Guides: Alumni Travel Reading: Celtic Lands

Books on the Celtic Lands

How the Scots Invented the Modern World by Arthur Herman
Call Number: Van Pelt Library DA772 .H53 2001
ISBN: 0609606352
Publication Date: 2001
Who formed the first modern nation? Who created the first literate society? Who invented our modern ideas of democracy and free market capitalism? Historian and author Arthur Herman demonstrates, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Scotland earned the respect of the rest of the world for its crucial contributions to science, philosophy, literature, education, medicine, commerce, and politics.
Celtic Myths, Celtic Legends by R. J. Stewart
Call Number: BL900 .S75 1994
ISBN: 9780713724233
Publication Date: 1994
The Tales in this anthology are selected from collections and manuscripts, interpretations and reworkings of Celtic myths, and traditional ballads and tales. The stories are beautifully illustrated.
Celtic World by Miranda J. Green (Editor)
Call Number: D70 .C38 1995
ISBN: 0415146275
Publication Date: 1996
The Celtic World is a detailed and comprehensive study of Celtic life that begins with the first evidence of Celtic culture found in the archaeological and historical record through to the early post-Roman period.

Celtic Art

Celts by Julia Farley (Editor); Fraser Hunter
Call Number: N5925 .C465 2015
ISBN: 9780714128351
Publication Date: 2015
A selection of hundreds of objects have been brought together in this book to examine the perception of the Celts through their art, from ancient times to modern day. Pieces from collections of the British Museum, The National Museums of Scotland, and other institutions are included.
Celtic Art by Ruth Megaw; Vincent Megaw
ISBN: 050028265X
Publication Date: 2001
This book offers a thorough introduction to Celtic art, as well as the the recovery and excavation of new artifacts. Numerous maps, color photos, and illustrations are included.
Rethinking Celtic Art by Duncan Garrow (Editor); Chris Gosden (Editor); J. D. Hill (Editor)
Call Number: N5925 .R48 2008
ISBN: 9781842173183
Publication Date: 2008
A collection of essays discussing early Celtic art, especially metalwork, from the Iron Age and the Romano-British Period.

The Irish Countryside

Herding sheep in Ireland, photograph by Stacy. Obtained on flickr via Creative Commons.

Patterns in Celtic Art

Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Art by Derek Hull
ISBN: 085323549X
Publication Date: 2004
This book offers an in-depth look at the interlacing patterns and arrays found in early medieval Celtic and Anglo-Saxon art.
Celtic Art by Venceslas Kruta; Keith and Angela Bradford (Other)
ISBN: 9780714845975
Publication Date: 2015
Celtic art offers a sequence of 250 masterpieces ranging from the fifth century BC to the eighth century AD. The great variety and range of Celtic artistic production is represented: stone sculptures, terracotta vases and iron swords to amber necklaces, golden torques, bronze fibulas and illuminated manuscripts. This volume spans the entire Celtic world - from Ireland to France, Italy to Hungary, the Czech Republic to Germany and Austria.

Welcome to the Celtic Lands Travel Guide

Ring of Brodgar, Orkney Isles, Scotland. Image courtesy of The World Affairs Council Philadelphia.

Bibliographer

Selected and Annotated By:

Rebecca Stuhr

Coordinator for Humanities Collections

Librarian for History and Classical Studies

stuhrreb @ pobox.upenn.edu

Revised and Edited By:

Kelsey LeClair

Administrative Assistant

kleclair @ pobox.upenn.edu

For more information about this and other excursions, visit Penn Alumni Travel.

Miscellany of Celtic Society

Music

Clip of traditional Irish music at Brogan's Bar in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland. Courtesy of Shooter McNally on YouTube.

Poetry and Prose

Dubliners by James Joyce
ISBN: 0670018058
Publication Date: 1969
Written in 1914 by one of Ireland's most well-known authors, Dubliners is a collection of short stories that sheds light on Dublin's middle and lower classes in the early 20th century.
Burns by Robert Burns; Gerard Carruthers (Editor)
Call Number: PR4302 .C37 2007
ISBN: 9780307266163
Publication Date: 2007
This book is an anthology of poems and songs by Scotland's national poet and lyricist, Robert Burns. It includes many of his most famous works, including "A Red, Red Rose" and "Auld Lang Syne."

More Books on Celtic Lands

The Story of Ireland by Neil Hegarty
Call Number: Van Pelt Library DA910 .H443 2012
ISBN: 9781250002891
Publication Date: 2012
In this history of Ireland, Neil Hegarty presents a fresh perspective on Ireland's past. The Story of Ireland is an account of a nation that has long been shaped by forces beyond its coasts. The Story of Ireland re-examines Irish history, challenging the accepted stories and long-held myths associated with Ireland. From the publisher.
Ireland and Scotland by Liam McIlvanney (Editor); Ray Ryan (Editor)
Call Number: Van Pelt Library DA925 .I67 2005
ISBN: 1851828753
Publication Date: 2005
This book represents a comparative study of the history, culture, languages and literatures of Ireland and Scotland.
Celtic Contraries by Robin Skelton
Call Number: PR8714 .S56 1990
ISBN: 0815624794
Publication Date: 1989
The "contraries" of this collection of essays are the dynamics of Irish versys European, Realism versus Romanticism, and Gaelicism versus Classicism found in the works of W.B. Yeats, Jack B. Yeats, Synge, O'Casey, and contemporary Irish writers.
The Celtic Languages by Martin J. Ball (Editor); James Fife (Introduction by); Nicole Muller (Editor)
Call Number: PB1014 .C46 2002
ISBN: 041528080X
Publication Date: 2002
In this book you will find in depth descriptions of the Celtic languages from historical, structural and sociolinguistic perspectives. You will find individual chapters on Irish, Scottish, Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Breton and Cornish.
Celtic Myth in the 21st Century - The Gods and Their Stories in a Global Perspective by Emily Lyle
ISBN: 9781786832054
Publication Date: 2018
Celtic Myth in the 21st Century offers a wide range of innovative research on the wonders of Celtic history, including the possible use of hallucinogenic mushrooms in ancient Ireland to the mental mapping in the interpretation of the Irish legend Táin Bó Cuailgne. It is the first book to offer a view of Celtic mythology as the reflection of a prehistoric state that it is possible to recover through integrated cosmological enquiry.