The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man.

The Goidelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other being Brythonic.

The modern English term Gael derives ultimately from the Old Irish (Ancient Gaelic) word Goídel, which was spelled in various ways by Gaelic writers at different times. The modern Gaelic spellings are Gael (Irish) and Gàidheal (Scottish Gaelic).

Early Greek and Roman authors called the Irish Ιουερνοι and Iverni, respectively, both derived from the Proto-Irish ethnic name *Iwerni ("people of *Iweriū"). Later Greek and Latin variants of this name included Ίερνοι, Hierni, and Hiberni.

Scoti or Scotti was another generic Latin name for the Irish that came into use by the 4th century. It is not believed that any Gaelic groups called themselves Scot(t)i in ancient times, except when referring to themselves in Latin. It is also conjectured that the Latin term may mean "raider/pirate" as it is widely accepted that raiders from Ireland were attacking Britain's west coast during and following the Roman occupation.

Dan Ar Braz, born Daniel Le Bras (15 January 1949, Quimper, Brittany), is a French (Breton) guitarist and the founder of Héritage des Celtes.

At the age of 13 Daniel Le Bras owned his first guitar. He modelled himself on The Shadows, then Bob Dylan then Jimi Hendrix. Daniel's father insisted that he study catering instead of music. In 1967, while on a catering course in Benodet he met Alan Stivell who invited him to join his group. Alan Stivell and his musicians embraced Breton, Scottish, Irish music, and included Gabriel Yacoub who later formed Malicorne. After a successful tour in France in 1972 they travelled around Europe, North America and Australia. Alan's father had made a reconstruction of the ancient Breton harp in 1953 and Alan learned to play the harp, bagpipes and Irish flute. Daniel Le Bras changed his name to Dan Ar Bras to show that he belonged to Breton culture rather than French. The sound of his electric guitar made an exciting mix with Alan's celtic instruments and voice.

Damien Dempsey (born in Donaghmede, Dublin in 1975; Irish: Damien Ó Díomasaigh) is an Irish singer and songwriter who mixes traditional Irish folk with contemporary lyrics to deliver social comment on the positive and negative aspects arising from Ireland's Celtic Tiger society. He sings in English, and to a lesser extent Irish.

Born and raised in Donaghmede, a Northside suburb of Dublin, his earliest musical influences came from the post-pub musical sessions that were held in his parents house when he was a toddler. This developed into a love of artists such as Christy Moore, Luke Kelly, Shane MacGowan, Bob Marley and Elvis Presley.

Growing up on the northside of Dublin, the six foot two inch Dempsey trained and competed as an amateur boxer before committing himself to studying music.

Upon completing secondary school at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, he attended Ballyfermot College of Further Education - the "Rock School" - for 2 years before graduating in 1995. There he studied musical performance and management and his first EP, "The Contender" was released in 1995 on the school's record label.

Karen Matheson OBE (born 11 February 1963) is a Scottish folk singer, who frequently sings in Scottish Gaelic. She is lead singer of the group Capercaillie and was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Heritage des Celtes, with whom she often sang lead vocals, either alone or jointly with Elaine Morgan. She and Morgan received much acclaim for their joint lead vocal on the Breton language song "Diwanit Bugale", the French entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. She made a cameo appearance in the 1995 movie Rob Roy singing the song "Ailein duinn".

She grew up in the small village of Taynuilt in Argyll. She was awarded an OBE in the 2006 New Year's honours list.

Matheson also appeared as a guest musician on Spirit of the West's 1997 album Weights and Measures.

Matheson performed a solo in Secret Garden's song "Prayer" in the 1999 album Dawn of a New Century.

She is married to fellow Capercaillie member Donald Shaw, and they have a son named Hector.