University to host conference marking 25 years of ancient Celtic language studies

Aberystwyth University will host an international conference celebrating more than 25 years of research into the ancient Celtic languages of Europe later this month.

Although today Celtic languages are confined to a handful of regions across western Europe, including Wales, Ireland and Brittany, before the birth of Christ they were spoken across much of the continent and as far as Asia Minor.

Tracing their spread has long proved challenging, with much of the surviving evidence limited to place-names preserved in classical sources.

Landmark conference

In 1999, the university’s Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies organised a landmark international conference on Celtic place-names in Ptolemy’s Geography, written around 150 CE. That event sparked a series of research projects led by Professor Patrick Sims-Williams, alongside follow-up conferences in European universities, which significantly reshaped understanding of the reach of Celtic speech in the ancient world.

The forthcoming conference, to be held on Saturday 25 October at the university’s Penglais campus, will reflect on that legacy and showcase new work in the field.

Dr Alexander Falileyev and Dr Simon Rodway from Aberystwyth will present research on evidence from Britain and Ireland, alongside contributions from colleagues in Spain, Germany and other countries.

Dr Falileyev said: “We are all grateful and indebted to Patrick Sims-Williams for starting this in Aberystwyth 25 years ago. Now we have a more precise and accurate kit of tools to measure linguistic Celticity, resulting in scores of volumes published across Europe over the past quarter century.

“New data and new interpretations necessitate further discussion, and we are delighted to host the first international conference in a decade dedicated solely to this subject. Papers will consider the linguistic Celticity of Britain, Ireland and the Continent in antiquity, many of them by colleagues who were part of the original network established by Sims-Williams.”

Dr Falileyev added that the event would also benefit Aberystwyth students, giving them deeper insight into ancient Celtic material studied alongside medieval and modern Celtic languages and literatures.

‘Connections’

Dr Rhianedd Jewell, Head of Department, said: “We are very proud of the breadth of our Celtic Studies provision and the connections we share with colleagues worldwide. Students at Aberystwyth can study a wider range of ancient and modern Celtic languages than at any other institution in the UK. This conference is a timely celebration of the importance of ancient Celtic to our department, particularly as we mark our 150th anniversary this year.”

The conference will take place at Tŷ Trafod on the Penglais campus. Entry is free and no advance booking is required.