History of Celtic Design Tattoos

The history of Celtic design tattoos is the history of different cultures influencing each other to create a radical new art form. It is also the history of how some cool thousand year-old Celtic designs could become one of the most popular tattoos in the world.

Celtic design tattoos are actually inspired by an ancient form of public relations.  When the Romans conquered Ireland, Christian priests began to flood into the country in an attempt to convert the Celtic people. Though the Celts didn’t have a written language, they did have a unique visual style, which incorporated their love of nature and their attempt to express the complexity of life with interlacing designs that have no beginning and no end. By borrowing upon this aesthetic style of the early Celts, and fusing it with Christianity these priests decorated many of their early Bible manuscripts with this hybrid style. (The best example of this can be seen in the Celtic Cross Design). The result: An entire nation was converted to Christianity and the history of Celtic design tattoos had its genesis.

Whether the early Celts used their visual designs for tattoos is impossible to determine. Though Julius Caesar wrote about seeing tattoos on the rebellious Celts, he didn’t say what kind they were. (He was probably too busy dating Cleopatra.) Still the distinctive Celtic design tattoos with their interlacing knots and decorative representations of animals and other natural objects have maintained their cool factor because, like tribal tattoos, they are more concerned with emoting a certain feeling in their designs---rather than portraying an object realistically.

If you’re thinking of getting a Celtic design tattoo, make sure to get a tattoo artist who specializes in them. The history of Celtic design tattoos are inundated with bad versions of cool designs done by artists who just weren’t up to the task. Celtic design tattoos are some of the most difficult and labor-intensive examples of body modification available. Make sure you look at a portfolio of the artist so your Celtic design tattoo is worthy of its 2000 year-old history.