Overview and Brief History:
When Americans think of the Celtic people, they think primarily of the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh even though the Celtic people originally ranged far and wide across Europe, they can also still be found in modern Brittany (in France) and Galicia (in Spain). The 2000 Census lists 60,676 Irish, 5,148 Welsh, and 13,742 Scottish in Albuquerque. From our research it is evident that this sizable community spans many generations in Albuquerque and is quite active in keeping many of the Celtic traditions alive.

From archaeological evidence, scholars have traced the origin of Celts to Central Europe in approximately 1200 BC. They are thought to have come to the British Isles at around 700 BC. The land that is now England was conquered by Julius Caesar around 50 BC and became a tenuous part of the Roman empire. The Scots proved particularly difficult to control. The Roman Emperor Hadrian had a wall built to contain them, although the Romans sporadically attempted to pacify the region. The Romans largely left the Irish alone and finally departed the British Islands in the second century. In the mid 400's AD Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded and began to take hold of Britain and contained the Celts in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland. The ninth century ushered in an onslaught of Vikings from Scandinavia. Many assimilated into Scottish culture, but the Irish were more resistant. After the fall of the Scottish king MacBeth, at the turn of the eleventh century, English kings began their domination of the Scottish throne. In Ireland, Brian Boru united the Irish tribes, defeated the Vikings, and became the king of all Ireland.

The Norman invasion of England culminating with the Battle of Hastings in 1066 drove the English into the Scottish lowlands and created the distinct divide between the lowland and the highland Scots. One hundred years after their decisive victory over the English Saxons, the Normans invaded Ireland and began the centuries old struggle between the two cultures. By the thirteenth century the English had taken Ulster in northern Ireland and shortly after that, occupied all of the Emerald Isle. The next several hundred years were marked by a number of unsuccessful uprisings and rebellions aimed at throwing off the yoke of English occupation. These rebellions were brutally put down again and again. The fact that Ireland remained staunchly Catholic, following the reign of the English king Henry VIII and the establishment of the Church of England, added yet another dimension to the fierce cultural rivalries. In 1782, Legislative Independence was finally won from Britain by the Irish Parliament, although the country remained firmly under British rule. Inspired by the American and French revolutions, the Irish attempted yet another disastrous attempt at ousting the British in 1798.

Immigration to the United States and Albuquerque:
There have been many waves of Celtic migrations to America over the last several hundred years. It is often joked that Ireland’s biggest export is her people. Most nineteenth Irish immigrants originally settled in places like Boston, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City, but some ventured into the southwest working on the railroads, as cowboys, and in the military. Many Scottish immigrants settled along the Chesapeake and in the Appalachians, from Pennsylvania south to Georgia. The Welsh came both as religious refugees (Quakers) and because their skills in metal working and mining were in demand in the New World. Most of them settled in Pennsylvania though some did come west to work in the mines. The number of Welsh who immigrated to America was considerably smaller than the Scottish and the Irish. By way of comparison, Irish emigrants to America in the nineteenth century outnumbered the Welsh by twenty-six to one. A 1985 census of Albuquerque listed ninety-seven persons who were born in Ireland.

Although census data from the late nineteenth century shows that there were a few dozen Irish living in Albuquerque, the majority of people of Celtic ancestry in arrived in the city in the twentieth century and are second, third, fourth, and even older generation descendants of earlier immigrants. Many came as members of the military during the Second World War and stayed. Others came to study at a University and stayed. Still others came and decided to stay because of the beauty and climate of New Mexico. First generation Irish immigrants to Albuquerque tend to have come primarily because of UNM and because of Intel in Rio Rancho. Intel, the giant chip-making corporation has a plant in County Kildare, Ireland and employees from Ireland are sometimes sent to New Mexico for training.

Language and Cultural Traditions:
There are very few native Gaelic speakers in Albuquerque though there are people who are learning the language. There is a professor at UNM who is a native speaker of Irish Gaelic and who teaches classes in Irish through the Department of Linguistics. There is also a woman teaching Celtic mythology at UNM. This woman also organizes “Bardic evenings” to assist in keeping Celtic oral traditions alive in Albuquerque. Yet another woman has taught Welsh, or cymraeg. Some members of the Celtic community are actively rediscovering and reviving the Celtic spirituality of the Druids, and one local woman has published a book on the subject, but Druidism has not yet been embraced by the community as a whole.

In terms of foodways, the Celts are not renowned worldwide for their cuisine. Consequently there are no ethnic restaurants in Albuquerque featuring Scottish haggis or Irish colcannon on their menus. Typically what passes for Irish fare in Albuquerque is of the more Americanized corned beef and cabbage variety and served on St. Patrick’s Day. There are a few “Irish” pubs in Albuquerque and a variety of Irish and Scottish ales and stouts are available for purchase in various markets.

Arts and Culture:
While there is limited interest in the visual art forms, such as Celtic knots, music and dance are the most common manifestations of Celtic culture found in the Albuquerque metro area. There are a couple of immigrant Irish musicians who have settled in Albuquerque, one of whom was a founding member of the Irish Rovers of The Unicorn fame. Although not native-born, there are a sizable number of musicians playing Celtic music, many of whom are quite talented. At any given time there are a dozen or more active musical groups playing at area events and in bars and coffeehouses. Some of the groups identified in this survey were Three Leaf Shamrock, Eagle’s Whistle, Raggle Taggle Gypsies, Rivercane, Rye Creek, Harp in the Morning, and the High Desert Pipes and Drums. There are many distinctive types of Celtic music that are played by these different groups. For example there is the Irish music that originated in Ireland, which tends to be either dance music, such as jigs and reels, or songs of drinking, rebellions, and history; and there is the Irish-American Immigrant music that originated in America. The latter tends to be made up of sentimental songs of the land left behind, such as Danny Boy and My Wild Irish Rose. There is also a body of new Celtic and World Beat influenced music currently coming out of Ireland and many Albuquerque musicians are adding this new mix into their repertoires.

Common instrumentation found in the wind and reed families in these Celtic groups are penny whistles, flutes, and bag pipes accordions, melodeons, and concertinas. There are three types of Celtic bagpipes, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh. Of these three, the Scottish pipes are the most common and well known. All three are played by inflating a bag which then keeps a steady stream of air passing over tuned reeds. There are some reeds, called drones, which are used to establish the key and chord selection, and one reed called a chanter, on which the melody is played. Both the Scottish and Welsh pipes are played by inflating the bag with air from one’s lungs. The Irish, or Uilleann pipes, are inflated by way of an elbow activated bellows and are played while sitting down. The Scottish pipes tend to be very loud. The Welsh pipes are much smaller and sound much softer and more delicate. The Irish pipes tend to fall between these two extremes. There are only two or three people in Albuquerque that are playing the Irish or Uilleann pipes, and no one was encountered in this survey who played the Welsh pipes. Conversely, there are several dozen Scottish pipers in the area, including those in the High Desert Pipe and Drums. The High Desert group recently (1999) won best for their grade at the World Championships in Scotland, a first for any pipe band from the United States.

The Irish harp is quite popular in Albuquerque. There are some very talented harpers in the area playing and teaching, as well as music stores that stock the instruments and sponsor harp circles. A recent addition to the Irish string family is the Greek bazouki. Flat-backed versions of this Greek instrument have become quite common in Ireland, where it is sometimes referred to as a cittern. Eight and ten string versions of this instrument are being played in several Albuquerque Celtic groups and this new instrument can be found in jam sessions, although guitars, fiddles, and mandolins are still predominate. There are several people who offer Irish and Scottish fiddling lessons in Albuquerque.

The Irish drum, or bodhran, is also commonly found in groups and jam sessions. Resembling a large tambourine without the jingles, it is played sideways with a single double-headed drumstick. A cross between and percussion and stringed instrument, the hammered dulcimer is commonly used in Irish music in Albuquerque and throughout America, although it is rare in Ireland. Considered to be an ancestor of the piano, the hammered dulcimer is a trapezoidal box with strings and multiple bridges across the top that is played with small hammers.

The type of Welsh music most commonly found in Albuquerque is singing. While solo singing is more common, there is a Welsh choir in Albuquerque called Dragon’s Breath Welsh Choir. The Welsh triple harp has been introduced to the area through concerts and there is at least one player of the instrument; but singing is more commonly found here.

Three types of Irish dancing can be found in Albuquerque: Irish step dancing, set dancing and ceili (pronounced KAY-lee) dancing. Step dancing, as popularized in Riverdance, has now become the more common form in Albuquerque, whereas before Riverdance it was rare. This type of dance involves elaborate percussive footwork and is taught in both Albuquerque and Los Lunas. There is a local performing dance group, the McTeggert Step Dancers. Step dance competitions, called feises, have been held in Albuquerque at Menaul School.

Set dancing is a form of square dance done with four couples. It is generally accepted that Irish set dances are evolutionary descendants of the French Quadrilles from the late 18th and early 19th century. Each region or community in Ireland developed their own adaptations and styles of set dances and there are approximately 100 known variants in Ireland. However, only a few of these variations, such as the Haymaker’s Jig, are taught and danced in Albuquerque. The third type of dancing, or ceili, is actually made up of several different types of dances. Most are structured, such as sword dances, round dances, and line dances. There has been a group teaching and demonstrating this form of dancing in Albuquerque continually since the early 1970's.

Annual Events and Celebrations:
For many years there used to be an annual St. Patrick’s parade down Central Avenue downtown, but it was discontinued when the city started charging the sponsors, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, for police overtime to accompany the event. A smaller version has been held for the last few years on Gibson Blvd. Starting from the Kirtland AFB gate. There are many Irish musicians playing around town at various clubs and restaurants, but there is no one specific annual event save for the annual Corned Beef and Cabbage benefit dinner started many years ago by Brother Mathias to benefit Barrett House, a refuge for homeless.

There are two annual Highland Games, one held in Albuquerque in May and one in Rio Rancho in June that bring the Celtic community together for entertainment and athletic competitions. These games are part of a national network of Highland Games facilitated in part by the Association of Scottish Games and Festivals which is a clearinghouse for organizations to assist them in the production of Highland Games throughout the United States.

Athletic events are divided by men, women, and children. Typical men’s and women’s events are: Weight for Height, in which a fifty-six pound weight with a handle is thrown over a bar, which is then raised higher; Weight for Distance, in which the same fifty-six pound weight is thrown as far as possible; Hammer Toss, in which a fourteen pound hammer on a chain is spun by the body and flung as far as possible; Stone Put, in which a stone with a handle on it is spun with the body and flung; Sheaf Toss, in which a sack resembling a sheaf of wheat is flung by way of a pitchfork over a bar, which is successively raised; and Caber Toss in which a fifteen foot pole is flipped vertically so that it lands at a twelve o’clock position several feet from you. There is also a category for Irish Athletics with events such as Puc Fada where the participant is required to hit the sliotar (string based ball) as far as possible with the hurley (not unlike a hockey stick) keeping within set boundaries. Many of these athletic contests have their roots in practical chores, such as tossing straw up into lofts with pitchforks, or building log bridges, in the case of the caber toss. In addition to athletics, there is a Highland Dance Competition, as well as a Pipe Band Competition, Solo Piping/Drumming Competition, and a Drum Major Competition.

The Albuquerque Folk Festival, which occurs annually in June at the Fairgrounds, features local Irish musicians as well as workshops in the different forms of Irish dance. At the time of this survey there was a monthly calendar of events that listed Harp workshops, Irish Ceili dancing and step dancing, Scottish country dancing, and other public events and cultural presentations. There is a syndicated Celtic music program on public radio: the Thistle and Shamrock on KANW-FM, and Celtic music is sometimes featured and events are announced on the Home of Happy Feet and Folk Routes programs on KUNM-FM.

Conclusions:
Celtic culture is thriving, alive and well in the Albuquerque area. As with other ethnic groups, many would like to have publicly available spaces where members of the community can meet, exchange news, teach and learn from each other. More civic events that allow members of this community to showcase their music and dance talents to the general public were often cited as needs. The loss of Summerfest has been deeply felt by the Celtic community.

In addition to the Ancient Order of Hibernians noted above, other Celtic organizations are the Irish-American Club, founded in 1963, and the Welsh Society, both of which meet monthly. There is also an organization called the Children’s Friendship Project for Northern Ireland which pairs a Protestant and a Catholic child together and brings them to Albuquerque for a six week visit.

The Irish American Society of New Mexico