Celt-washing Irish Mythology or Irish-washing Celtic Mythology?

---

The underlying issue here is this: “Celtic” is a complicated term.

As far back as the fifth century BCE, Classical writers were referring to inhabitants of Gaul as Celts or Keltoí.

And for a long time, “Celtic” and “Gaulish” (or “Gallic”) were effectively synonyms. 

Pssst. You can watch a video adaptation of this Mythic Rant right here:

But beginning around the 17th-century CE, “Celtic” took on a new, linguistic connotation, as scholars discovered that the language spoken by the ancient Gauls had a lot in common with the languages of other ancient peoples—including the Britons of Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany, and the Goidels or Gaels of Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.

Thus, the existence of a Proto-Celtic language was proposed, from which Gaulish, Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Irish, Scots-Gallic, and Manx were all descended.

A Celtic Revival soon followed, as more and more people began taking an interest in their newfound “Celtic” heritage. 

This is the history that has led some folks to declare: “Celtic” is a made-up term. It’s a made-up people. And using “Celtic” to refer to the stories of the ancient Irish is akin to “Celt-washing” Irish mythology.

To which I’d counter:

All terms were made up at some point. Take “animals,” for example. It’s a made-up group of organisms. 

And if you feel yourself getting ready to say: yeah, but, we classified certain organisms as animals based on their shared characteristics. 

That’s exactly how certain languages, including Irish, came to be classified as Celtic.

And erasing the term “Celtic” wouldn’t erase the linguistic connections that led scholars to classify Irish as such.

All that being said, an important clarification is in order: while Ireland’s inhabitants were all Celtic-speakers by the time St. Patrick showed up in the 5th-century, humans have been on the island that would become known as Ireland since the Stone Age.

Proto-Celtic, meanwhile, wouldn’t emerge until the late Bronze Age.

So you know all those awesome megalithic structures scattered across Ireland? Most of those were built thousands of years before the arrival of the Celtic language.

And yet Irish mythology is full of references to them. Neolithic dolmens, cairns, and tumuli became the homes of the Irish gods and portals to the Otherworld. Or Otherworlds, as it were.

So while Irish deities do appear to have cognates in Welsh mythology and Gaulish mythology, which makes sense given that the Irish, Welsh, and Gaulish languages were all descended from a common linguistic ancestor, Irish mythology is still distinctly Irish.

And the Gaelic/Goidelic Celtic-speakers of Ireland would spread that mythology to Scotland and the Isle of Man, hence it’s also appropriate to use the term Gaelic mythology to refer to this tradition as it spread beyond Ireland.

But at least one commenter was none too happy that I chose to highlight Irish mythology in my latest video on Irish mythology in pop culture.

Their argument being that I was Irish-washing Celtic mythology. And that Irish mythology is really just localized Gaulish mythology.

To which I’d counter: go grab me a book of Gaulish myths and show me the similarities to the Irish myths.

But you can’t. Know why? 

Because apart from ancient shrines and inscriptions (which is how we know about Gaulish deities like Cernunnos, who doesn’t have an obvious counterpart in Irish mythology, I should add), the myths of the ancient Gauls weren’t preserved—not in the same way the Irish or Welsh myths were preserved, courtesy of Christian scribes.

Did those scribes do a good job? That’s a subject for another rant.

But to close this case, and to hopefully clear my name of any wrongdoing, let me state for the record that I’m not trying to wash anything with my Irish mythology videos.

I am intentionally keeping things dirty. Because that’s the reality. It’s a nuanced subject.

Yes, there is some connective tissue between Irish, Welsh, and Gaulish mythology, just as there is some connective tissue between ancient Irish, Welsh, and Gaulish culture—the presence of a druid class being a prime example.

“Celtic” is the umbrella term we can apply to those shared characteristics.

“Irish” is the narrower term we can apply to the culture and mythology of Ireland specifically.

And as always, I. E. Kneverday is what you can call me.

I’m the editor of the Celtic fantasy short story anthology Neon Druid and the creator of IrishMyths.com.

Thanks for comin’ out.

---

Want to learn about the darker side of Irish and Celtic mythology? Check out…

Samhain in Your Pocket

---

Irish Monsters in Your Pocket

---

Neon Druid: An Anthology of Urban Celtic Fantasy

---

More the listenin’ type?

The IrishMyths StoryTime podcast is now live! Listen on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.