CELTIC
There are TWO pronunciations for the word Celtic:
Celtic (as in Keltic) and Celtic (as in Seltic).
Lets take the first:
There are generally six Celtic peoples recognized in the
world today. They divide into two groups, the Brythonic
(or British) Celts, and the Gaelic Celts. The Brythonic
Celts are the Welsh, Cornish and Bretons; the Gaels are
the Irish, Scots and Manx (inhabitants of the Isle of
Man). Some people recognize a seventh Celtic nation in
the region of Galicia in Spain (their Celtic language
died out a thousand years ago, and so the Celtic links
are more tenous).
Because of the great potato famine in Ireland in
the last century, so many Irish migrated to the U.S.
that they are by far the largest contingent of Celts in
this country. Many people here mistakenly believe that
Celtic means the same as Irish (this, of course, does
not go down well with the rest of the Celts). The
Scots form the next largest group of Celts in the
U.S., with the Welsh trailing in numbers. How many Celts
are there here? It's hard to say exactly, because of the
number of part-Celtic Americans, but it is at least a
quarter of the population.
The history of the Celtic peoples goes back some
thousands of years; at one time all of Europe was
Celtic. The earliest European Celtic culture was in
Hallstadt, Austria, and this was followed by the La Tene
Celts in Switzerland. Over two thousand years ago
England was ruled entirely by Celts; eventually the
Romans, Jutes, Angles and Saxons came and pushed the
Celts to the north and west. One of the great Celtic
events of history was the fifth-century battle between
King Arthur and his Celtic army against the dark pagan
hordes in England (as the Celts termed the non-Celtic
peoples); the Celts considered King Arthur's loss in
that battle to be the death of civilization. King Arthur
himself remains an important figure in Celtic legend;
the original story is now much embroidered with medieval
knights and traditions.
When Christianity came to the Celtic lands of Britain
and Ireland, the monks of the seventh century adapted
the ancient Celtic art forms to the new religion; the
Celtic cross and tree-of-life designs, for example, came
from this marriage. Writing also came to the Celts for
the first time; the most famous manuscript by the monks
is the beautiful Book of Kells, on display in the
library of Trinity College in Dublin. (The historical
Brian Boru harp is also on display in the same room.)
Modern Celtic peoples have evolved symbols for
themselves, and in North America people of Celtic
descent often wear these symbols to show which group
they are from. For instance, the commonest Irish symbol
is the three-leaved shamrock, although the harp is often
used as well. The Scottish symbol is a thistle, along
with wearing of tartans. The Welsh flag is a red dragon
on a green-and-white background; the Welsh consider the
red dragon as their most Welsh symbol, but along with
the dragon they recognize the leek and the daffodil.
The Celts are the most hospitable people you could hope
to find anywhere. Are you of Celtic blood? Yes?
No? It doesn't matter! Welcome, more welcomes and a
hundred thousand welcomes! Have something to eat and
drink, and we'll talk all night. Perhaps there will be
music, singing and dancing. Whatever, have a good time
and please come again.
THE SCOTS ARE OF COURSE CELTIC - well those originally
from the west.
NUMBER TWO
CELTIC FOOTBALL CLUB - GLASGOW -
pronounced "sel-tick"
 
Paul's team! They play at Glasgow,
Founded: 1888
Ground: Celtic Park Also known as 'Paradise'
Capacity: 60,832 (today)
Record Gate: 92,000 (v Rangers 1938)
Club Colours: Emerald green and white hooped jerseys,
white shorts and white socks.
Manager: Gordon Strachan
Honours
European Cup Champions: 1966-67
Scottish League Champions: 39 times
Scottish Cup Winners: 33 times
League Cup Winners: 12 times
dateline 27 June 2006...
Jiri Jarosik has signed on at Celtic Park in a £2
million deal. The Hoops are also keen to sort out
the Derek Riordan mess, so the talented striker can join
them for pre-season training. Another new signing
Evander Sno reckons he'll be a bigger star at Parkhead
than Henrik Larsson.
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