| "Celticity" has been adopted as a node of | | | | found in Celticity an explanation for their peripheral |
| self-identification by a variety of peoples at | | | | "otherness", as well as a source of pride which |
| different times. During the 19th century, French | | | | could galvanize them into demands for |
| nationalists gave a privileged significance to their | | | | development and regeneration. Nationalists in |
| descent from the Gauls. The struggles of | | | | Northern Ireland sought an end to endemic |
| Vercingetorix were portrayed as a forerunner of | | | | discrimination with the Civil Rights Movement. |
| the 19th-century struggles in defence of French | | | | Breton regionalists participated in the May 1968 |
| nationalism, including the wars of both Napoleons | | | | revolt under Breton flags and with the slogan |
| (Napoleon I of France and Napoleon III of France). | | | | Bretagne=Colonie. The Republic of Ireland, on |
| Basic French history textbooks could begin with | | | | surpassing Britain's GDP per capita in the 1990s |
| the famous words "Nos ancetres les Gaulois..." | | | | for the first time in centuries, was given the |
| ("Our ancestors the Gauls..."). A similar use of | | | | moniker "Celtic tiger". Thanks in part to agitation |
| "celticity" for 19th century nationalism was made | | | | on the part of Cornish regionalists, Cornwall was |
| in Switzerland, when the Swiss were seen to | | | | able to obtain Objective One funding from the |
| originate in the Celtic tribe of the Helvetii, a link still | | | | European Union. Scotland and Wales obtained |
| found in the official Latin name of Switzerland, | | | | agencies like the Welsh Development Agency, and |
| Confoderatio Helvetica, the source of the nation | | | | Scottish and Welsh Nationalists have recently |
| code CH. | | | | supported the institution of the Scottish |
| At the same time, there was also a tendency to | | | | Parliament and National Assembly for Wales, |
| play up alternative heritages in the British Isles at | | | | which are seen by many as a first step towards |
| certain times, partially as a rationale for non-English | | | | eventual independence from the UK. More broadly, |
| parts of the islands to fully participate in the | | | | a distinct identity in opposition to that of the |
| British Empire. For example, in the Isle of Man, in | | | | metropolitan capitals has been forged and taken |
| the Victorian era, the "Viking" heritage was | | | | strong root. |
| emphasised, and in Scotland, both Norse and | | | | These latter evolutions have proceeded hand in |
| Anglo-Saxon heritage was played up. | | | | hand with the growth of an pan-Celtic or |
| With the advance of Indo-European studies, | | | | inter-Celtic dimension, seen in many organizations |
| philologists also established that there was a | | | | and festivals operating across various Celtic |
| relationship between the Goidelic and Brythonic | | | | countries. Celtic studies departments at many |
| languages, as well as a relationship between these | | | | universities in Europe and beyond, have studied |
| languages and the extinct Celtic languages such as | | | | the various ancient and modern Celtic languages |
| Gaulish, spoken in classical times. The term "Celtic" | | | | and associated history and folklore under one |
| therefore came to be widely applied (for the first | | | | roof. |
| time) to the Goidelic and Brythonic languages, and | | | | The Celtic link is also claimed to come mainly |
| by extension to the peoples that spoke them. | | | | from: |
| A romantic image of the Celt as noble savage | | | | language |
| was cultivated by the early William Butler Yeats, | | | | music |
| Lady Gregory, Lady Charlotte Guest, Lady | | | | cultural events |
| Llanover, James Macpherson, Chateaubriand, | | | | sport |
| Theodore Hersart de la Villemarque and the many | | | | The roots revival, applied to Celtic music, has |
| others influenced by them. This image coloured | | | | brought much inter-Celtic cross-fertilization, as, for |
| not only the English perception of their neighbours | | | | instance, Welsh musicians have revived the use of |
| on the so-called "Celtic fringe" (compare the stage | | | | the mediaeval Welsh bagpipe under the influence |
| Irishman), but also Irish nationalism and its | | | | of the Breton biniou, Irish uillean pipes and famous |
| analogues in the other Celtic-speaking countries. | | | | Scottish pipes, or the Scots have revived the |
| Among the enduring products of this resurgence | | | | bodhran from Irish influence. Sports such as |
| of interest in a romantic, pre-industrial, brooding, | | | | Hurling and Shinty are seen as being 'Celtic', whilst |
| mystical Celticity are Gorseddau, the revival of | | | | the Irish fleadh is seen as an equivalent to the |
| the Cornish language, and the revival of the Gaelic | | | | Breton fest noz. |
| Games. | | | | The USA has also taken part in discussions of |
| In the decades leading up to World War II, the | | | | modern Celticity. For example, James H. Webb, in |
| various meanings attributed to Celtic "race" were | | | | his 2004 book Born Fighting How the Scots-Irish |
| widely discussed in Europe. The so-called Alpine | | | | Shaped America, controversially asserts that the |
| race was identified with the ancient Celts and their | | | | early "pioneering" immigrants to North America |
| descendants, and classical sources were scoured | | | | were of Scots-Irish origins. He goes on to argue |
| for appropriate stereotypes to apply to this race. | | | | that their distinct "Celtic traits" (loyalty to kin, |
| Modern 'Celticity' | | | | mistrust of governmental authority, and military |
| After World War II, "race" went out of fashion | | | | readiness), in contrast to the "Anglo-Saxon" |
| and "culture" took its place. Many of the same | | | | settlers, helped construct the modern "American |
| stereotypes and caricatures of Celticity once | | | | identity". Irish Americans also played an important |
| attributed to the Celtic or Alpine race, were thus | | | | role in the shaping of 19th-century Irish |
| recycled under the label of culture. But since the | | | | republicanism through the Fenian movement, the |
| 1960s, Celticity has been put to a somewhat | | | | development of a discourse of the Great Hunger |
| different use. The peoples of the "Celtic fringe" | | | | as a British atrocity, and so on. |