The Celts were a huge civilisation that existed throughout Europe. They were so big, that I have to dedicate a separate article for Celtic myths and legends, as well as this overview of the Celts.
The earliest remnants of Ancient Ireland can be found in the form of the Celts. Fierce warriors, the Celts had one of the largest kingdoms in Europe. Many forms of Celts existed throughout Europe, but I will be focusing on the Gaelic Celts. Although not much is known about the Celts, they paved the way for Christian Ireland, and enriched Irish culture greatly through language and stories.
The Celts arrived in Ireland at around 500 BC. Before the Celts, Ireland was inhabited by hunter gatherers and cavemen. The name Celt came from the Greek ‘Keltnoi’, meaning barbarian. The Celts were also known as Gauls to the Romans.
The Irish Celts were one of the most developed societies in the world at the time. Ireland was divided up into 150 ‘tuatha’, or kingdoms, which was ruled by a ‘rí’, or king.
Fun fact: The Celts spoke Gaelic, an early form of the Irish language. For this reason, many Irish people would be able to understand a Celt if they existed today.
The Celts had a class system, which consisted of the king, followed by nobles (warriors, judges, druids, poets and craftsmen), and then at the bottom was commoners and slaves. Women were viewed as equal to men in Celtic society. Women could own land, and were very independant. In fact, Boudicca, the most famous Celtic warrior, was a woman.
Judges were known as brehons. The legal system was known as Brehon Law, and it existed in Ireland until 1603, when King James I abolished it in favour of more protestant laws.
The Celts were a very smart group. They built forts using the landscape around them. This included ringforts, which had moats built around them in the shape of a ring, and ‘crannógs’ (meaning young tree), which were forts built in the middle of lakes, made from stones, rocks and wood.
Why were the Celts important?
The Celts were the first people to wear pants. Before that, people would wear skirts, or togas exclusively. They invented pants in order to keep warm during the cold winters of Ireland.
The Celts also gave Ireland a huge part of its culture. The Celts were known to have huge drinking festivals, where they would celebrate and get drunk.
Furthermore, The Celts gave Ireland the Irish language. Although Irish is a dying language, it is still a huge part of our culture, and is learned by every student in school.
The Celts never wrote down any of their stories, so all of their history comes from bards and druids, who would travel aroung the country sharing stories. Irish legends such as Cúchulainn (coo culan) and Fionn mac Cumhaill (f-yun mac cool) came from these epic storytellers.
The Celts also gave us hurling, the national sport of Ireland. No, not vomiting, but a field sport played with sticks. It is the fastest sport on grass, and I would highly recommend looking up highlights. It looks like a combination of ice hockey, lacrosse and baseball, and makes basketball look boring.
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