What are the Highland games and Celtic festivals in America, and where do Irish traditions fit in?
The games are Scotland's, and honest answers start there: the heavy events (caber toss, stone put, hammer and weight throws), the piping and the Highland dancing were clan gatherings in the Scottish Highlands long before they crossed the Atlantic. In America they became the gathering point for the whole Celtic diaspora, and Irish traditions sit inside them rather than beside them: Irish music stages, Irish dance schools, and genealogy tents where Irish and Scots Irish families are traced side by side. The largest gatherings, such as the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in North Carolina, running since 1956 with nearly 100 clans represented and crowds above 30,000, are effectively Celtic festivals under a Scottish name. Many all-Irish festivals run the same mix from the Irish side. Our Irish in USA section lists the games and festivals we have checked, state by state.
Useful pages: Irish in USA · The Irish surnames map · Trace your Irish roots · Coming home · Irish around the world
Sources
- NCpedia and the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games: history and programme of the games
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