Ireland and the Celts

Ireland has been formally identified with Celts since the 16th century, though Celts influenced Irish history before then. Julius Caesar's commentaries divide Gaul (not the British Isles) "into three ethnic regions, by no means culturally or linguistically identical: Celtae, Aquitani, and Belgae" (Rankin 2), placing them on the Continent. Early Irish mythic sources, partly taking their cue from classical descriptions of the Celts as Scoti, identified themselves with Scythians, who flourished in ancient Asia Minor. However, La TFne Iron Age artwork, designating the Continental encounter of Celts, Greeks, and Etruscans and characterized by highly stylized and abstract animal and geometric design, was found in Ireland that dated from the third century BC. That suggests that Celts, migrating ubiquitously across Europe, were already in Ireland.

According to Irish legend, Scota, a pharaoh's daughter, voyaged to Ireland about 1000 BC and married the Spanish conqueror Milesius (Rankin 26). Accordingly, the Irish are "popularly known as the Milesian Race" (MacManus 1). Scotia was Ireland's name at one pe

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Category: History - I