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A modern Celtic identity emerged in Western Europe following the identification of the native peoples of the Atlantic fringe as Celts by Edward Lhuyd in the 18th century. Lhuyd and others equated the Celts described by Greco-Roman writers with the ancestors of the pre-Roman peoples of France, Great Britain and Ireland. The Irish and ancient British languages were thus Celtic languages. The descendants of these languages were the Brittonic (Breton, Cornish and Welsh variants) and Gaelic (Irish, Manx and Scottish variants) languages. These peoples were therefore modern Celts. Attempts were made to link their distinctive cultures to those of the ancient Celtic peoples. The concept of modern Celtic identity evolved during the course of the 19th-century into the Celtic Revival. By the late 19th century it often took the form of ethnic nationalism, particularly within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, where the Irish Home Rule Movement resulted in the secession of the Irish Free State in 1922. There were also significant Welsh, Scottish and Breton nationalist movements, giving rise to the concept of Celtic nations. After World War II, the focus of the ''Celticity'' movement shifted to linguistic revival and protectionism, e.g. with the foundation of the Celtic League in 1961, dedicated to preserving the surviving Celtic languages. The Celtic revival also led to the emergence of musical and artistic styles identified as Celtic. Music typically drew on folk traditions within the Celtic nations. Art drew on decorative styles associated with the ancient Celts and with early medieval Celtic Christianity, along with folk-styles. Cultural events to promote "inter-Celtic" cultural exchange also emerged. In the late 20th century a number of scholars criticised the idea of modern Celtic identity, sometimes also arguing that there never was a common Celtic culture, even in ancient times. Malcolm Chapman's 1992 book ''The Celts: The Construction of a Myth'' led to what the archaeologist Barry Cunliffe has called a "politically correct disdain for the use of 'Celt'"〔Barry Cunliffe, ''The Ancient Celts'', Oxford University Press, 1997, p.276.〕 The extent to which a modern Celtic identity remains a useful concept continues to be debated. ==Definitions== Traditionally, the essential defining criterion of Celticity is seen as ''peoples and countries that do, or once did, use Celtic languages'' and it is asserted that an index of connectedness to the Celtic languages has to be borne in mind before branching out into other cultural domains. Another approach to defining ''the Celts'' is the contemporary inclusive and associative definition used by Vincent and Ruth Megaw (1996) and Raimund Karl (2010) that a Celt is someone who uses a Celtic language or produces or uses a distinctive Celtic cultural expression (such as art or music) or has been referred to as a Celt in historical materials or has identified themselves or been identified by others as a Celt or has a demonstrated descent from the Celts (such as family history or DNA ancestry). Since the Enlightenment, the term ''Celtic'' has been applied to a wide variety of peoples and cultural traits present and past. Today, ''Celtic'' is often used to describe people of the Celtic nations (the Bretons, the Cornish, the Irish, the Manx, the Scots and the Welsh) and their respective cultures and languages. Except for the Bretons (if discounting Norman & Channel Islander connections), all groups mentioned have been subject to strong Anglicisation since the Early Modern period, and hence are also described as participating in an Anglo-Celtic macro-culture. By the same token, the Bretons have been subject to strong Frenchification since the Early Modern period, and can similarly be described as participating in a Franco-Celtic macro-culture. Less common is the assumption of ''Celticity'' for European cultures deriving from Continental Celtic roots (Gauls or Celtiberians). These were either Romanised or Germanised much earlier, before the Early Middle Ages. Nevertheless, ''Celtic'' origins are many times implied for continental groups such as the Asturians, Galicians, Portuguese, French, Swiss, Alpine Italians, Germans, Belgians or Austrians. The names of Belgium and the Aquitaine hark back to ''Gallia Belgica'' and ''Gallia Aquitania'', respectively, in turn named for the Belgae and the Aquitani. The Latin name of the Swiss Confederacy, ''Confoederatio Helvetica'', harks back to the Helvetii, the name of Galicia to the Gallaeci and the Auvergne of France to the Averni. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Celts (modern)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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