Above : Ancient Ireland (A.D 420)

The one fact of which we can be certain, therefore, is that when first we get a definite view of early Ireland we find it inhabited by a people who called themselves Caels. They spoke a Celtic language which they called Gaelic, and which still lives under that name. Gaelic was the language of the earlier of the two Western waves of Celtic immigration whose tongues are still spoken. The second wave—which did not reach Ireland—was that of the Brythons or Cymry. To the Gaelic branch belong Irish and Scottish Gaelic, and Manx : Welsh, Cornish, and Armoric or Breton (spoken in Brittany in France) are of the Brythonic branch of the ” Celtic ” group of languages.

Above: Irish Book

Dialects of Celtic.-There are two main branches of the Ancient Celtic Language: The Goidelic, or Gaelic, or Irish; and the British; corresponding with the two main divisions of the Celtic people of the British Islands. Each of these has branched into three dialects. Those of Gaelic arc: The Irish proper; the Gaelic of Scotland, differing only slightly from the Irish; and the Manx. The dialects of British are: Welsh, Cornish, and Breton or Armoric. Of the whole six dialects, five are still spoken; the Cornish became extinct in the last century; and Manx is nearly extinct.