Gaelic type is a family of Insular script typefaces devised for printing Classical Gaelic. It was widely used from the 16th century until the mid-18th century in Scotland and the mid-20th century in Ireland, but is now rarely used. Sometimes, all Gaelic typefaces are called Celtic or uncial although most Gaelic types are not uncials. The "Anglo-Saxon" types of the 17th century are included in this category because both the Anglo-Saxon types and the Gaelic/Irish types derive from the insular manuscript hand.
Gaelic script used on an information plaque outside City Hall, near Dublin Castle.
Gaelic script on the gates of the Pontifical Irish College in Rome.
Gaelic script on a gravestone in County Kerry.
Gaelic script on an Irish national monument.
Insular script is a medieval script system originating from Ireland that spread to England and continental Europe under the influence of Irish Christianity. Irish missionaries took the script to continental Europe, where they founded monasteries such as Bobbio. The scripts were also used in monasteries like Fulda, which were influenced by English missionaries. They are associated with Insular art, of which most surviving examples are illuminated manuscripts. It greatly influenced modern Gaelic type and handwriting.
The beginning of the Gospel of Mark from the Book of Durrow
St Chad Gospels: Et factum est iter[um cum sabbatis ambula]ret Iesus per sata (Mark 2:23, p. 151)