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Sport and Celtic Identity in the 21st Century - a symposium

Friday 13 November 2026, The Liverpool Centre for Cultural, Social and Political Research, Liverpool John Moores University

The last 25 years have seen significant social, cultural, political, and economic developments in Celtic nations including devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the Celtic Tiger period during which the Republic of Ireland experienced a dramatic economic boom.

In linguistic terms, devolution has helped breathe new life into the Welsh language and Scots Gaelic while the Identity and Culture Act (2022) recognised Irish Gaelic as an official language of Northern Ireland. In Brittany there has been a notable linguistic, cultural, and economic revival, awareness of which expands well beyond France.

There have also been significant expansions in the expression of Celtic identity through sport this century. The Gaelic Athletic Association continued its 140-year history of exporting its games across the world. The games continue to have sizeable presences in diaspora spaces of North America and Australasia, but their popularity is also growing in Europe, particularly in France and Spain, as well as in non-traditional places like South America and Southeast Asia.

Ancient and traditional sports like shinty in Scotland and Gouren (traditional wrestling) in Brittany carry huge importance to local and regional Celtic identities, while football (soccer) and rugby union continue to carry these identities across the world. Professional soccer and rugby clubs in Brittany have steadily increased the use of Breton Celtic symbolism in their corporate and supporter identities this century while the Football Association of Wales (FAW) adopted the Welsh language anthem ‘Yma O Hyd’ prior to the 2022 Euros.

The globalisation of Celtic games can be attributed in part to transformations in media systems. Through online platforms, social media, network television, and the streaming service GAA+, Gaelic football, hurling and camogie have increased their global profiles. These games and other Celtic sports, such as shinty, have been the subject of fiction and creative non-fiction in literature and been subjects of film and television documentaries.

The forthcoming symposium is aimed at gathering contemporary stories of sport’s contribution to the negotiation of Celtic identity in the 21st Century with a view to building a collaborative network of scholars who will publish together, initially in an edited collection with a university press.

Download draft programme (Word, 17.7KB)

The symposium will take place at Liverpool John Moores University on Friday 13 November 2026 in hybrid form, with contributors and attendees invited to take part in-person or online.

To book your place, contact Dr Paddy Hoey (Liverpool John Moores University) at p.j.hoey@ljmu.ac.uk.