Celtic Places & Placenames

Celtic Places & Placenames written by John Moss and published by

Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 304

‘Celtic Places’ are typified by some several hundred townships and villages whose

names still bear the imprint of their earliest Celtic roots, but the scope of the book is

not restricted to human settlements; it is also true of the many mountains and rivers

that they named, and to several thousand sites of standing stone monuments, Celtic

high crosses, henges, hill figures, funeral barrows and hillforts, which are all included

in the book.

What they all have in common is that they reflect the rich cultural heritage that was implicit in the names of places in the British Isles and Ireland as it existed before the Romans arrived.

This for me was always going to be a fascinating book, as someone who finds local history interesting this is an excellent book. I’m always one of those obsessive types who wherever he goes likes to learn about places, their origins and just what makes places be what they are. A lot of research and knowledge has gone into this book, just like the author’s previous book A History of English Placenames & Where they Came From. This book not only covers villages, towns and cities, it also seems to cover hills, areas and rivers to make it more than just about populated areas. I would say that if your into local history you would get a lot out of this book as I would highly recommend it.