Celtic Christianity is a term used for the form of Christianity practised in Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany from the missions of Saint Patrick and Saint Ninian in the 5th century (also known as Old British Church, Celtic Catholic Church, Culdee Church), in Scotland from the mission of Ninian in the 5th century and Columcille from 563, and in Anglo-Saxon England from 635 until the Synod of Whitby in 664, where an attempt was made at reconciliation with the Roman rite.

What Celtic Christianity is

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Christianity was first brought to the British Isles sometime after the Roman conquest, probably during the Christianizing of the empire under Constantine in the fourth century. Celtic Christianity, or The Celtic Church, is thought to be a form of Christianity as it was first received and practised by communities within Britain and Ireland that spoke Celtic languages. The debate about the existence of the Celtic Church centres primarily around two issues arising from the early Christian experience in Britain and Ireland:

1. Was its ecclesiastical structure enough to justify giving the church recognition as an organized Christian body?
2. What role did Celtic Christianity have in influencing the Roman Catholic Church?

There is little debate that early Celtic Christians observed practices divergent from those in the rest of Europe. The debate about the existence of Celtic Christianity is important because the existence of a separate Christian Celtic Catholic Church, if verified, counters the Roman Catholic Church's claim to supremacy in Europe, making it the third body of practising Christians in Europe, along with the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Roman Catholic Church. However, it should be noted that this "third body" model requires accepting a primarily Roman Catholic view of Church history, wherein the Church is portrayed as a single, completely centralized hierarchy from its beginning. If the Eastern Orthodox view of ecclesiology is accepted, the Celtic Church would merely be another ordinary administrative expression of Christianity.

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