, meaning "forest people", "wild men" or, later, "warriors".[19] Guoidel is recorded as a personal name in the Book of Llandaff. The root of the name is cognate at the Proto-Celtic level with Old Irish fíad 'wild', and Féni, derived ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weidh-n-jo-.[19][20] This latter word is the origin of Fianna and Fenian.

In medieval Ireland, the bardic poets who were the cultural intelligentsia of the nation, limited the use of Gaoidheal specifically to those who claimed genealogical descent from the mythical Goídel Glas.[21] Even the Gaelicised Normans who were born in Ireland, spoke Irish and sponsored Gaelic bardic poetry, such as Gearóid Iarla, were referred to as Gall ("foreigner") by Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh, then Chief Ollam of Ireland.[21]

Irish

[edit]
The Iverni are one of the population groups mentioned in Ptolemy's Geographia.

A common name, passed down to the modern day, is "Irish"; this existed in the English language during the 11th century in the form of Irisce, which derived from the stem of Old English Iras, "inhabitant of Ireland", from Old Norse irar.[22] The ultimate origin of this word is thought to be the Old Irish Ériu, which is from Old Celtic *Iveriu, likely associated with the Proto-Indo-European term *pi-wer- meaning "fertile".[22] Ériu is mentioned as a goddess in the Lebor Gabála Érenn as a daughter of Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Along with her sisters Banba and Fódla, she is said to have made a deal with the Milesians to name the island after her.

The ancient Greeks, in particular Ptolemy in his second century Geographia, possibly based on earlier sources, located a group known as the Iverni (Greek: Ιουερνοι) in the south-west of Ireland.[23] This group has been associated with the Érainn of Irish tradition by T. F. O'Rahilly and others.[23] The Érainn, claiming descent from a Milesian eponymous ancestor named Ailill Érann, were the hegemonic power in Ireland before the rise of the descendants of Conn of the Hundred Battles and Mug Nuadat. The Érainn included peoples such as the Corcu Loígde and Dál Riata. Ancient Roman writers, such as Caesar, Pliny and Tacitus, derived from Ivernia the name Hibernia.[23] Thus the name "Hibernian" also comes from this root, although the Romans tended to call the isle Scotia, and the Gaels Scoti.[24] Within Ireland itself, the term Éireannach (Irish), only gained its modern political significance as a primary denominator from the 17th century onwards, as in the works of Geoffrey Keating, where a Catholic alliance between the native Gaoidheal and Seanghaill ("old foreigners", of Norman descent) was proposed against the Nuaghail or Sacsanach (the ascendant Protestant New English settlers).[21]

Scots

[edit]
Place names in Scotland that contain the element BAL- from the Scottish Gaelic 'baile' meaning home, farmstead, town or city. This data gives some indication of the extent of medieval Gaelic settlement in Scotland.

The Scots Gaels derive from the kingdom of Dál Riata, which included parts of western Scotland and northern Ireland. It has various explanations of its origins, including a foundation myth of an invasion from Ireland. Other historians believe that the Gaels colonized parts of Western Scotland over several decades and some archaeological evidence may point to a pre-existing maritime province united by the sea and isolated from the rest of Scotland by the Scottish Highlands or Druim Alban, however, this is disputed.[25][26] The genetical exchange includes passage of the M222 genotype within Scotland.[27]

From the 5th to 10th centuries, early Scotland was home not only to the Gaels of Dál Riata but also the Picts, the Britons, Angles and lastly the Vikings.[28] The Romans began to use the term Scoti to describe the Gaels in Latin from the 4th century onward.[29][30] At the time, the Gaels were raiding the west coast of Britain, and they took part in the Great Conspiracy; it is thus conjectured that the term means "raider, pirate". Although the Dál Riata settled in Argyll in the 6th century, the term "Scots" did not just apply to them, but to Gaels in general. Examples can be taken from Johannes Scotus Eriugena and other figures from Hiberno-Latin culture and the Schottenkloster founded by Irish Gaels in Germanic lands.

The Gaels of northern Britain referred to themselves as Albannaich in their own tongue and their realm as the Kingdom of Alba (founded as a successor kingdom to Dál Riata and Pictland). Germanic groups tended to refer to the Gaels as Scottas[30] and so when Anglo-Saxon influence grew at court with Duncan II, the Latin Rex Scottorum began to be used and the realm was known as Scotland; this process and cultural shift was put into full effect under David I, who let the Normans come to power and furthered the Lowland-Highland divide. Germanic-speakers in Scotland spoke a language called Inglis, which they started to call Scottis (Scots) in the 16th century, while they in turn began to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse (meaning "Irish").[31]

Population

[edit]

Kinship groups

[edit]
Clan tartan of the MacGregors. Distinctive patterns were adopted during the Victorian era.

In traditional Gaelic society, a patrilineal kinship group is referred to as a clann[32] or, in Ireland, a fine.[33][34] Both in technical use signify a dynastic grouping descended from a common ancestor, much larger than a personal family, which may also consist of various kindreds and septs. (Fine is not to be confused with the term fian, a 'band of roving men whose principal occupations were hunting and war, also a troop of professional fighting-men under a leader; in wider sense a company, number of persons; a warrior (late and rare)'[35]).

Using the Munster-based Eóganachta as an example, members of this clann claim patrilineal descent from Éogan Mór. It is further divided into major kindreds, such as the Eóganacht Chaisil, Glendamnach, Áine, Locha Léin and Raithlind.[36][37] These kindreds themselves contain septs that have passed down as Irish Gaelic surnames, for example the Eóganacht Chaisil includes O'Callaghan, MacCarthy, O'Sullivan and others.[38][39]

The Irish Gaels can be grouped into the following major historical groups; Connachta (including Uí Néill, Clan Colla, Uí Maine, etc.), Dál gCais, Eóganachta, Érainn (including Dál Riata, Dál Fiatach, etc.), Laigin and Ulaid (including Dál nAraidi). In the Highlands, the various Gaelic-originated clans tended to claim descent from one of the Irish groups, particularly those from Ulster. The Dál Riata (i.e. – MacGregor, MacDuff, MacLaren, etc.) claimed descent from Síl Conairi, for instance.[40] Some arrivals in the High Middle Ages (i.e. – MacNeill, Buchanan, Munro, etc.) claimed to be of the Uí Néill. As part of their self-justification; taking over power from the Norse-Gael MacLeod in the Hebrides; the MacDonalds claimed to be from Clan Colla.[41][42]

For the Irish Gaels, their culture did not survive the conquests and colonisations by the English between 1534 and 1692 (see History of Ireland (1536–1691), Tudor conquest of Ireland, Plantations of Ireland, Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Williamite War in Ireland. As a result of the Gaelic revival, there has been renewed interest in Irish genealogy; the Irish Government recognised Gaelic Chiefs of the Name since the 1940s.[43] The Finte na hÉireann (Clans of Ireland) was founded in 1989 to gather together clan associations;[44] individual clan associations operate throughout the world and produce journals for their septs.[45] The Highland clans held out until the 18th century Jacobite risings. During the Victorian-era, symbolic tartans, crests and badges were retroactively applied to clans. Clan associations built up over time and Na Fineachan Gàidhealach (The Highland Clans) was founded in 2013.[46]

Human genetics

[edit]
Distribution of Y-chromosomal Haplogroup R-M269 in Europe

At the turn of the 21st century, the principles of human genetics and genetic genealogy were applied to the study of populations of Irish origin.[47][48] The two other peoples who recorded higher than 85% for R1b in a 2009 study published in the scientific journal, PLOS Biology, were the Welsh and the Basques.[49]

The development of in-depth studies of DNA sequences known as STRs and SNPs have allowed geneticists to associate subclades with specific Gaelic kindred groupings (and their surnames), vindicating significant elements of Gaelic genealogy, as found in works such as the Leabhar na nGenealach. Examples can be taken from the Uí Néill (i.e. – O'Neill, O'Donnell, Gallagher, etc.), who are associated with R-M222[50] and the Dál gCais (i.e. – O'Brien, McMahon, Kennedy, etc.) who are associated with R-L226.[51] With regard to Gaelic genetic genealogy studies, these developments in subclades have aided people in finding their original clan group in the case of a non-paternity event, with Family Tree DNA having the largest such database at present.[52]

In 2016, a study analyzing ancient DNA found Bronze Age remains from Rathlin Island in Ireland to be most genetically similar to the modern indigenous populations of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and to a lesser degree that of England. The majority of the genomes of the insular Celts would therefore have emerged by 4,000 years ago. It was also suggested that the arrival of proto-Celtic language, possibly ancestral to Gaelic languages, may have occurred around this time.[10] Several genetic traits found at maximum or very high frequencies in the modern populations of Gaelic ancestry were also observed in the Bronze Age period. These traits include a hereditary disease known as HFE hereditary haemochromatosis, Y-DNA Haplogroup R-M269, lactase persistence and blue eyes.[10][53] Another trait very common in Gaelic populations is red hair, with 10% of Irish and at least 13% of Scots having red hair, much larger numbers being carriers of variants of the MC1R gene, and which is possibly related to an adaptation to the cloudy conditions of the regional climate.[10][54][55]

Demographics

[edit]

In countries where Gaels live, census records documenting population statistics exist. The following chart shows the number of speakers of the Gaelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, or Manx). The question of ethnic identity is slightly more complex, but included below are those who identify as ethnic Irish, Manx or Scottish. It should be taken into account that not all are of Gaelic descent, especially in the case of Scotland, due to the nature of the Lowlands. It also depends on the self-reported response of the individual and so is a rough guide rather than an exact science.

The two comparatively "major" Gaelic nations in the modern era are Ireland (which had 71,968 "daily" Irish speakers and 1,873,997 people claiming "some ability of Irish", as of the 2022 census)[56] and Scotland (58,552 fluent "Gaelic speakers" and 92,400 with "some Gaelic language ability" in the 2001 census).[57] Communities where the languages still are spoken natively are restricted largely to the west coast of each country and especially the Hebrides islands in Scotland. However, a large proportion of the Gaelic-speaking population now lives in the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland, and Dublin, Cork as well as Counties Donegal and Galway in Ireland. There are about 2,000 Scottish Gaelic speakers in Canada (Canadian Gaelic dialect), although many are elderly and concentrated in Nova Scotia and more specifically Cape Breton Island.[58] According to the U.S. Census in 2000,[3] there are more than 25,000 Irish-speakers in the United States, with the majority found in urban areas with large Irish-American communities such as Boston, New York City and Chicago.

State Gaeilge Ethnic Irish Gàidhlig Ethnic Scots Gaelg Ethnic Manx
Ireland 1,873,997 (2022)[56] 3,969,319 (2011) not recorded not recorded not recorded not recorded
United Kingdom and dependencies

[b]

64,916 (2011)[2] 1,101,994 (2011)[2][59] 57,602 (2011) 4,446,000 (2011) 1,689 (2000)[60] 38,108 (2011)
United States 25,870 (2000)[3] 33,348,049 (2013)[61] 1,605 (2000)[3] 5,310,285 (2013)[61] not recorded 6,955
Canada 7,500 (2011)[4] 4,354,155 (2006)[62] 1,500 (2011)[4] 4,719,850 (2006)[62] not recorded 4,725
Australia 1,895 (2011)[5] 2,087,800 (2011)[63] 822 (2001) 1,876,560 (2011) not recorded 46,000
New Zealand not recorded 14,000 (2013)[64] 670 (2006) 12,792 (2006) not recorded not recorded
Total 1,974,178 44,875,317 62,199 16,318,487 1,689 95,788

Diaspora

[edit]
The Emigrants, painting from 1844. This depicts a Highland Scots family in Gaelic dress migrating to New Zealand.

As the Western Roman Empire began to collapse, the Irish (along with the Anglo-Saxons) were one of the peoples able to take advantage in Great Britain from the 4th century onwards. The proto-Eóganachta Uí Liatháin and the Déisi Muman of Dyfed both established colonies in today's Wales. Further to the north, the Érainn's Dál Riata colonised Argyll (eventually founding Alba) and there was a significant Gaelic influence in Northumbria[65] and the MacAngus clan arose to the Pictish kingship by the 8th century. Gaelic Christian missionaries were also active across the Frankish Empire. With the coming of the Viking Age and their slave markets, Irish were also dispersed in this way across the realms under Viking control; as a legacy, in genetic studies, Icelanders exhibit high levels of Gaelic-derived mDNA.[66]

Since the fall of Gaelic polities, the Gaels have made their way across parts of the world, successively under the auspices of the Spanish Empire, French Empire, and the British Empire. Their main destinations were Iberia, France, the West Indies, North America (what is today the United States and Canada) and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand). There has also been a mass "internal migration" within Ireland and Britain from the 19th century, with Irish and Scots migrating to the English-speaking industrial cities of London, Dublin, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Edinburgh and others. Many underwent a linguistic "Anglicisation" and eventually merged with Anglo populations.

In a more narrow interpretation of the term Gaelic diaspora, it could be interpreted as referring to the Gaelic-speaking minority among the Irish, Scottish, and Manx diaspora. However, the use of the term "diaspora" in relation to the Gaelic languages (i.e., in a narrowly linguistic rather than a more broadly cultural context) is arguably not appropriate, as it may suggest that Gaelic speakers and people interested in Gaelic necessarily have Gaelic ancestry, or that people with such ancestry naturally have an interest or fluency in their ancestral language. Research shows that this assumption is inaccurate.[67]

History

[edit]

Origin legends

[edit]
Scota and Goídel Glas voyaging from Egypt. From the 15th century chronicle the Scotichronicon.

In their own national epic contained within medieval works such as the Lebor Gabála Érenn, the Gaels trace the origin of their people to an eponymous ancestor named Goídel Glas. He is described as a Scythian prince (the grandson of Fénius Farsaid), who is credited with creating the Gaelic languages. Goídel's mother is called Scota, described as an Egyptian princess. The Gaels are depicted as wandering from place to place for hundreds of years; they spend time in Egypt, Crete, Scythia, the Caspian Sea and Getulia, before arriving in Iberia, where their king, Breogán, is said to have founded Galicia.[13]

The Gaels are then said to have sailed to Ireland via Galicia in the form of the Milesians, sons of Míl Espáine.[13] The Gaels fight a battle of sorcery with the Tuatha Dé Danann, the gods, who inhabited Ireland at the time. Ériu, a goddess of the land, promises the Gaels that Ireland shall be theirs so long as they pay tribute to her. They agree, and their bard Amergin recites an incantation known as the Song of Amergin. The two groups agree to divide Ireland between them: the Gaels take the world above, while the Tuath Dé take the world below (i.e. the Otherworld).

Ancient

[edit]
The Lia Fáil at the Hill of Tara, sacred site of inauguration for the Gaelic High Kings.

There is some disagreement about when Celtic speakers first arrived in Ireland. It is thought by some scholars to be associated with the Bell Beaker people of the Bronze Age, however others argue that "Celts" arrived much later at the beginning of the Iron Age.[68]

During the Iron Age, there was heightened activity at a number of important royal ceremonial sites, including Tara, Dún Ailinne, Rathcroghan and Emain Macha.[69] Each was associated with a Gaelic tribe. The most important was Tara, where the High King (also known as the King of Tara) was inaugurated on the Lia Fáil (Stone of Destiny), which stands to this day.

According to medieval Irish legend, High King Túathal Techtmar was exiled to Roman Britain before returning to claim Tara. Based on the accounts of Tacitus, some modern historians associate him with an "Irish prince" said to have been entertained by Agricola, Governor of Britain, and speculate at Roman sponsorship.[70] His grandson, Conn Cétchathach, is the ancestor of the Connachta who would dominate the Irish Middle Ages. They gained control of what would now be named Connacht. Their close relatives the Érainn (both groups descend from Óengus Tuirmech Temrach) and the Ulaid would later lose out to them in Ulster, as the descendants of the Three Collas in Airgíalla and Niall Noígíallach in Ailech extended their hegemony.[71]

The Gaels emerged into the clear historical record during the classical era, with ogham inscriptions and quite detailed references in Greco-Roman ethnography (most notably by Ptolemy). The Roman Empire conquered most of Britain in the 1st century, but did not conquer Ireland or the far north of Britain. The Gaels had relations with the Roman world, mostly through trade. Roman jewellery and coins have been found at several Irish royal sites, for example.[72] Gaels, known to the Romans as Scoti, also carried out raids on Roman Britain, together with the Picts. These raids increased in the 4th century, as Roman rule in Britain began to collapse.[72] This era was also marked by a Gaelic presence in Britain; in what is today Wales, the Déisi founded the Kingdom of Dyfed and the Uí Liatháin founded Brycheiniog.[73] There was also some Irish settlement in Cornwall.[72] To the north, the Dál Riata are held to have established a territory in Argyll and the Hebrides.[c]

Medieval

[edit]
The Isles in the 5th century.
  Mainly Goidelic areas.
  Mainly Pictish areas.
  Mainly Brythonic areas.

Christianity reached Ireland during the 5th century, most famously through a Romano-British slave Patrick,[74] but also through Gaels such as Declán, Finnian and the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. The abbot and the monk eventually took over certain cultural roles of the aos dána (not least the roles of druí and seanchaí) as the oral culture of the Gaels was transmitted to script by the arrival of literacy. Thus Christianity in Ireland during this early time retained elements of Gaelic culture.[74]

In the Middle Ages, Gaelic Ireland was divided into a hierarchy of territories ruled by a hierarchy of kings or chiefs. The smallest territory was the túath (plural: túatha), which was typically the territory of a single kin-group. Several túatha formed a mór túath (overkingdom), which was ruled by an overking. Several overkingdoms formed a cóiced (province), which was ruled by a provincial king. In the early Middle Ages the túath was the main political unit, but during the following centuries the overkings and provincial kings became ever more powerful.[75][76] By the 6th century, the division of Ireland into two spheres of influence (Leath Cuinn and Leath Moga) was largely a reality. In the south, the influence of the Eóganachta based at Cashel grew further, to the detriment of Érainn clans such as the Corcu Loígde and Clann Conla. Through their vassals the Déisi (descended from Fiacha Suidhe and later known as the Dál gCais), Munster was extended north of the River Shannon, laying the foundations for Thomond.[77] Aside from their gains in Ulster (excluding the Érainn's Ulaid), the Uí Néill's southern branch had also pushed down into Mide and Brega. By the 9th century, some of the most powerful kings were being acknowledged as High King of Ireland.

A page from the 9th century Book of Kells, one of the finest examples of Insular art. It is believed to have been made in Gaelic monasteries in Ireland and Scotland.

Some, particularly champions of Christianity, hold the 6th to 9th centuries to be a Golden Age for the Gaels. This is due to the influence which the Gaels had across Western Europe as part of their Christian missionary activities. Similar to the Desert Fathers, Gaelic monastics were known for their asceticism.[78] Some of the most celebrated figures of this time were Columba, Aidan, Columbanus and others.[78] Learned in Greek and Latin during an age of cultural collapse,[79] the Gaelic scholars were able to gain a presence at the court of the Carolingian Frankish Empire; perhaps the best known example is Johannes Scotus Eriugena.[80] Aside from their activities abroad, insular art flourished domestically, with artifacts such as the Book of Kells and Tara Brooch surviving. Clonmacnoise, Glendalough, Clonard, Durrow and Inis Cathaigh are some of the more prominent Ireland-based monasteries founded during this time.

High King Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill was one of the leaders in the struggle with the Norsemen.

There is some evidence in early Icelandic sagas such as the Íslendingabók that the Gaels may have visited the Faroe Islands and Iceland before the Norse, and that Gaelic monks known as papar (meaning father) lived there before being driven out by the incoming Norsemen.[81]

The late 8th century heralded outside involvement in Gaelic affairs, as Norsemen from Scandinavia, known as the Vikings, began to raid and pillage settlements. The earliest recorded raids were on Rathlin and Iona in 795; these hit and run attacks continued for some time until the Norsemen began to settle in the 840s at Dublin (setting up a large slave market), Limerick, Waterford and elsewhere. The Norsemen also took most of the Hebrides and the Isle of Man from the Dál Riata clans and established the Kingdom of the Isles.

The monarchy of Pictland had kings of Gaelic origin, since the 7th century with Bruide mac Der-Ilei, around the times of the Cáin Adomnáin. However, Pictland remained a separate realm from Dál Riata, until the latter gained full hegemony during the reign of Kenneth MacAlpin from the House of Alpin, whereby Dál Riata and Pictland were merged to form the Kingdom of Alba. This meant an acceleration of Gaelicisation in the northern part of Great Britain. The Battle of Brunanburh in 937 defined the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of England as the hegemonic force in Great Britain, over a Gaelic-Viking alliance.[82]

After a spell when the Norsemen were driven from Dublin by Leinsterman Cerball mac Muirecáin, they returned in the reign of Niall Glúndub, heralding a second Viking period. The Dublin Norse—some of them, such as Uí Ímair king Ragnall ua Ímair now partly Gaelicised as the Norse-Gaels—were a serious regional power, with territories across Northumbria and York. At the same time, the Uí Néill branches were involved in an internal power struggle for hegemony between the northern or southern branches. Donnchad Donn raided Munster and took Cellachán Caisil of the Eóganachta hostage. The destabilisation led to the rise of the Dál gCais and Brian Bóruma. Through military might, Brian went about building a Gaelic Imperium under his High Kingship, even gaining the submission of Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill. They were involved in a series of battles against the Vikings: Tara, Glenmama and Clontarf. The last of these saw Brian's death in 1014. Brian's campaign is glorified in the Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib ("The War of the Gaels with the Foreigners").

The Irish Church became closer to Continental models with the Synod of Ráth Breasail and the arrival of the Cistercians. There was also more trade and communication with Normanised Britain and France. Between themselves, the Ó Briain and the Ó Conchobhair attempted to build a national monarchy.

Political boundaries in Ireland in 1450, before the plantations

The remainder of the Middle Ages was marked by conflict between Gaels and Anglo-Normans. The Norman invasion of Ireland took place in stages during the late 12th century. Norman mercenaries landed in Leinster in 1169 at the request of Diarmait Mac Murchada, who sought their help in regaining his throne. By 1171 the Normans had gained control of Leinster, and King Henry II of England, with the backing of the Papacy, established the Lordship of Ireland. The Norman kings of England claimed sovereignty over this territory, leading to centuries of conflict between the Normans and the native Irish. At this time, a literary anti-Gaelic sentiment was born and developed by the likes of Gerald of Wales as part of a propaganda campaign (with a Gregorian "reform" gloss) to justify taking Gaelic lands. Scotland also came under Anglo-Norman influence in the 12th century. The Davidian Revolution saw the Normanisation of Scotland's monarchy, government and church; the founding of burghs, which became mainly English-speaking; and the royally-sponsored immigration of Norman aristocrats.[83] This Normanisation was mainly limited to the Scottish Lowlands. In Ireland, the Normans carved out their own semi-independent lordships, but many Gaelic Irish kingdoms remained outside Norman control and gallowglass warriors were brought in from the Highlands to fight for various Irish kings.

In 1315, a Scottish army landed in Ireland as part of Scotland's war against England. It was led by Edward Bruce, brother of Scottish king Robert the Bruce. Despite his own Norman ancestry, Edward urged the Irish to ally with the Scots by invoking a shared Gaelic ancestry and culture, and most of the northern kings acknowledged him as High King of Ireland.[84] However, the campaign ended three years later with Edward's defeat and death in the Battle of Faughart.

A Gaelic Irish resurgence began in the mid-14th century: English royal control shrank to an area known as the Pale and, outside this, many Norman lords adopted Gaelic culture, becoming culturally Gaelicised. The English government tried to prevent this through the Statutes of Kilkenny (1366), which forbade English settlers from adopting Gaelic culture, but the results were mixed and particularly in the West, some Normans became Gaelicised.

Gaelic Irish men and noblewomen, c.1575
Scottish Highlanders depicted in R. R. McIan's Clans of The Scottish Highlands (1845)

Imperial

[edit]

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Gaels were affected by the policies of the Tudors and the Stewarts who sought to anglicise the population and bring both Ireland and the Highlands under stronger centralised control,[85] as part of what would become the British Empire. In 1542, Henry VIII of England declared the Lordship of Ireland a Kingdom and himself King of Ireland. The new English, whose power lay in the Pale of Dublin, then began to conquer the island. Gaelic kings were encouraged to apply for a surrender and regrant: to surrender their lands to the king, and then have them regranted as freeholds. Those who surrendered were also expected to follow English law and customs, speak English, and convert to the Protestant Anglican Church. Decades of conflict followed in the reign of Elizabeth I, culminating in the Nine Years' War (1594–1603). The war ended in defeat for the Irish Gaelic alliance and brought an end to the independence of the last Irish Gaelic kingdoms.

In 1603, with the Union of the Crowns, King James of Scotland also became king of England and Ireland. James saw the Gaels as a barbarous and rebellious people in need of civilising,[86] and believed that Gaelic culture should be wiped out.[87] Also, while most of Britain had converted to Protestantism, most Gaels had held on to Catholicism. When the leaders of the Irish Gaelic alliance fled Ireland in 1607, their lands were confiscated. James set about colonising this land with English-speaking Protestant settlers from Britain, in what became known as the Plantation of Ulster. It was meant to establish a loyal British Protestant colony in Ireland's most rebellious region and to sever Gaelic Ulster's links with Gaelic Scotland.[86] In Scotland, James attempted to subdue the Gaelic clans and suppress their culture through laws such as the Statutes of Iona.[85] He also attempted to colonise the Isle of Lewis with settlers from the Lowlands.

Since then, the Gaelic language has gradually diminished in most of Ireland and Scotland. The 19th century was the turning point as The Great Hunger in Ireland, and across the Irish Sea the Highland Clearances, caused mass emigration (leading to Anglicisation, but also a large diaspora). The language was rolled back to the Gaelic strongholds of the north west of Scotland, the west of Ireland and Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.

Modern

[edit]

The Gaelic revival also occurred in the 19th century, with organisations such as Conradh na Gaeilge and An Comunn Gàidhealach attempting to restore the prestige of Gaelic culture and the socio-communal hegemony of the Gaelic languages. Many of the participants in the Irish Revolution of 1912–1923 were inspired by these ideals and so when a sovereign state was formed (the Irish Free State), post-colonial enthusiasm for the re-Gaelicisation of Ireland was high and promoted through public education. Results were very mixed however and the Gaeltacht where native speakers lived continued to retract. In the 1960s and 70s, pressure from groups such as Misneach (supported by Máirtín Ó Cadhain), the Gluaiseacht Chearta Siabhialta na Gaeltachta and others; particularly in Connemara; paved the way for the creation of development agencies such as Údarás na Gaeltachta and state media (television and radio) in Irish.

The last native speaker of Manx died in the 1970s, though use of the Manx language never fully ceased. There is now a resurgent language movement and Manx is once again taught in all schools as a second language and in some as a first language.

Culture

[edit]

Gaelic society was traditionally made up of kin groups known as clans, each with its own territory and headed by a male chieftain. Succession to the chieftainship or kingship was through tanistry. When a man became chieftain or king, a relative was elected to be his deputy or 'tanist' (tánaiste). When the chieftain or king died, his tanist would automatically succeed him. The tanist had to share the same great-grandfather as his predecessor (i.e. was of the same derbfhine) and he was elected by freemen who also shared the same great-grandfather.[88][89] Gaelic law is known as the Fénechas or Brehon law. The Gaels have always had a strong oral tradition, maintained by shanachies.[90] In the ancient and medieval era, most Gaels lived in roundhouses and ringforts. The Gaels had their own style of dress, which became the modern belted plaid and kilt in Scotland. They also have their own extensive Gaelic literature, style of music and dances (Irish dancing and Highland dancing), social gatherings (Feis and Ceilidh), and their own sports (Gaelic games and Highland games).

Language

[edit]

Emergence

[edit]
Auraicept na n-Éces, 7th century, explaining ogham.

The Gaelic languages are part of the Celtic languages and fall under the wider Indo-European language family. There are two main historical theories concerning the origin and development of the Gaelic languages from a Proto-Celtic root: the North Atlantic-based Insular Celtic hypothesis posits that Goidelic and Brythonic languages have a more recent common ancestor than Continental Celtic languages, while the Q-Celtic and P-Celtic hypothesis posits that Goidelic is more closely related to the Celtiberian language, while Brythonic is closer to the Gaulish language.

Estimates of the emergence of proto-Gaelic in Ireland vary widely from the introduction of agriculture c. 7,000–6,000 BC to around the first[clarification needed] few centuries BC. Little can be said with certainty, as the language now known as Old Irish—ancestral to modern Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx—only began to be properly recorded with the Christianisation of Ireland in the 4th century, after the introduction of the Roman script. Primitive Irish does appear in a specialised written form, using a unique script known as Ogham. The oldest examples of Ogham have survived in the form of memorial inscriptions or short epitaphs on pillar-like stone monuments (see Mac Cairthinn mac Coelboth). Ogham stones are found throughout Ireland and neighbouring parts of Britain. This form of written Primitive Irish is thought to have been in use as early as 1000 BC. The script frequently encodes a name or description of the owner and surrounding region, and it is possible that the inscribed stones may have represented territorial claims.

Contemporary

[edit]
Respondents who stated they could speak Irish and Scottish Gaelic in the 2011 censuses.

The Gaelic languages have been in steep decline since the beginning of the 19th century, when they were majority languages of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands; today they are endangered languages.[91][92] As far back as the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1366, the English government had dissuaded use of Gaelic for political reasons.[93] The Statutes of Iona in 1609 and the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge in the Highlands (for most of its history) are also notable examples. As the old Gaelic aristocracy was displaced or assimilated, the language lost its prestige and became primarily a peasant language, rather than one of education and government. The spread of the English language has resulted in a vast majority of people of Gaelic ancestry being unable to speak a Goidelic language.

During the 19th century, a number of Gaeilgeoir organisations were founded to promote a broad cultural and linguistic revival. Conradh na Gaeilge (English: the Gaelic League) was set up in 1893 and had its origins in Charles Owen O'Conor's Gaelic Union, itself a derivative of the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language. Similar Highland Gaelic groups existed, such as An Comunn Gàidhealach. At this time, Irish Gaelic was widely spoken along the Western seaboard (and a few other enclaves) and the Gaelic League began defining it as the "Gaeltacht", idealised as the core of true Irish-Ireland, rather than the Anglo-dominated Dublin.[94] Although the Gaelic League itself aimed to be apolitical, this ideal was attractive to militant republicans such as the Irish Republican Brotherhood, who formulated and led the Irish Revolution at the turn of the 20th century; a key leader, Pádraig Pearse, imagined an Ireland "Not merely Free but Gaelic as well – Not merely Gaelic but Free as well." Scottish Gaelic did not undergo as extensive of a politicisation at this juncture, as nationalists there tended to focus on the Lowland mythos of William Wallace rather than the Gàidhealtachd.[95]

During the 1950s, the independent Irish state developed An Caighdeán Oifigiúil as a national standard for the Irish language (using elements from local dialects but leaning towards Connacht Irish), with a simplified spelling. Until 1973, school children had to pass Modern Irish to achieve a Leaving Cert and studying the subject remains obligatory. There are also Gaelscoileanna where children are taught exclusively through the medium of Irish. In the Gaeltacht itself, the language has continued to be in crisis under the pressure of globalism, but there are institutions such as Údarás na Gaeltachta and a Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, as well as media outlets such as TG4 and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta to support it. The last native Manx Gaelic speaker died in 1974, although there are ongoing attempts at revival.[96] While the Gàidhealtachd has retracted in the Highlands, Scottish Gaelic has enjoyed renewed support[97] with the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005, establishing the Bòrd na Gàidhlig under the devolved Scottish Government. This has seen the growth of Gaelic medium education. There are also media outlets such as BBC Alba and BBC Radio nan Gàidheal, although these have been criticised for excessive use of English and pandering to an English-speaking audience.[98]

Religion

[edit]

Pre-Christian

[edit]
An artistic rendering of the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill

The traditional, or "pagan", worldview of the pre-Christian Gaels of Ireland is typically described as animistic,[99] polytheistic, ancestor venerating and focused on the hero cult of archetypal Gaelic warriors such as Cú Chulainn and Fionn mac Cumhaill. The four seasonal festivals celebrated in the Gaelic calendar, still observed to this day, are Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain.[100] While the general worldview of the Gaelic tradition has been recovered, a major issue for academic scholars is that Gaelic culture was oral prior to the coming of Christianity and monks were the first to record the beliefs of this rival worldview as a "mythology". Unlike other religions, there is no overall "holy book" systematically setting out exact rules to follow, but various works, such as the Lebor Gabála Érenn, Dindsenchas, Táin Bó Cúailnge and Acallam na Senórach, represent the metaphysical orientation of Gaelachas.

The main gods held in high regard were the Tuatha Dé Danann, the superhuman beings said to have ruled Ireland before the coming of the Milesians, known in later times as the aes sídhe.[101] Among the gods were male and female deities such as The Dagda, Lugh, Nuada, The Morrígan, Aengus, Brigid and Áine, as well as many others. Some of them were associated with specific social functions, seasonal events and personal archetypal qualities. Some physical locations of importance in Ireland related to these stories include the Brú na Bóinne, Hill of Tara and Hill of Uisneach. Although the sídhe were held to intervene in worldly affairs sometimes, particularly battles and issues of sovereignty, the gods were held to reside in the Otherworld, also known as Mag Mell (Plain of Joy) or Tír na nÓg (Land of the Young). This realm was variously held to be located on a set of islands or underground. The Gaels believed that certain heroic persons could gain access to this spiritual realm, as recounted in the various echtra (adventure) and immram (voyage) tales.

Christianity

[edit]
Medieval high cross at Monasterboice

The Gaels underwent Christianisation during the 5th century and that religion, de facto, remains the predominant one to this day, although irreligion is fast rising.[102] At first the Christian Church had difficulty infiltrating Gaelic life: Ireland had never been part of the Roman Empire and was a decentralised tribal society, making patron-based mass conversion problematic.[74] It gradually penetrated through the remnants of Roman Britain and is especially associated with the activities of Patrick, a Briton who had been a slave in Ireland.[74] He tried to explain its doctrines by using elements of native folk tradition, so Gaelic culture itself was not completely cast aside and to some extent local Christianity was Gaelicised.[74] The last High King inaugurated in the pagan style was Diarmait mac Cerbaill. The 6th–9th centuries are generally held to be the height of Gaelic Christianity, with numerous saints, scholars and works of devotional art.

This balance began to unravel during the 12th century with the polemics of Bernard of Clairvaux, who attacked various Gaelic customs (including polygamy[103] and hereditary clergy) as "pagan".[104] The Catholic Church of the time, fresh from its split with the Eastern Orthodox Church, was becoming more centralised and uniform throughout Europe with the Gregorian Reform and military reliance on Germanic peoples at the fringes of Latin Christendom, particularly the warlike Normans. As part of this, the Catholic Church actively participated in the Norman conquest of Gaelic Ireland, with the issuing of Laudabiliter (claiming to gift the King of England the title "Lord of Ireland") and in Scotland strongly encouraged king David who Normanised that country. Even within orders such as the Franciscans, ethnic tensions between Norman and Gael continued throughout the later Middle Ages,[105] as well as competition for ecclesiastic posts.

During the 16th century, with the emergence of Protestantism and Tridentine Catholicism, a distinct Christian sectarianism made its way into Gaelic life, with societal effects carrying on down to this day. The Tudor state used the Anglican Church to bolster their power and enticed native elites into the project, without making much initial effort to convert the Irish Gaelic masses; meanwhile, the mass of Gaeldom (as well as the "Old English") became staunchly Catholic. Due to the geopolitical rivalry between Protestant Britain and Catholic France and Spain, the Catholic religion and its mostly Gaelic followers in Ireland were persecuted for a long time. In the Scottish Highlands too, the Gaels were generally slow to accept the Scottish Reformation. Efforts at persuading Highlanders in general of the value of this primarily Lowland movement were hampered by the complicated politics of the Highlands, with religious rivalries and clan antagonism becoming entwined (a prominent example was the intense rivalry, even hatred, between the generally Presbyterian Campbells and the generally Catholic MacDonalds), but most Highlanders later converted to Presbyterianism in the 19th century during the breakdown of the clan system. In a few remote areas, however, Catholicism was kept alive and even rejuvenated to some extent by Irish Franciscan missionaries,[citation needed] but in most of the Highlands it was replaced by Presbyterianism.

The adoption of the Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900) in the Highlands following the Disruption of 1843 was a reassertion of Gaelic identity in opposition to forces of improvement and clearance.[106][107][108]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Origin and migration theories about the Gaelic peoples vary, as do those about the Gaels as victims of colonization and the roles of the colonists.[7][8][9]
  2. ^ Census data for the United Kingdom are broken down on a constituency country basis. White Irish was an option in the ethnicity section of the 2011 Census of the United Kingdom; this did not distinguish between those of Gaelic-Irish descent and those of Anglo-Irish descent. The results for this were: 531,087 in England and Wales; 517,907 in Northern Ireland; and 53,000 in Scotland. According to the census, 83% (or 4,399,000) of the population in Scotland identified as "Scottish" and this did not distinguish between Gaelic Highlander and Anglo Lowlander ethnicities. In the rest of the United Kingdom, the Scots were included under White British.
  3. ^ A minority of historical revisionists have come to challenge the traditional account of the origins of Gaelic Scotland as being derived directly from Gaelic Ireland via population movement as laid out in works such as the Senchus fer n-Alban and the Annals of Tigernach. The pioneering figure in this direction is Dr. Ewan Campbell of the University of Glasgow with his 2001 paper Were the Scots Irish?; an archaeologist, he argues that there is no evidence of mass population movement across the Irish Sea for this time period at Dunadd.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Education and Irish Language - CSO - Central Statistics Office". www.cso.ie. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Census 2011: Key Statistics for Northern Ireland" (PDF). Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 7 February 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Osbourn 2006, p. 204.
  4. ^ a b c "National Household Survey (NHS) 2011". Statistics Canada. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  5. ^ a b "The Irish language in Australia: sociocultural identity in diasporic minority language use". Jill Vaughan. 7 February 2015.
  6. ^ Bechhofer, Frank; McCrone, David (4 March 2014). "What makes a Gael? Identity, language and ancestry in the Scottish Gàidhealtachd". Identities. 21 (2): 113–133. doi:10.1080/1070289X.2014.878249. ISSN 1070-289X. S2CID 143971850.
  7. ^ Brown, Daniel Guy (2014). The Highland Clearances and the Politics of Memory (Thesis). Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  8. ^ "The Scottish Highlands in Colonial & Psychodynamic Perspective". www.alastairmcintosh.com. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  9. ^ Mackinnon, Iain (1 May 2017). "Colonialism and the Highland Clearances" (PDF). Northern Scotland. 8 (1): 22–48. doi:10.3366/nor.2017.0125. ISSN 0306-5278.
  10. ^ a b c d Neolithic and Bronze Age migration to Ireland and establishment of the insular Atlantic genome Archived 8 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine "Three Bronze Age individuals from Rathlin Island (2026–1534 cal BC), including one high coverage (10.5×) genome, showed substantial Steppe genetic heritage indicating that the European population upheavals of the third millennium manifested all of the way from southern Siberia to the western ocean. This turnover invites the possibility of accompanying introduction of Indo-European, perhaps early Celtic, language. Irish Bronze Age haplotypic similarity is strongest within modern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh populations, and several important genetic variants that today show maximal or very high frequencies in Ireland appear at this horizon. These include those coding for lactase persistence, blue eye color, Y chromosome R1b haplotypes, and the hemochromatosis C282Y allele; to our knowledge, the first detection of a known Mendelian disease variant in prehistory. These findings together suggest the establishment of central attributes of the Irish genome 4,000 y ago."
  11. ^ Follett, Wesley. Céli Dé in Ireland: monastic writing and identity in the early Middle Ages. Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer.
  12. ^ O'Duffy 2005, p. 698
  13. ^ a b c "Did the Irish Come from Spain?". History Ireland. Autumn 2001.
  14. ^ Woolf, Alex (2007). From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070. Edinburgh University Press. p. 283.
  15. ^ O'Leary 2004, p. 376.
  16. ^ a b "Gaelic". Online Etymology Dictionary. 6 November 2012.
  17. ^ "Gael". Online Etymology Dictionary. 6 November 2012.
  18. ^ "Goidel". Oxford English Dictionary. December 1989. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2010..
  19. ^ a b c Koch 2004, p. 775.
  20. ^ "Féni". Oxford Reference. 13 November 2012. doi:10.1093/acref/9780198609674.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-860967-4.
  21. ^ a b c "Race, Language and Social Class in Seventeenth-Century Ireland". Études irlandaises. 2007.
  22. ^ a b "Irish". Online Etymology Dictionary. 6 November 2012.
  23. ^ a b c "On the Origin of the Names Érainn and Ériu". T. F. O'Rahilly. 6 November 2012. JSTOR 30007646.
  24. ^ Koch 2004, p. 709.
  25. ^ "How British is Scotland? Archaeological Origins of Scotland". Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies. 26 January 2015.
  26. ^ Campbell, Ewan (2001). "Were the Scots Irish?". Antiquity. 75 (75): 285–292. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00060920. S2CID 159844564.
  27. ^ "Scotland's DNA: Tartan export". The Scotsman. 3 March 2011. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  28. ^ Foster, S. M. (2014). Picts, Gaels and Scots: Early Historic Scotland.
  29. ^ Koch 2004, p. 1571.
  30. ^ a b "Scot". Online Etymology Dictionary. 13 February 2015.
  31. ^ "Erse". Online Etymology Dictionary. 13 February 2015.
  32. ^ "What is a Clan?" (PDF). Dr. Bruce Durie. 28 July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  33. ^ Ó Dónaill, Niall (1992). Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla. Dublin, Ireland: An Gúm. ISBN 1-85791-037-0
  34. ^ "fine". eDil. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  35. ^ "fían". eDil. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  36. ^ Byrne 1973, p. 291.
  37. ^ O'Duffy 2005, p. 263.
  38. ^ "Surnames in the Eoganacht sept project". Eoganacht Septs. 26 January 2015.
  39. ^ "Eo´ganacht septs". Family Tree DNA. 26 January 2015.
  40. ^ Thornton 2003, p. 201.
  41. ^ "Origins Part 2: Clan Colla and the Origins of Clan Donald". Clan Donald Heritage. 26 January 2015.
  42. ^ "DNA of the Three Collas". Peter Biggins. 26 January 2015.
  43. ^ Ellis 2002, p. 351.
  44. ^ Ellis 2002, p. 95.
  45. ^ "About the Clans of Ireland". Finte na hÉireann. 29 January 2015. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  46. ^ "The Highland origin of Clans". Association of Highland Clans & Societies. 29 January 2015. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  47. ^ "A Y-Chromosome Signature of Hegemony in Gaelic Ireland". American Journal of Human Genetics. 26 January 2015. PMC 1380239.
  48. ^ "Genetic investigation of the patrilineal kinship structure of early Medieval Ireland". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 26 January 2015. doi:10.1002/(ISSN)1096-8644.
  49. ^ Balaresque, Patricia; Bowden, Georgina R.; Adams, Susan M.; Leung, Ho-Yee; King, Turi E.; Rosser, Zoë H.; Goodwin, Jane; Moisan, Jean-Paul; Richard, Christelle; Millward, Ann; Demaine, Andrew G.; Barbujani, Guido; Previderè, Carlo; Wilson, Ian J.; Tyler-Smith, Chris; Jobling, Mark A. (26 January 2015). "A Predominantly Neolithic Origin for European Paternal Lineages". PLOS Biology. 8 (1): e1000285. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000285. PMC 2799514. PMID 20087410.
  50. ^ "Insights into the O'Neills of Ireland from DNA Testing". Edwin. B. O'Neill. 26 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  51. ^ "A Set of Distinctive Marker Values Defines a Y-STR Signature for Gaelic Dalcassian Families". Denis M. Wright. 26 January 2015. Archived from the original on 24 August 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  52. ^ "What's in a name? Y chromosomes, surnames and the genetic genealogy revolution" (PDF). Cell Press. 6 February 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  53. ^ "Haemochromatosis - The Celtic Disease" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  54. ^ Moffat, Alistair. "Celts' red hair could be attributed to the cloudy weather". Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  55. ^ Katsara, M. and Nothnagel, M. (2019). True colors: A literature review on the spatial distribution of eye and hair pigmentation. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 39,109-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2019.01.001
  56. ^ a b "Education and Irish Language - CSO - Central Statistics Office". www.cso.ie. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  57. ^ General Register Office, Scotland's Census 2001, Gaelic Report Archived 11 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  58. ^ Oifis Iomairtean na Gaidhlig/Office of Gaelic Affairs Archived 29 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  59. ^ "2011 Census for England and Wales: Religion and Ethnicity Data Overview" (PDF). BRAP. 7 February 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  60. ^ "Manx". World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. 7 February 2014. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015.
  61. ^ a b "Selected Social Characteristics in the United States (DP02): 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  62. ^ a b "Visual census, Ethnic origin and visible minorities, Canada". Statistics Canada. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  63. ^ "The People of Australia: Statistics from the 2013 Census" (PDF). Department of Immigration and Border Protection. 7 February 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  64. ^ "Census reveals scale of NZ Irish population". Irish Echo. 7 February 2015. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015.
  65. ^ "Seventh-Century Ireland as a Study Abroad Destination" (PDF). Colin Ireland. 10 February 2015.
  66. ^ ""They Accuse Us of Being Descended from Slaves": Settlement History, Cultural Syncretism and the Foundation of Medieval Icelandic Identity". Rutgers University. 10 February 2015. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  67. ^ MacCaluim, Alasdair (2001). Research on Language Policy and Planning. Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh.
  68. ^ J.X.W.P. Corcoram, "The origin of the Celts", in Nora Chadwick, The Celts (1970); David W. Anthony, The Horse, the Wheel and Language: How Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian steppes shaped the modern world (2007).
  69. ^ Ó Cróinín 2005, p. 166.
  70. ^ Rankin 2002, p. 306.
  71. ^ Byrne 1973, p. 73.
  72. ^ a b c Foster, Robert (2001). The Oxford History of Ireland. Oxford University Press. pp. 5–7.
  73. ^ Byrne 1973, p. 72.
  74. ^ a b c d e "The Adoption of Christianity by the Irish and Anglo-Saxons: The Creation of Two Different Christian Societies". Thomas Martz. 8 February 2015.
  75. ^ Stafford, Pauline (2013). A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland c.500 – 1100. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118499474.
  76. ^ Duffy, Seán (2005). Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 421.
  77. ^ Byrne 1973, p. 180.
  78. ^ a b "Ancient Ireland: The Monastic Tradition". Daily Kos. 28 March 2015.
  79. ^ MacManus 1921, p. 215.
  80. ^ "John Scottus Eriugena". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 28 March 2015.
  81. ^ Ureland, Per Sture (1996). Language Contact across the North Atlantic. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 115–116.
  82. ^ "Battle of Brunanburh AD937". University of Nottingham. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  83. ^ Taylor, Alice (2016). The Shape of the State in Medieval Scotland, 1124–1290. Oxford University Press. pp. 17–18.
  84. ^ Duffy, Seán (2002). Robert the Bruce's Irish Wars. Tempus Publishing. p. 129.
  85. ^ a b "Driving a Wedge within Gaeldom". History Ireland. 24 February 2015.
  86. ^ a b Ellis, Steven (2014). The Making of the British Isles: The State of Britain and Ireland, 1450–1660. Routledge. p. 296.
  87. ^ Szasz, Margaret (2007). Scottish Highlanders and Native Americans. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 48.
  88. ^ Nicholls, Kenneth W. (2008) [1987]. "Chapter XIV: Gaelic society and economy". In Cosgrove, Art (ed.). A New History of Ireland, Volume II: Medieval Ireland 1169–1534. Oxford University Press. pp. 397–438. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199539703.003.0015. ISBN 978-0-19-953970-3.
  89. ^ Newton, Michael (2000). A handbook of the Scottish Gaelic world. Four Courts Press. p. 114.
  90. ^ Glaser, Konstanze (2007). Minority Languages and Cultural Diversity in Europe. Multilingual Matters. pp. 265–266.
  91. ^ "Irish as an endangered language". Marlyhurst University. 21 July 2015. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015.
  92. ^ "'Endangered' Gaelic on map of world's dead languages". The Scotsman. 21 July 2015.
  93. ^ "Words Between Worlds: The Irish Language, the English Army, and the Violence of Translation in Brian Friel's Translations". Collin Meissner. 21 July 2015.
  94. ^ "Let's speak Gaeilge however we can and wherever we want". Irish Examiner. 21 July 2015.
  95. ^ Tanner 2006, p. 65.
  96. ^ "Manx: Bringing a language back from the dead". BBC. 21 July 2015.
  97. ^ "Language as activism: the big Gaelic comeback". New Statesman. 21 July 2015.
  98. ^ "BBC Alba is not a Gaelic channel". BBCAlbaNews. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  99. ^ Welch 1992, p. 4.
  100. ^ Welch 1992, p. 12.
  101. ^ Welch 1992, p. 2.
  102. ^ "Religiosity Plummets in Ireland and Declines Worldwide; Atheism on the Rise". Huffington Post. 21 July 2015.
  103. ^ "Marriage in Medieval Ireland by Art Cosgrove". History Ireland. 21 July 2015.
  104. ^ Bradshaw 1993, p. 26.
  105. ^ "Two nations, one order: the Franciscans in medieval Ireland". History Ireland. 21 July 2015.
  106. ^ Lynch, Michael (2007). The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0199234820. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  107. ^ Withers, Charles W. J. (2015). Gaelic Scotland: The Transformation of a Culture Region. Routledge. p. 342. ISBN 9781317332817.
  108. ^ Symonds, James (1999). "Toiling in the Vale of Tears: Everyday Life and Resistance in South Uist, Outer Hebrides, 1760—1860". International Journal of Historical Archaeology. 3 (2): 101–122. doi:10.1023/A:1021949701139. JSTOR 20852924. S2CID 160384214.

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]