The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

and the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

– referred to as the

Celtic nations The Celtic nations or Celtic countries are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term ''nation'' is used in its original sense to mean a ...

; it places particular emphasis on promoting the

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...

of those nations. It also advocates further self-governance in the Celtic nations and ultimately for each nation to be an independent state in its own right.Current Campaigns
, celticleague.net. Retrieved 26 February 2016. The Celtic League is an accredited

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

with roster consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (EcoSoc).

Aims

The Celtic League presents its aims as including: * "Fostering co-operation between Celtic peoples." * "Developing the consciousness of the special relationship and solidarity between them." * "Making our national struggles and achievements better known abroad." * "Campaigning for a formal association of Celtic nations to take place once two or more of them have achieved self-government." * "Advocating the use of the national resources of each of the Celtic countries for the benefit of all its people." "Each Celtic nation is conditioned by a different history and so we must not expect uniformity of thought, but instead allow diversity to express itself within the Celtic League. In this way, we may better recognise those areas of possible co-operation and eventually formulate a detailed common policy. With this we can work out which kind of relations between our communities will enable them to enjoy freedoms and liberties at both individual and community level." Politically, the Celtic league seeks to create six

sovereign states A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...

from the six

it acknowledges as existing, associated in some way. There is some variation in the understanding of these aims, which ranges from annual general meetings (AGMs), to an actual federation along the lines of the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

. The 1987 Celtic League Annual General Meeting stated that it: "firmly reiterates that the Celtic League has a specific function within Celtia, i.e. to work for the reinstatement of our languages to a viable position, and the attainment of sufficient economic, cultural and political autonomy to guarantee the survival of our civilisation into the 21st century. This emphasis on the languages of our six nations marks us now as distinct cultural communities, and therefore as distinct nations."

History

Founded in 1961, the present Celtic League grew out of various other pan-Celtic organisations, particularly the

Celtic Congress The International Celtic Congress (, , , , , ) is a cultural organisation that seeks to promote the Celtic languages of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. The International Celtic Congress is a non-political chari ...

, but with a more political emphasis. Previously,

Hugh MacDiarmid Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid ( , ), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish ...

and others had suggested something along the same lines. The Celtic League was started at the 1961

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

, which was held at

Rhosllannerchrugog RhosllanerchrugogDavies, Jenkins and Baines (eds) ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales'', 2008, p.752 (; Welsh Language Commissioner, standardised and also spelled as Rhosllannerchrugog, or simply Rhos) is a village and Community (Wales), ...

near

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

in northeast

. Two of the founding members were

Gwynfor Evans Gwynfor Richard Evans (1 September 1912 – 21 April 2005) was a Welsh politician, lawyer and author. He was President of the Welsh political party Plaid Cymru for thirty-six years and was the first member of Parliament to represent it at West ...

and J. E. Jones, who were respectively president and secretary-general of the Welsh nationalist political party

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

at the time. Interest was expressed by Scottish parties, and also by Breton nationalists.

Branches

There are six main, national branches of the Celtic League in the six Celtic countries, generally known by the Celtic language names of their countries: Ireland is known as ''

Éire ( , ) is the Irish language name for "Ireland". Like its English counterpart, the term is used for both the island of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the sovereign state that governs 85% of the island's landmass. The latter is distinc ...

'',

as ''

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...

'',

as ''Cymru'',

as ''Breizh'',

as ''Kernow'' and the

as ''Mannin'' or ''Mann''. When concluding against the inclusion of the allegedly historically Celtic regions Galicia and

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

(Asturies) in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, the 1987 Celtic League Annual General Meeting stated that, because the Celtic League's specific function, "to work for the reinstatement of our languages ... and the attainment of ... political autonomy", must remain undiluted, "this AGM considers that it would be condescending and inappropriate to offer a limited status to the applicant nations .e., Galicia and Asturiaswithin the Celtic League." The AGM expressed that it "encourage them in their efforts to develop the Celtic elements in their heritage" such that "from such areas, might come the support and understanding we need to pursue our aims more effectively" (in Spain, there are no surviving Celtic languages, although in Galicia there is a minority nationalist movement which seeks independence from the Spanish Kingdom and promotes a Celtic identity as a fundamental aspect of Galician culture). There are various

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

branches, that play little part in the annual general meetings: A

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

n branch was founded in the

Chubut River The Chubut River (; ; ) is located in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina. Its name comes from the Tehuelche word , which means 'transparent'. The Argentine Chubut Province, through which the river flows, is named after it. Welsh settle ...

Valley,

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

(the location of

y Wladfa Y Wladfa (, 'The Colony'), also occasionally Y Wladychfa Gymreig (, 'The Welsh Settlement'), refers to the establishment of settlements by Welsh colonists and immigrants in the Argentine Patagonia, beginning in 1865, mainly along the coast of ...

, a Welsh colony), at the end of 2009; it remained active , with Mónica Jones as secretary and her husband Michael Jones filling an unspecified post. Celtic League, American Branch (CLAB) was founded in New York City in 1974, and has its own newsletter, but reported decreased activity , the same year its domain name, CelticLeague.org, was lost to a

cybersquatter Cybersquatting (also known as domain squatting) is the practice of registering, trafficking in, or using an Domain name, Internet domain name, with a bad faith intent to profit from the Goodwill (accounting), goodwill of a trademark belonging to so ...

. CLAB organized various annual events, including the Pan-Celtic Conference. There is a generalized International Branch for " ose living far away from the national branches", including prospective Spanish members in Galicia and Asturias; it was active with a website, Celtic-League.org (operated from the Isle of Man), from 2004 through 2010. There has been a separate England Branch, based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, active at least from 2004 to 2007. (Old CL official website at Manxman.co.im/cleague.) There used to be a branch in

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

, Canada, where a small

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

-speaking community still exists; this branch was moribund , though various consultations had taken place in efforts to restart it. The branch was then recorded as being active by 22 January 2015.

Publications

The Celtic League publishes a quarterly magazine, '' Carn'', which highlights political struggles and cultural preservation issues. The articles are produced in the six

in addition to English. The cover of the magazine is a map of the six Celtic countries with their respective Celtic-language names beside them. In the past, articles have appeared in French as well. For many years, Carn claimed to be the only regular publication carrying all six Celtic languages. The Celtic League, American Branch (CLAB) prints its own quarterly newsletter, ''Six Nations, One Soul'', which provides news of branch activities and events within the Celtic communities in the United States, publishes letters from members, and reviews books and recordings of Celtic interest. CLAB published at least six issues of a larger semi-annual magazine, ''Keltoi: A Pan-Celtic Review'',from 2006 to 2008. CLAB also produced a wall calendar each year, with art from members, appropriate quotations, and anniversaries; publication ceased with the 2008 issue. Other branches have published their own periodicals from time to time, but few have been very long-lived.

Notable members and former members

Some of the more notable past and present members of the Celtic League have been

leaders

and J. E. Jones,

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

leaders

Winnie Ewing Winifred Margaret Ewing (; 10 July 1929 – 21 June 2023) was a Scottish lawyer and politician who figured prominently in the Scottish National Party. Born and raised in Glasgow, Ewing studied law at the University of Glasgow, where she joine ...

, Robert McIntyre and

Rob Gibson Robert McKay Gibson (born 10 October 1945) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 2003 until 2016, first as a Highlands and Islands regional member from 2003 until 2011, then represe ...

, leader of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (; born Peter Roger Casement Brady; 2 October 1932 – 5 June 2013) was an Irish republican political and military leader. He was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) from 1958 to 1959 and again from 1960 to 196 ...

, prominent Breton exiles Yann Fouéré and Alan Heusaff, the historian and writer

Peter Berresford Ellis Peter Berresford Ellis (born 10 March 1943) is a British historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 98 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 10 ...

, writer Bernard Le Nail, and Manx language revivalist

Brian Stowell Thomas Brian Stowell (6 September 193618 January 2019), also known as Brian Mac Stoyll, was a Manx radio personality, Celticist, physicist, and author. He was formerly ("The Reader") to the Parliament of the Isle of Man, Tynwald. He is conside ...

. American author and linguist Alexei Kondratiev was president of the Celtic League American branch.

Campaigns

The Celtic League also campaigns for a

united Ireland United Ireland (), also referred to as Irish reunification or a ''New Ireland'', is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically: the sovereign state of Ireland (legally ...

, and the return of the

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a departments of France, department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. ...

department to

. Over the years, the Celtic League has campaigned consistently in support of the languages in Celtic nations, and for the return of ancient artefacts, removed from Celtic countries to museums outside of these areas – amongst these are the

Lewis chessmen The Lewis chessmen ( ) or Uig chessmen, named after the island or the bay where they were found, are a group of distinctive 12th-century chess pieces, along with other game pieces, most of which are carved from walrus ivory. Discovered in 1831 ...

and the

Chronicles of Mann The ''Chronicles of the Kings of Mann and the Isles'' () or Manx Chronicle is a medieval Latin manuscript relating the early history of the Isle of Man. Dating The main part of the manuscript is believed to have been composed and written in 12 ...

. The Manx branch of the Celtic League successfully campaigned for the

Calf of Man Calf of Man ( ) is a island, off the southwest coast of the Isle of Man. It is separated from the Isle of Man by a narrow stretch of water called the Calf Sound. Like the nearby rocky islets of Chicken Rock and Kitterland, it is part of th ...

island to be transferred from the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

to the local

Manx National Heritage Manx National Heritage () is the national heritage organisation for the Isle of Man. The organisation manages a significant proportion of the Island’s physical heritage assets including over 3,000 acres of coastline and landscape. It holds pro ...

. In the mid-1990s, the Celtic League started a campaign to have the word "

" on the Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

tops. Since 2005, the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

have supported the use of

on their teams's strip in recognition of the language's revival in Scotland. However, the SRU is still being lobbied to have "Alba" on the national rugby strip. The Celtic League has also passed a motion to support the general aims of Independence First, which aims for a referendum on

Scottish independence Scottish independence (; ) is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaignin ...

Posts

Nationality is indicated by letters after their names as so: :B – Breton, C – Cornish, I – Irish, M – Manx, S – Scottish, W – Welsh An arrow indicates the editor relocated to one of the other Celtic countries.

General secretaries

: Alan Heusaff: (1961–84), B→I :

Bernard Moffatt Bernard Moffatt (born April 1946) is a Manx nationalist politician who was born in Peel, Isle of Man. Both his mother (Millie Cashin) and father (James Moffatt) were Manx. He was educated at Peel Clothworkers School, where Manx dancing classes ...

: (1984–88), M : Davyth Fear: (1988–90), C : Séamas Ó Coileáin: (1990–91), I :Bernard Moffat: (1991–2006), M :

Rhisiart Tal-e-bot Rhisiart Tal-e-bot is a Welsh activist, Early Years lecturer who has been General Secretary of the Celtic League since 2006 and editor of '' Carn'' magazine since 2013. He is also the former president of the European Free Alliance Youth. Cel ...

: (2006 – present), W→C

Editors of ''Carn'' (Established 1973)

Frang MacThòmais The Luxembourg franc (''F'' or ISO ''LUF'', ), subdivided into 100 centimes, was the currency of Luxembourg between 1854 and 2002, except from 1941 to 1944. From 1944 to 2002, its value was equal to that of the Belgian franc. The franc remained i ...

: (1973–74), S :

Pádraig Ó Snodaigh Pádraig Ó Snodaigh (born Oliver Snoddy; 18 May 1935 – 2 January 2025) was an Irish language activist, poet, writer, and publisher. He worked for the Irish Electricity Supply Board, and later in the National Museum of Ireland. He was a pre ...

: (1974–77), I : Cathal Ó Luain: (1977–81), I : Pedyr Pryor: (1981–84), C :Pat Bridson: (1984-2013), M→I :

: (2013–present), C

References

* Ellis, Peter Berresford ''The Celtic Dawn'' * Tanner, Marcus ''Last of the Celts''

External links

Celtic League Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Celtic League (Political Organisation) 1961 establishments in Wales Celtic nationalism Cultural organisations based in the United Kingdom Endangered languages projects Home rule in the United Kingdom Inter-Celtic organisations Organizations established in 1961 Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Politics of Brittany Politics of Cornwall Politics of Ireland Politics of Scotland Politics of the Isle of Man Politics of Wales