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We are looking forward to the 22nd John V. Kelleher Lecture on 8 October 2026.  This year's speaker is Professor Barry Lewis of the School of Celtic Studies at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. "The poet in the medieval Welsh court: rereading Phylip Brydydd's encounter with the gofeirdd"

The John V. Kelleher Lecture commemorates the fondly remembered Professor of Irish Studies, John Kelleher. Details to follow.

We are looking forward to the 45th HCC. October 9-11, 2026.

This three day colloquium has been operating since 1981. The graduate students of the Harvard Celtic Department have organized and hosted the Annual Harvard Celtic Colloquium and have published selected papers in The Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium. The Colloquium attracts students and scholars from all over the world.

The conference is free to attend but if you are planning on joining us, please register using this brief form.

Join the Celtic Languages & Literatures Department’s bothántaíocht (a traditional custom of evening visits to neighbors' homes for stories, gossip, music) every other Thursday at Barker Center Café at 4pm! Starting 9/17. A relaxed environment to trade stories and play games in the Irish language with fellow Gaeilgeoirí on Harvard campus. We’ll br there to guide discussions on interesting topics &  help you build confidence in speaking cúpla focal. All levels of language learners are welcome to join.

Sponsored by the Department of Celtic Languages & Literatures

Heroes of the Gael: A History of Fionn and the Fianna by Professor Natasha Sumner

Stories about Fionn mac Cumhaill (also known as Finn McCool) and his roving warrior band, the Fianna, have engaged audiences for more than a millennium. Fionn and the Fianna—Gaeldom’s defenders during a legendary third-century golden age—are the heroes of the most prolific body of narrative in the Gaelic tradition, spanning 1,400 years of oral and written transmission, from the earliest extant records to the present day. 

Published by Princeton University Press

New perspectives on the rich and inventive storytelling of medieval Wales and Ireland.

Honoring the scholarship of Celtic expert and our Margaret Brooks Robinson Research Professor of Celtic Languages and Literatures Catherine McKenna, this collection moves beyond the familiar canon to examine the historical significance and evolving interpretations of medieval Celtic literature.  Published by University of Wales Press. Edited by Helen Fulton and Georgia  Henley