Gaels

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be confused with Gauls.
This article is about the Gaelic people. For other uses, see Gael (disambiguation).
Gaels
Na Gaeil Na Gidheil Ny Gaeil
Green Sunburst Flag.svg
An Gal Grine, a traditional Gaelic symbol first mentioned in the Fiannaocht.
Total population
c. 1.9 million (linguistic)
Regions with significant populations
Ireland 1,770,000 (linguistic)[1]
United Kingdom 122,518 (linguistic)[2]
United States 27,475 (linguistic)[3]
Canada 9,000 (linguistic)[4]
Australia 2,717 (linguistic)[5]
New Zealand 670 (linguistic)
Languages
Irish Scottish Gaelic Manx
(Non-Gaelic English Scots)
Religion
Christianity Irreligion (historic Paganism)
Related ethnic groups
Norse-Gaels Gaelicised Normans
The Gaels (Irish pronunciation [ge?l?], Scottish Gaelic pronunciation [k??.?l?];
Irish Na Gaeil, Scottish Gaelic Na Gidheil, Manx Ny Gaeil) are an ethnolinguistic
group native to northwestern Europe.[a] They are associated with the Gaelic
languages a branch of the Celtic languages comprising Irish, Manx and Scottish
Gaelic. Historically, the ethnonyms Irish and Scots referred to the Gaels in
general, but the scope of those nationalities is today more complex.

Gaelic language and culture originated in Ireland, extending to Dl 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 and Cornwall. In the Viking Age, small numbers of Vikings raided and settled
in Gaelic lands, becoming the Norse-Gaels. In the 9th century, Dl 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, Normans conquered parts of Ireland (leading to centuries of

conflict), 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 I sought to subdue the Gaels and wipe out their culture; in Ireland by
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.

Gaelic society traditionally centered around the clan, each with its own territory
and chieftain, elected through tanistry. The Gaels were originally pagans who
worshipped the Tuatha D Danann, 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 Gaelic ogham
alphabet began in the 1st century. Their conversion to Christianity accompanied the
introduction of writing, 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
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 (in
Scotland) became the belted plaid and kilt. They also have distinctive music,
dance, and sports. Gaelic culture continues to be a major component of Irish,
Scottish and Manx culture.

Contents [hide]
1 Ethnonyms
1.1 Gaels
1.2 Irish
1.3 Scots
2 Population
2.1 Kinship groups
2.2 Human genetics
2.3 Demographics
2.4 Diaspora
3 History
3.1 Origins
3.2 Ancient
3.3 Medieval
3.4 Imperial
3.5 Modern
4 Culture
4.1 Language
4.1.1 Emergence
4.1.2 Contemporary
4.2 Religion
4.2.1 Pre-Christian
4.2.2 Christianity
5 Notes
6 References
6.1 Bibliography
7 External links
Ethnonyms[edit]
Part of a series on
Indo-European topics
Indo-European migrations.gif
Languages[show]
Philology[show]
Origins[show]
Archaeology[show]
Peoples and societies[show]
Religion and mythology[show]
Indo-European studies[show]
v t e
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. 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 Milesian, are not
often used. An Old Norse name for the Gaels was Vestmenn (Westmen).[9] Informally,
archetypal forenames such as Tadhg or Dmhnall are sometimes used for Gaels.[10]

Gaels[edit]
The word Gaelic is first recorded in print in the English language in the 1770s,
[11] replacing the earlier word Gathelik which is attested as far back as 1596.[11]
Gael, defined as a member of the Gaelic race, is first attested in print in 1810.
[12] The name ultimately derives from the Old Irish word Godel, spelled officially
today as Gaedheal, Gael (Irish and Manx) and Gidheal (Scottish Gaelic). In early
modern Irish, the words Gaelic and Gael were spelled respectively Gaoidhealg and
Gaoidheal.[13] 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).[14]

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 Primitive Welsh
form that became an Old Welsh term, roughly meaning forest people, wild men or
later warriors.[13] It is recorded as a personal name in the Book of Llandaff. This
term shared a root with the Old Irish fad deer, and was partially cognate with
Fni, from the Proto-Indo-European weidh-n-jo-.[13][15] This latter word is the
origin of Fianna and Fenian.

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 13th century in the form of Irisce, which derived from the stem
of Old English Iras inhabitant of Ireland, from Old Norse irar.[16] The ultimate
origin of this word is thought to be from the Old Irish riu, which is from Old
Celtic Iveriu, likely associated with the Proto-Indo-European term pi-wer- meaning
fertile.[16] riu is mentioned as a goddess in the Lebor Gabla renn as a daughter
of Ernmas of the Tuatha D Danann. Along with her sisters Banba and Fdla, 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 2nd century Geographia, possibly
based on earlier sources; located a group known as the Iverni (Greek ???e????) in
the south-west of Ireland.[17] This group has been associated with the rainn of
Irish tradition by T. F. O'Rahilly and others.[17] The rainn; claiming descent
from a Milesian eponymous ancestor named Ailill rann; were the hegemonic power in
Ireland prior to the rise of the descendants of Conn of the Hundred Battles and Mug
Nuadat. The rainn included peoples such as the Corcu Logde and Dl Riata. Ancient
Roman writers, such as Caesar, Pliny and Tacitus, derived from Ivernia the name
Hibernia.[17] Thus the name Hibernian also comes from this root (although the
Romans tended to call the Gaels Scoti).[18]

Scots[edit]
The Romans began to use the term Scoti to describe Gaels in the Latin language from
the 4th century onward.[19][20] 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 Dl 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 Godel Glas.

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 Dl Riata). Germanic groups tended to refer to the Gael as Scottas[20]
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. Lowland Germanics 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 (from
'Irish').[21]