The Celtic languages spoken today – namely Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Cornish and Breton – all descend from Celtic languages once spoken across Britain and Ireland in antiquity. While the modern languages are well documented from the early middle ages onwards, what came before is far more mysterious.
Only fragments of earlier evidence survive, leaving major questions about where these ancient Celtic languages came from and how they connect not only to each other, but also to related languages once spoken on the European mainland, such as Gaulish.
Much of this early linguistic story unfolded before widespread writing reached the islands. Before the Romans arrived, Britain was barely known to the literate cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. Only a handful of early travellers recorded anything about the languages spoken there.
