Who Were (Are) the Celts?

by Tom Crotty

The word Celt (kelt) was first used by the Greeks in the 6th century BC to refer to the tribes of peoples scattered across Europe north of the Alps and the River Danube. These peoples, connected by a common language, were free-spirited, fierce warriors renowned for their metal work, love of talk and feasting, and spirituality (embodied by their priest-class, the Druids), but they were primarily known to the Greeks and Romans as fierce adversaries.

At the height of their power the Celtic tribes dominated Europe from the Black Sea to the British Isles, from Galicia in northwest Spain to Galatia in modern-day Turkey. They sacked Rome in 387 BC and large portions of Greece, including the holy city of Delphi, a hundred years later. But the Celts, possibly because of their wonderful love of freedom, never organized into a unified, coherent society as the Greeks and Romans did. And it was their downfall.

In the first century AD, Julius Caesar began his war to conquer the Gauls (the continental Celts). Caesar was very successful. In just a few years he did to the Celts what European settlers did to the American Indians; he killed large numbers of them and forced the survivors to adapt to Roman civilization. He also drove many westward to Britain, Scotland, and Ireland. In the British Isles, the Celts were further killed and driven toward the western fringes of Europe by the Romans, Saxons, Normans, and various English rulers, including Queen Elizabeth I, Henry VIII, and Oliver Cromwell. Like the American Indians, it is a wonder that the Celts have survived at all.

Today, the Celts live and speak the various dialects of their language in Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany. Celtic descendants also live in the United States; about 50 to 60 million Americans are of Celtic descent. Many came here to escape political and religious persecution. Many came during the Irish famine years in the middle of the 19th century.

One of the primary areas settled by the Celts in the New World was the Appalachian Mountain regions -- the ancient mountain chain that stretches from Nova Scotia to northern Alabama. It is likely that these green valleys and highlands, other than providing a remote haven for a wounded people and a barrier to outsiders, reminded the Scotch and Irish settlers of their homes in the Old World. In these mountains, one can still find traces of Celtic language, music, character, and even spirituality, which is based to a large degree on a love of nature. We consider ourselves to be citizens of this Celtic state -- a state of mind at present -- the Celtic Republic of Appalachia. And we are interested in helping other people of Celtic descent connect with their culture, the very old culture of the Celts.