SAINT Patrick, whose feast day is celebrated on 17 March, left behind two short works in Latin, but he probably spoke a Celtic language. By the time he was saving Irish souls in the fifth century AD, linguists are pretty sure that Celtic was spoken throughout Britain and Ireland. When Celtic first arrived in those islands, however, is an enduring mystery – one that new findings in archaeology and genetics might help to solve…
This article first appeared in The Guardian on 8 March 2025. To continue reading, click here.