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The article discusses the relationship between Celtic studies and nationalism in the constituent countries of Great Britain. It explores connections between Celtic languages such as Irish, Welsh, and Scottish Gaelic and the desire for political self-determination. The author examines the requirements for filling vacancies for a position teaching Old Irish at the National University of Ireland in Galway (NUIG) and for the Chair of Celtic Languages, Literature, History and Antiquities at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Researchers have adopted a method normally used for analyzing the evolutionary history of genes to construct a family tree of Western European languages. The method could become an essential tool for unraveling the histories of the world's other languages. The languages of Western Europe are the most thoroughly studied of any, but the Celtic languages have remained mysterious. About 2000 years ago, most people in Western Europe spoke Celtic, but then it was nearly exterminated by a conquering spree of the Roman Empire. Taking a fresh approach to the Celtic conundrum, Peter Forster, a geneticist at the University of Cambridge, Great Britain, teamed up with Alfred Toth, a linguist at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, to analyze the words as if they were genes. As with genes, the basic words of a language rarely undergo drastic changes, and comparing such changes between languages can reveal their historical relationship.

Examines emerging biliteracy in Celtic languages in the Great Britain and Ireland. Cross-language comparisons of literacy attainment; Differences in the development of reading and spelling skills; Reflection of the orthographic properties of particular languages; Role of languages in promoting bilingualism and cultural identity and protecting an endangered heritage; Alphabetic orthographies of Welsh, Gaelic and Irish.

The article focuses on the Cornish language. Cornish is indubitably the weakest of the surviving Celtic tongues, with only a few hundred fluent speakers. Manx, in the Isle of Man, has been revived more successfully, and many thousands speak the ancient languages of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and Wales. It is also plagued by squabbles, particularly among the academics specialising in Cornish. There are four rival versions of the written language, each with differing degrees of authenticity, ease of use, and linguistic consistency. But Cornish is growing. When Henry Jenner started reviving it in 1896 he and his wife were the only people to speak it fluently. An increasing number are overseas. One teacher in Australia, which has an active Cornish diaspora, boasts a class of 15 students. The internet has helped, making BBC Radio Cornwall's weekly five-minute Cornish-language news bulletin available online. Cornish is still more hobby than culture, although a few dedicated families have raised their children as native Cornish-speakers. There are the beginnings of official recognition from both the European Union and Whitehall.

The article reports on the discovery of the earliest record of the Cornish language at Oxford University in Great Britain in 2006. The phrase "ud rocashaas" was discovered by professors while deciphering and transcribing thousands of Latin annotations to a 9th-century manuscript of Boethius' "De Consolatione Philosophiae."

The article focuses on historic perceptions of Druids in England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland throughout the modern period. Actual historic evidence of Druids is generally limited to references in Greek, Roman, and Irish texts based on second-hand accounts and oral traditions. Druids became important as a unifying heritage as Great Britain controlled the British Isles in the 17th and 18th centuries. The article also discusses Stonehenge, Iron Age monuments, and 19th century nationalist movements.

The article discusses the history of race and the idea of race in Great Britain. It examines how ideas of race relate to family and pedigree. The author comments on the advent of racial theorizing and scientific anthropology in the eighteenth century with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Ideas concerning Celts, Gaels, and Anglo-Saxons are presented. Other topics include American studies in physiognomy and the book a "History of the Gwydir Family," by Sir John Wynn, who attempted to trace his descendants to princes from North Wales.

This journal is an international review for researchers and teachers of modern Celtic languages. This volume contains seven articles. There are three research articles: "Issues in the Design of Irish Credited Courses" (Thomas W. Ihde); "Learning Irish for Participation in the Irish Language Speech Community outside the Gaeltacht" (Muiris O Laoire); and "Gaelic Language Maintenance Typologies and Constructs" (Kara A. Smith). There are two articles under the heading of Teaching Forum: "What Do You Do When the Teacher Needs a Teacher?" (Donall MacNamara); and "Taking the 'Aching' out of 'Teaching': Fun and Games in the Classroom" (Maray A. Watson). There are two review articles: "Johnstone, R.M., Thorpe, G., MacNeil M. and Stranding, R. (1999). The Progress and Attainments of Pupils Receiving Gaelic Medium Education" (Kara A. Smith); and "Jones, Mari C. Language Obsolescence and Revitalization: Linguistic Change in Two Sociolinguistically Contrasting Welsh Communities" (Kevin J. Rottet). Some aqrticles contain references. (KFT)