Celtic League

The Celtic League can refer to either: A league of professional Rugby Union clubs involving teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. See the article, Celtic League (Rugby Union) An organisation that seeks to advance the independence movements of the various Celtic nations, and forge links between them. See the article, Celtic League (political organisation) Other related archivesCeltic League (Rugby Union), Celtic League (political organisation), Ireland, Rugby Uni

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Welsh nationalism is the Welsh expression of nationalism, a movement that became popular in nineteenth-century Europe and throughout the world in the twentieth century. It generally seeks independence for Wales within the United Kingdom or outside it. Around 1 in 10 people in Wales support the cause of Welsh independence, according to a number of recent opinion polls. Welsh nationalism - Conquest. Wales has never been an independent nation. At its conquest in 1282 the territory of Wales was divided among it ...

Including:

• Welsh nationalism - Conquest
• Welsh nationalism - Annexation
• Welsh nationalism - Revolutionary ideas
• Welsh nationalism - Nineteenth century
• Welsh nationalism - Treachery of the Blue Books
• Welsh nationalism - The influence of European nationalism
• Welsh nationalism - Twentieth century
• Welsh nationalism - Plaid Cymru
• Welsh nationalism - Other nationalist parties and movements
• Welsh nationalism - Violent nationalism
• Welsh nationalism - Sources/Bibliography

Read more here: » Welsh nationalism: Encyclopedia - Welsh nationalism

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) (Welsh: Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board. The first governing body of Welsh rugby was called the South Wales Football Union. It was refounded in 1880 as the Welsh Football Union was formed in 1880 to organise an international match against England. It wasn't until 1934 that they adopted the name Welsh Rugby Union. They are responsible for the running of Welsh rugby, including 293 member clubs, the Welsh National Team and National Leagues and Cups. They also o ...

Read more here: » Welsh Rugby Union: Encyclopedia - Welsh Rugby Union

The club came into being in the summer of 2003 when the WRU controversially elected to reduce the current top tier of Welsh professional rugby from nine clubs into five regions, attempting to mirror the successful formats in Ireland and the Southern Hemisphere countries of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Newport Gwent Dragons officially represent southeast Wales, and play all of their matches at Rodney Parade, situated in the city of Newport, although friendly (pre-season) games have been played at a number of other grounds around a region that includes well-known club sides suc ...

See also:

Newport Gwent Dragons, Newport Gwent Dragons - Club History, Newport Gwent Dragons - Home Ground, Newport Gwent Dragons - Statistics, Newport Gwent Dragons - Celtic League, Newport Gwent Dragons - Celtic League Cup, Newport Gwent Dragons - European Rugby Cup, Newport Gwent Dragons - Notable Current Players, Newport Gwent Dragons - Notable Former Players, Newport Gwent Dragons - Notable Former Coaches

Read more here: » Newport Gwent Dragons: Encyclopedia II - Newport Gwent Dragons - Club History

The Ospreys are one of the five original clubs of the Welsh Regional Rugby Era. The club came into being in the summer of 2003 when the WRU elected to reduce the current top tier of Welsh professional rugby from nine clubs into five regions, effectively mirroring the successful formats in Ireland and the Southern Hemisphere countries of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The Ospreys represent the whole of the Neath and Swansea areas, also encompassing Port Talbot and Aberavon. They were initially created by merging the area's two most successful clubs - Neath RFC and Swansea RFC - ...

See also:

Ospreys rugby union team, Ospreys rugby union team - Club history, Ospreys rugby union team - Home ground, Ospreys rugby union team - Statistics, Ospreys rugby union team - Celtic League, Ospreys rugby union team - Celtic League Cup, Ospreys rugby union team - European Rugby Cup, Ospreys rugby union team - Notable current players, Ospreys rugby union team - Notable former players, Ospreys rugby union team - Club honours, Ospreys rugby union team - Footnotes

Read more here: » Ospreys rugby union team: Encyclopedia II - Ospreys rugby union team - Club history

Llanelli Scarlets are one of the five original regions of the Welsh Regional Rugby Era. They are also one of only two of those regions who were not brought about by amalgamation of two or more clubs. In 2003, the WRU controversially elected to reduce the current top tier of Welsh professional rugby from nine clubs into five clubs, attempting to mirror the successful formats in Ireland and the Southern Hemisphere cou ...

See also:

Llanelli Scarlets, Llanelli Scarlets - Club History, Llanelli Scarlets - Home Ground, Llanelli Scarlets - Statistics, Llanelli Scarlets - Celtic League, Llanelli Scarlets - Celtic League Cup, Llanelli Scarlets - European Rugby Cup, Llanelli Scarlets - Notable Current Players, Llanelli Scarlets - Notable Former Players, Llanelli Scarlets - Club Honours

Read more here: » Llanelli Scarlets: Encyclopedia II - Llanelli Scarlets - Club History

The Leinster Branch was formed in 1875. In amateur days the four provinces played against each other in the Inter-provincial Championship and also played touring sides (usually midweek). When rugby union was declared 'open' in 1995, these four teams became the four professional teams ran by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). Leinster reached the Heineken Cup semi-final in 1995/96 and 2002/03. They were the inaugural Celtic League Champions (01/02) beating rivals Mun ...

See also:

Leinster Rugby, Leinster Rugby - History, Leinster Rugby - Famous players, Leinster Rugby - Club honours

Read more here: » Leinster Rugby: Encyclopedia II - Leinster Rugby - History

Irish nationalism - Roots. Ireland has been subject to varying degrees of rule from England since the late 12th century. (See Norman Ireland). The Gaelic Irish resisted this conquest through military and other means, but were organised in small independent lordships and did not have a common political goal such as an independent Irish state. Conflict over the English presence was exacerbated by the Protestant Reformation in England, which introduced a religious element to the Tudor re-conquest of Ireland. Another central feature of future Anglo-Irish conflict was the continuing dispossession of Irish Catho ...

See also:

Irish nationalism, Irish nationalism - History, Irish nationalism - Roots, Irish nationalism - Early Nationalism - Grattan to O'Connell, Irish nationalism - Home Rule and Catholic Nationalism, Irish nationalism - Land League, Irish nationalism - Home Rule, Irish nationalism - Cultural Nationalism, Irish nationalism - Militant Separatism and Irish Independence, Irish nationalism - The Free State, Irish nationalism - Northern Ireland, Irish nationalism - Present, Irish nationalism - Ideology of Irish Nationalism, Irish nationalism - Irish nationalist organisations 1791-Present

Read more here: » Irish nationalism: Encyclopedia II - Irish nationalism - History

Rugby-like games have a long history in Wales, with games such as cnapan being played for centuries. Rugby seems to have reached Wales in the 1850s. Although several clubs had been in existence since the mid 1870s the Welsh Football Union (later renamed Welsh Rugby Union) was not formed until 1880. Wales have played in red since 1880 prior to this they had worn black. However the strength of Welsh rugby developed over the following years, primarily thanks to the 'big four' South Wales clubs of Newport (who lost only seven games between 1891 and 1895), Cardiff, Llanelli (wh ...

See also:

Rugby union in Wales, Rugby union in Wales - History, Rugby union in Wales - Social aspects, Rugby union in Wales - Organisation

Read more here: » Rugby union in Wales: Encyclopedia II - Rugby union in Wales - History

Scotland national rugby union team - 1871-1924. The first ever international rugby union game was played at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh on March 27, 1871 between England and Scotland. It was won by Scotland, though England got revenge at the Kennington Oval, London in the following year. (See the library of the Scottish Rugby Union for details.) The Scots enjoyed periodic success in the early days vying with Wales in the first decade of the 20th century. However, their Triple Crown win in 1907 would be the last for eighteen years as the First ...

See also:

Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland national rugby union team - History, Scotland national rugby union team - 1871-1924, Scotland national rugby union team - 1925-1944, Scotland national rugby union team - 1945-1973, Scotland national rugby union team - 1974-2000, Scotland national rugby union team - The 2003 season & the future, Scotland national rugby union team - Scotland's best results so far, Scotland national rugby union team - Current national team players, Scotland national rugby union team - Famous past players, Scotland national rugby union team - Since 1945, Scotland national rugby union team - Before 1945, Scotland national rugby union team - Scottish coaches, Scotland national rugby union team - Scottish professional rugby teams, Scotland national rugby union team - Scotland's greatest XV

Read more here: » Scotland national rugby union team: Encyclopedia II - Scotland national rugby union team - History

Irish nationalism - Roots. Ireland has been subject to varying degrees of rule from England since the late 12th century. (See Norman Ireland). The Gaelic Irish resisted this conquest through military and other means, but were organised in small independent lordships and did not have a common political goal such as an independent Irish state. Conflict over the English presence was exacerbated by the Protestant Reformation in England, which introduced a religious element to the Tudor re-conquest of Ireland. Another central feature of future Anglo-Irish conflict was the continuing dispossession of Irish Catho ...

See also:

Irish nationalism, Irish nationalism - History, Irish nationalism - Roots, Irish nationalism - Early Nationalism - Grattan to O'Connell, Irish nationalism - Home Rule and Catholic Nationalism, Irish nationalism - Cultural Nationalism, Irish nationalism - Militant Separatism and Irish Independence, Irish nationalism - The Free State, Irish nationalism - Northern Ireland, Irish nationalism - Present, Irish nationalism - Ideology of Irish Nationalism, Irish nationalism - Irish nationalist organisations

Read more here: » Irish nationalism: Encyclopedia II - Irish nationalism - History

Although the Irish Football Union (renamed Irish Rugby Football Union after unification with the North of Ireland Union) was not formed until 1874, club rugby had been played for around 20 years before that. Trinity College, Dublin claims to be one of the oldest clubs in Ireland, having been formed in 1854. Ireland lost their first test match against England 7-0 at the Oval in February 1875, but it was not until 1881 that they first won a test, against Scotland at Ormeau in Belfast. Ireland's finest hour arguably came in 1948 when, inspired by Jack Kyle, they clinche ...

See also:

Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland national rugby union team - History, Ireland national rugby union team - Famous players

Read more here: » Ireland national rugby union team: Encyclopedia II - Ireland national rugby union team - History

The Ulster Branch of the IRFU was founded in 1879. In the time since Ulster has arguably been the most consistently successful of the four Irish provinces (the others are Connacht, Leinster and Munster) having won the Inter-Provincial Championship a record 26 times. In the amateur Rugby Union era Ulster regularly played international touring sides from the southern hemisphere, their most impressive performance coming in the 1983/4 season when they defeated Andrew Slack's "Grand Slam" Wallabies, the only loss of any kind for the Australians on a tour which saw them defe ...

See also:

Ulster Rugby, Ulster Rugby - History, Ulster Rugby - Club honours, Ulster Rugby - Famous players, Ulster Rugby - Current Internationals, Ulster Rugby - Famous Former Players

Read more here: » Ulster Rugby: Encyclopedia II - Ulster Rugby - History

The Celtic Congress and Celtic League consider the following to be the Celtic areas - Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales. However, in music festivals it is common to find bands from Galicia and Asturias. Val d'Aoste in Italy is sometimes claimed as a Celtic region, as are parts of England (not just Cornwall). See also article on the Modern Celts. ...

See also:

Pan-Celticism, Pan-Celticism - Types of Pan-Celticism, Pan-Celticism - The term 'Celtic', Pan-Celticism - The Celtic regions/countries, Pan-Celticism - Timeline of Pan-Celticism

Read more here: » Pan-Celticism: Encyclopedia II - Pan-Celticism - The Celtic regions/countries

Nationalism became a strong factor in twentieth-century Wales, but not as strong as it was amongst the people of eastern Europe, or Ireland. At various times both the Labour Party and the Liberal Party took up the cause of Welsh self-government, but it was with the establishment of Plaid Cymru (The party of Wales) in 1925 that Welsh separation from the UK was first advocated. Perhaps the end of the twentieth century saw the greatest achievement of a hundred and fifty years of Welsh nationalism with the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.

See also:

Welsh nationalism, Welsh nationalism - Conquest, Welsh nationalism - Annexation, Welsh nationalism - Revolutionary ideas, Welsh nationalism - Nineteenth century, Welsh nationalism - Treachery of the Blue Books, Welsh nationalism - The influence of European nationalism, Welsh nationalism - Twentieth century, Welsh nationalism - Plaid Cymru, Welsh nationalism - Other nationalist parties and movements, Welsh nationalism - Violent nationalism, Welsh nationalism - Sources/Bibliography

Read more here: » Welsh nationalism: Encyclopedia II - Welsh nationalism - Twentieth century

The Warriors were one of the five original regions of the Welsh Regional Rugby Era. The club came into being in the summer of 2003 when the WRU controversially elected to reduce the current top tier of Welsh Professional Rugby from nine clubs into five regions, attempting to mirror the successful formats in Ireland and the Southern Hemisphere countries of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Officially representing the Mid-Glamorgan Valleys area, including Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare, Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Bridgend, and s ...

See also:

Celtic Warriors, Celtic Warriors - Club History, Celtic Warriors - Home Ground, Celtic Warriors - Statistics, Celtic Warriors - Celtic League, Celtic Warriors - Celtic League Cup, Celtic Warriors - European Rugby Cup, Celtic Warriors - Notable Former Players

Read more here: » Celtic Warriors: Encyclopedia II - Celtic Warriors - Club History

Glasgow Rugby were created to compete in the Heineken Cup as the SRU did not think that Scottish club sides could compete against the best teams from France and England. Glasgow, however, did not compete in the Heineken Cup until the 1997-98 season. Due to the SRU's high debt, partly as a result of the redevelopment of Murrayfield - called for retrenchment. After two seasons, Glasgow merged with Caledonian to form a team to be known as Glasgow Caledonian. From the 2002-03 season the Caledonian label was dropped and the team were simply known as Glasgow Rugby. Starting with the 2005-06 season, the team were ...

See also:

Glasgow Warriors, Glasgow Warriors - History, Glasgow Warriors - Famous players, Glasgow Warriors - Former players

Read more here: » Glasgow Warriors: Encyclopedia II - Glasgow Warriors - History

Edinburgh Rugby were created to compete in the Heineken Cup as the SRU did not think that Scottish club sides could compete against the best teams from France and England. Due to the SRU's high debt, partly as a result of the redevelopment of Murrayfield Stadium, retrenchment was called for. After two seasons, Edinburgh merged with the Border Reivers to form a team to be known as Edinburgh Reivers. From the 2001-02 season, the Reivers label was dropped and the team were simply known as Edinburgh Rugby, nicknamed The Gunners. For the 2005-06 season, the team incorporated the nickname into their official ...

See also:

Edinburgh Gunners, Edinburgh Gunners - History, Edinburgh Gunners - Famous players

Read more here: » Edinburgh Gunners: Encyclopedia II - Edinburgh Gunners - History

The Connacht Branch of the IRFU was founded in 1885 and is currently made up of 19 clubs. Connacht was the first ever Irish provincial team to win in France and England in 1997. Connacht were quarterfinalists in the European Challenge Cup in 1997/98. In 2001/02, Connacht made it to the semifinals of the Celtic League, but only reached the quarters in 2002/2003. The 2003/04 season will live long in the memory of all Connacht fans. Their efforts in the Parker Pen Challenge Cup took them to within touching distance of the f ...

See also:

Connacht Rugby, Connacht Rugby - History, Connacht Rugby - Club honours

Read more here: » Connacht Rugby: Encyclopedia II - Connacht Rugby - History

There have been many changes in format as well as name. In 1996 there were 24 teams from England, France, Italy, Romania, Scotland and Wales divided into 4 groups of 6. Eight teams went on to the knock-out stages. The final was an all French affair with Bourgoin beating Castres to win the first shield. In 1997 there were 8 groups of 4 teams. Colomiers continued the French dominance of the European Shield, defeating Agen convincingly in the final. In 1998 there were 3 groups of 7 teams with the national Spanish and Portuguese teams added in. Once again, a French team was triumphant, with Mont ...

See also:

European Challenge Cup, European Challenge Cup - Tournament history, European Challenge Cup - Draw for 2005/6, European Challenge Cup - Previous Winners of the European Challenge Cup

Read more here: » European Challenge Cup: Encyclopedia II - European Challenge Cup - Tournament history