What part of Ireland is Gaelic still spoken?

Q: Who were the Celts? What are some of the traditions? The goddesses? What is the obsession/new phase with "Celtic Women?"

A: In Ireland, Irish (not Gaelic!) is spoken as a native language in certain areas mostly in the south, west and north of the country. It is also a compulsory subject all the way through school so everybody speaks it a little. The Celts were basically the people who lived on continental Europe during the Iron Age (8th century BC - 1st century AD). The name "Celts" comes from "keltoi", which is what a Greek writer called the tribes in Germany in the 5th century BC. The word Celt wasn't used to describe the ancient people of Britain and Ireland until the 18th century, when interest in "primitive" people became fashionable, and a British linguist grouped the languages of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany together and named them the "Celtic languages". In fact, there's little archaeological evidence that the cultures of Ireland were linked to those of Britain or the rest of Europe in the Iron Age. The languages are similar of course, but there probably was not one Celtic culture that was present across all of Europe -i.e. there was probably not one group or tribe called Celts, and they certainly didn't call themselves that. I don't know about Celtic Women, but I'm guessing it's a continuation of this fascination with "primitive", people and a kind of belief that ancient people were somehow better than us, more simple, more in tune with nature and that kind of thing.

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