Celtic Link - Your weekly roundup - Issue 4
The pick of must-read news stories from around the Celtic World
Welcome to the Celtic Link Newsletter.
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In this week’s newsletter:
🏴 St Andrew’s Day is just around the corner
🇮🇪 Ireland’s big-wave surf season gets under way
🏴 Some enticing Scottish travel itineraries
🏴 Should Welsh place names be just in Welsh?
⛏️ Royal Cornwall Museum wins a national award
🇮🇲 Searching for a ‘Song for Mannin’
🔗 Celtic link of the week
🎶 A rousing tune to get in the St Andrew’s day mood
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The Celtic World This Week
📣 Featured News Item
Scotland
St Andrew’s Day is just around the corner
Three out of the four main saints days - St David’s Day in Wales, St Piran’s Day in Cornwall and St Patrick’s Day in Ireland - are celebrated in March every year.
The outlier is St Andrew’s Day, which the Scots celebrate on November 30th. That’s less than two weeks from now, so in our next couple of newsletters we’ll be looking at the traditions and celebrations associated with Scotland’s patron saint. Here’s what you need to know:
St Andrew was one of Jesus’ Apostles, a hardy fisherman from Galilee and brother of Saint Peter.
St Andrew’s day has been celebrated since 1320, whem the Declaration of Arbroath asserted Scotland’s status as an independent state. At the same time, St Andrew was officially recognised as the Scots’ patron saint.
The celebration is the first of a season of Scottish winter festivals encompassing St Andrew's Day, Hogmanay (31st December) and Burns Night (25th January).
The day is marked by a variety of celebrations of Scottish culture, with traditional food and drink, music (pipes and drums), dancing (ceilidhs), storytelling and parties long into the night.
St Andrew’s day is celebrated across the Sottish diaspora (up to 40 million people worldwide according to the government), including the United States, Canada, Australia and England and as far afield as China and South America.
Next week we’ll look at the traditional celebrations around St Andrew’s Day.
To get you in the mood check out the final item in today’s newsletter, a musical act that will be performing in Glasgow on Saint Andrew’s Day.
📰 In other news…
Ireland
The ‘big-wave’ surf season gets under way on the west coast of Ireland
Forget Hawaii, the biggest action in the surfing world right now is on the north west coast of Ireland. The winter season got under way a little early last week as huge swells blew up at Mullaghmore Head in County Sligo and a group of gung-ho wave-riders were there to take advantage.
Mullaghmore is quickly becoming known as one of the world’s prime big-wave surf destinations with some of the biggest swells the Atlantic has to offer. It was here, back in 2020, that Conor Maguire surfed possibly the biggest wave ever in Ireland - a monster 60 footer.
Ireland continues to assert itself as one of the most terrifying big-wave zones on the planet as this week the forbidding Mullaghmore Head roared to life for the first major Atlantic big-wave session of the 2023/24 season.
This is one surf spot that is strictly for the experts, so sit back and enjoy the action from the safety of your armchair.
Scotland
Tempting trip itineraries for exploring Scotland
It’s a dark and damp winter’s night here at Celtic Link HQ in Kernow, so what better way to ‘escape’ than to plan a 2024 trip to the top end of the British Isles?
Visit Scotland has just published a very enticing set of itineraries tailored to the different interests of would-be visitors to that glorious land.
The itineraries are built around a variety of themes, including islands, castles, coastline, whisky, cities, railways and slow travel, plus whole-country tours for those with a bit more time.
A wee country with a big personality, Scotland has bucket-loads of experiences to offer when it comes to holidays – so how will you know where to start? Don’t fear – we’ve lined up an array of itineraries to help you get planning your ideal Scotland trip, be that a day in the capital, a week’s island-hopping, or a three-day tour of Highland castles.
Check out Visit Scotland’s Trip Itineraries HERE
Calls for some places in Wales to be solely known by their Welsh name
There has been discussion in the Welsh Parliament about whether some towns and cities should be called by their Welsh name alone. Currently road signs are bi-lingual with Welsh and English versions of place names given equal prominence.
The meaning and spelling of some names are very different - Swansea is Abertawe in Welsh for example. Others are similar - Merthyr Tydfil in English, is Merthyr Tudful in Welsh, Caerphilly and Caerffili, and Treorchy or Treorci.
Mr ap Rhisiart said it would show "respect for Wales as its own nation with its own history and culture; and as a mark of acknowledgement concerning some of the cultural oppression that has historically been inflicted on Wales and her language and culture".
Welsh Language Minister Jeremy Miles said there was "a strong argument" for using just the Welsh in some cases. The discussion follows a petition presented to the Welsh Parliament and a principle promoted by Welsh Language Commissioner Efa Gruffudd Jones.
Read the full story HERE
Cornwall
Royal Cornwall Museum wins national award
The Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro was named Best Small Museum in the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum Award 2023.
Since it launched in 2004, the award has become a benchmark for excellence in the heritage sector. Each year Kids in Museums receives hundreds of public nominations, which are whittled down to a shortlist by an expert panel. The final say goes to families, who visit each shortlisted museum over the summer holidays, and decide the winners.
The national award celebrates museums, galleries, historic homes or heritage sites in the UK that go the extra mile to provide a great experience for families.
The award comes after a difficult 18 months for Cornwall’s flagship museum which faced closure last year until it was saved by a tranche of funding from the Arts Council. Amongst its holdings is perhaps the finest regional mineral collection in the British Isles, including the world famous Philip Rashleigh collection containing many exceptional Cornish mineral specimens.
Given the importance of mining in Cornwall’s history, the museum plays a critical role in safeguarding a vital element of the Duchy’s heritage.
Isle of Man
The search for the Manx Pan-Celtic Song Contest entry
The search is on for the best new song in Manx Gaelic to represent the island in next year’s Pan-Celtic Song Contest. The competition has been running since 1971 and features songs in the native languages of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany. The next final takes place in Carlow, Ireland from 2nd-4th April 2024.
Culture Vannin, which promotes Manx culture through development, education and grant-giving work, will select the Isle of Man’s entry at a heat to be held in January.
The Arrane son Mannin (Song for Mann) invites newly composed songs in the Manx language and is open to all styles including traditional and pop, rock and rap, country, jazz and classical. The only requirement is that both the lyrics and music be original and ‘ayns Gaelg’.
The Isle of Man will be very much the under-dog in the Pan-Celtic Song Contest having won only once (in 2014) in its 52-year history. But that’s not really the point. The most important thing is that it’s another way of supporting the revival of the Manx language which was spoken by the majority of inhabitants of the Isle of Man until the 19th century, when it was displaced by English.
Details of the Song For Mann HERE
Celtic Link of the Week
Every week we highlight one of our favourite Celtic links (see what we did there?)
This is a website, Facebook page, You Tube site or Instagram account that inspires / informs / educates / amuses and generally enriches our Celtic life.
This week it’s the Music from Scotland Facebook page. With their self-declared mission to ‘showcase Scottish musicians and Celtic inspired music worldwide’ it’s a fantastic resource for lovers of all things melodic north of the border.
Check them out here: Music from Scotland
And finally…
🎶 Pipes and drums for a St Andrew’s Day celebration
With St Andrew’s Day fast approaching, what better way to get us in the mood than some raw, unfiltered pipes and drums from the fabulous Clann An Drumma.
‘Tribal beats and Celtic melodies’ is how the describe themselves and that’s a pretty good summary of their sound.
Draped in a tartan of our own design, our performances are always high-energy and infectious. Playing our instruments in a way we believe our ancestors did prior to heading into battle, each live experience promises to stir the spirits and inspire the inner warrior.
Here’s a taster of the raw, unfiltered sound of the fabulous Clann An Drumma.
And should you find yourself in Glasgow on St Andrews night (and who wouldn’t want to?) you can catch Clann An Drumma at the Cottiers Theatre.
Booking details HERE
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