Ancient history

Where are the Celtic people from?

The Celts were a large cultural group of peoples who spoke Celtic languages and shared similar cultural traits. This cultural group developed during the later Bronze Age in Central Europe in the Hallstatt culture and became widely known during the La Tène period of the late Iron Age. By 250 BC the Celts controlled much of mainland Europe. However, with Caesar’s conquest of Gaul (modern-day France) in 52-51BC the western portion of the Celtic speaking world went into gradual decline.

Today people identify as being 'Celtic' primarily due to their geographical ancestry or ethnicity (mainly from Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, Northwest Spain and Brittany but also from other Western European Celtic nations of France such as Galicia where Celtic identity continues).