The seven Celtic nations: Galicia

With this info on Galicia, we’re starting a cycle of short articles on the 7 Celtic Nations that we think our members might find interesting.

So today 25th of July is the feast of St James, who is the Patron Saint of Galicia, in the same way St Andrew is the equivalent in Scotland and St Patrick in Ireland.

While it shares cultural traits and historical links with the other six recognized Celtic nations, its primary language is a Romance language (Galician), not a Celtic one. The six recognized Celtic nations are Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, and the Isle of Man, all of which have living Celtic languages. 

• Galicia's Celtic Heritage:

Galicia, located in northwest Spain, possesses a strong Celtic identity, evidenced by its folklore, music (including bagpipes), and archaeological sites like stone circles and forts. 

The region of Galicia in Spain is the seventh Celtic Nation and perhaps the least well-known. The other six are Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, the Isle of Mann and Brittany in France. More than a millennium ago, a Celtic tribe known as the Gallaeci settled in an area north of the Douro River. The region became the modern-day Galicia, a wind and sea-swept place of green wooded valleys, and gray stone cities in northwest Spain. It’s beautiful capital city, Santiago de Compostela is the final destination on the Way of Saint James, the famous pilgrim route.*

In Galicia you will find the same mysterious menhirs – or standing stones - that dot the Irish countryside. This region has many of its own Celtic traditions — from ancient “pallozas” (stone huts with thatched roofs believed to be Celtic in origin) to summer solstice ritual bonfires, their own unique bagpipes, and – yes – even kilts.*

Now the kilt, of course, has been an essential part of the Scottish national dress since the 18th century, re-introduced in the rest of the Celtic nations as part of the Celtic revival of the 20th century.*

Now in Galicia, male skirts were worn up until the 18th century. But in much earlier times, dated from the 3rd century BC, archaeologists have found several statues of Galician kings wearing a primitive kilt, which clearly shows a rough tartan pattern consisting of crisscrossed horizontal and vertical bands.*

And the bagpipes? Well, the Galician bagpipes, called gaitas in Spanish, differ somewhat from their better-known Scottish cousin by being smaller and higher pitched. The name gaitas is believed to derive from the language of the ancient Gothic rulers of Spain, with gait meaning ‘goat’ and referring to the goatskin which was traditionally used to manufacture the bagpipes’ bag.*

Some of you are aware that our own St Patrick’s Battalion Pipes and Drums have played with Carlos Nuñez, who is considered one of the best bagpipers, of any tradition, in the world. Núñez famously collaborated with internationally renowned Irish band The Chieftains with such success that he has sometimes called ‘the seventh Chieftain’. And perhaps more than any other recording artist, Núñez was responsible for bringing the Celtic musical traditions of this Iberian Peninsula back into the international spotlight.*

*Excerpts from Kate Scuffle’s article in Celtic Cultural Minute