Scotland's Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745, culminated in the crucial battle of Culloden in 1746 was a devestating blow to the Highland Scots who were the last bastion of northen Celts. These rebellions led many to turn against the previously unheeded Highlanders and Celtic dress, music, culture and Gaelic language all becam causes for persecution. The largest blow cam with the Highland Clearances effectively removing the Gaelic social structure and a majority of the Celtic speakers.
Ireland saw the rise of Oliver Cromwell in his conquest of the Island from 1649 to 1653. In just these four short years Cromwell was directly responisble for the destruction of the Gaelic nobility, the Celtic monastic system, and the murder of over 600,000 Irish (almost half of the population). Rebellions following this in 1641 were met with removal of Catholic voting rights and the Penal Laws disallow Catholics in parliment (although some 90% of the native population was Catholic). The last effort of the 1798 rebellion was brutally crushed, and the language and culture of the Celts came under heavy repression.
