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Celts and the Celtic Language

The Celts were people dominating most of what today is western Europe, but north and northwest of the Roman and Greek "areas".  They  (the Celts) were known, and described, by the Greeks and the Romans  already some  500 years BC. Most of them may have lived in present-day Germany, around the upper end of the river Donau (Danube). At some point in time they (many of them) resided in Galatia and were actually called the Galates by the Greeks at that time. So Galates is the Greek name for the Celts, which might be important  to make a note of. Their name appears in Roman sources as Celtae (from Keltoi, the name of these people as noted by Herodotus and other Greek writers), Galatae, or Galli. This was due to the fact that Keltoi refers to the lighter coloring in complexion than the Mediterranean people but they also differed from the Teutonic type of Scandinavians. The Celts occupied central Gaul.

About  the 7th century BC the Celts conquered Catalonia and reached into Spain. The Celtic language spread into France.

There's always been somewhat of a confusion regarding the term Celt and its usage. Correctly used it has a linguistic connection.

Celtic was originally the speech of much of western and central Europe. There was more than one Celtic language. The Celtic languages fall into two main divisions:  the Goidelic group (Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx) and the Brythonic group  comprising Welsh, Breton and Cornish.  Cornish is extinct since c 1780.

A major difference between the two divisions is that  Goidelic group retained the Indo-European labio-velar q (later c, k) where the  Brythonic  group altered this  sound to p. Irish mac (=boy), ceathair (four) and ceann (=head) become in Welsh map, pedwar and penn.

Celtic art was present in Eire (Ireland) up till and about 1000 AD. Some Christian art forms were dominated by Celtic design during   the Middle Ages.

The Celtic languages are are usually divided into Britannic, Gaelic and Gallic. Irish belongs to the Gaelic language and is the most important Celtic language as it is so richly represented in literature throughout the Middle Ages. Irish was decided upon as an official language for the Republic of Ireland in 1937.

When the Celts reached Britain differences in speech arose. Gaelic prevailed in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man whereas the Brythonic prevailed in Wales.

The Celtic literature, and literary heritage, represents the oldest vernacular  

tradition in western Europe. Irish poetry from the 6th century has survived.

A native Christian church, the Celtic Church,  grew up in Ireland from 432 onwards thanks to St Patrick.

Scots Gaelic has been better preserved than Irish, with 50,000 speakers compared to not more than 30,000 native speakers in Ireland.

The Brythonic languages are much more flourishing, Breton about a million and Welsh by somewhat less than a million.

Manx is not spoken by more than a few old people.

Celts dominated much of western and central Europe in the 1st millennium BC. 

Early archaeological evidence associated with the Celts places them in what is now France and western Germany in the late Bronze Age, around 1200 BC. 

Between the 5th and 1st centuries BC, Celtic influence extended from Spain to the shores of the Black Sea. This later Iron Age phase is called La Tène.  Celtic tribes invaded and plundered Rome in 390, and sacked Delphi in 279. Some migrated to Asia Minor.

In Britain  the Celtic language and culture survived. In medieval and modern times the Celtic tradition and languages survived in Brittany ( western France), Wales, the Scottish Highlands, and Ireland.

The unit of Celtic society was the tribe. Within tribes, society was stratified, the principal groups being: the nobility, or ruling families in each tribe; free farmers who were also fighting men; artisans, manual workers, and other unfree people; and slaves. There was also a learned class which included druids. In early times, tribes were ruled by kings, and this situation seems to have persisted in Britain until the Roman conquest. In those parts of Celtic Europe most open to influence from the Classical world, elected magistrates later replaced kings.

Roman writers described the lifestyle of the Celts. These accounts suggest that the Celts were fond of feasting and drinking, storytelling, and boasting of daring exploits. Trade was important; luxury goods and wine were imported in exchange for dogs, horses, hides, salt, and slaves.

The Celtic parts of the British Isles experienced raids by Scandinavian peoples during the 9th and 10th centuries, and assimilated those that settled. The Gaelic kings of the Scots emerged as masters of Pictland, and then dominated the remaining Britons in south-western Scotland, and the English in the south-east. The Welsh-English border stabilized, while Cornwall lost its political independence. In Ireland, similar processes were leading towards the creation of a national kingship. The four modern nations had emerged: three Celtic and one Germanic.

The Norman conquest of England in 1066 led to that of Wales and, by the 12th century, to the normanization of Ireland and Scotland. Celtic languages and culture were deposed from court and became more demotic. A similar process occurred in Brittany. The social climate that has developed in modern Britain and France has both given opportunities for Celtic elements to rise and frustrated them by religious or cultural intolerance.