So! How about them questions?

[TuathaSidhe]

I'll try to keep it simple and not so confusing. :D

So, I was told, that there is no "Irish Celtic", that Celts where just that, Celts. I was always under the impression that Celtic was used sorta like a broad term, that included Irish/Scotish/Welch/Gaul Cultures. IE: Irish Culture was different from Scotish, both where different from Welch. While they might be the same in alot of ways, they were still, by their own right, different cultures? I always used the term Irish or Scotish or whatever Celtic to make it easier to seperate and explain each other.

Basically that Celtic defines the launguage used across all the cultures?

and

Also I was told that the Celtic Calendar is much like the Gregorian calender when the discussion of when Samhain is came up. When I searched on here awhile back, I found a thread that talked about the Celtic New Year and it seemed to me, from reading that there was still alot of debate in general regarding the calendar/s and what supported what, etc etc etc.

Where would be a good place to learn more about the Colinary (sp?) calender. I did a goole search but so far the stuff ive been reading is really short.

One more thing (for now)

Is there a good site or reference I can go to (book, website, etc) to read about Brehon Laws? Im not sure if that has anything to do with CR or not yet, im just interested in it. :P

[Seren_]

I'll try to keep it simple and not so confusing. :D

So, I was told, that there is no "Irish Celtic", that Celts where just that, Celts. I was always under the impression that Celtic was used sorta like a broad term, that included Irish/Scotish/Welch/Gaul Cultures. IE: Irish Culture was different from Scotish, both where different from Welch. While they might be the same in alot of ways, they were still, by their own right, different cultures? I always used the term Irish or Scotish or whatever Celtic to make it easier to seperate and explain each other.

'Celtic' is generally seen as a linguistic term, so what defines a Celt, effectively, is whether or not they speak a Celtic language. Gaulish, Irish, Welsh and Scottish can be considered to be Celtic because they all spoke (or still do speak, in limited areas, excluding Gaulish) a Celtic language.

But yes, they're all very different cultures and countries and should be seen as such. Ireland, Scotland and Wales are all different cultures (and countries) with their own languages. Irish and Scottish (Gaeilge and Gàidhlig) are very similar because Scottish evolved from the Irish speakers who settled on the western seaboard of Scotland, but they're both very different from Welsh and what we know of Gaulish.

That's why CR is an umbrella term too. Most recons concentrate on a particular country for their practices.


Basically that Celtic defines the launguage used across all the cultures?

Sort of. To be clear 'Celtic' should be seen as an umbrella term - there are different kinds of Celtic languages.


Also I was told that the Celtic Calendar is much like the Gregorian calender when the discussion of when Samhain is came up. When I searched on here awhile back, I found a thread that talked about the Celtic New Year and it seemed to me, from reading that there was still alot of debate in general regarding the calendar/s and what supported what, etc etc etc.

Where would be a good place to learn more about the Colinary (sp?) calender. I did a goole search but so far the stuff ive been reading is really short.

The Coligny calendar is what you're looking for, it's a Gaulish calendar which probably dates to around the second century AD. If you have a look at the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coligny_calendar) you'll find some good links to look at. There's really not much out there that goes into much detail.

Since it's Gaulish, not Irish, it's probably of limited relevance to you right now, but it does seem to indicate festivals that were held at similar times to those found in Ireland, as recorded in the myths and the traditions.

In Scotland they didn't really pay much mind to the Gregorian calendar until quite recently. Time was generally measured according to the festivals/seasons that were coming or had just passed (since they tended to be important dates in the agricultural or fishing calendar, as well as important religious dates), rather than specific months. Looking at the Irish literature, it seems to have been similar. In The Wooing of Emer the year is split up into “...Samain, when the summer goes to its rest...Imbolc, when the ewes are milked at spring's beginning...Beltine at the summer's beginning and...Brón Trogain, earth's sorrowing autumn.”


Is there a good site or reference I can go to (book, website, etc) to read about Brehon Laws? Im not sure if that has anything to do with CR or not yet, im just interested in it. :P

A good book is Fergus Kelly's A Guide to Early Irish Law - it's quite comprehensive and a surprisingly good read. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín's Early Medieval Ireland 400-1200 also has some good stuff.

With the usual caveats about Wikipedia, you might find the section on early Irish law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Irish_law) useful for an overview. There are some handy links there, too.