Celtic Fonts
Long ago when the monks wrote about the Gospels they used quill pens and expensive inks to write in their own particular style of the time.
Nowadays we are fortunate to have computers with word processors to write uniformly and creatively without having to be an expert in calligraphy.
Computers have a set of fonts. A font is a complete set of type of one style and size. The most common are Arial, Times New Roman, etc.
Celtic fonts are fonts in Celtic style of writing , similar to the that which the monks used hundreds of years ago.
There are thousands of fonts available for you to use on your computer.
Many of them are downloadable from the internet. Some of them are free to download and some of them you must buy. The font websites will tell you if you must pay for them, if they are free and how you can use them. Most free fonts are for your own private use and some are also for classroom use. Always check the copyright and permissions from the ‘readme’ files that come with the downloaded font (e.g. you cannot download fonts to resell).
Here are some very good Celtic/Irish downloadable freeware fonts for you to install onto your computer to use for your own personal Celtic art projects.
Animal Caps font - Freeware by MouserFonts
Celtic font - Free Celtic Fonts from irishnation.com
Celtic MD font - Free Celtic Fonts from irishnation.com
Celtic Knot font - Free Celtic Fonts from irishnation.com
Celtic Frames font - Freeware by Omega Font Labs
Celtic Patterns font - Freeware by Omega Font Labs
CeltiCons font - Freeware by 1001 Fonts
Knot BRK font - Freeware by Brian Kent
KRIrish Kat1 font - Freeware by KAT
WM-StPaddys font - Freeware by WillyMac
On the next few pages is a chart to show what the fonts look like when you print them and also how to use them, especially the picture fonts e.g. Celtic Frames:
To print this frame a, select the Celtic Frames font and press the letter a (lower case). You will also need to select a large font size.
To print this frame A , select the Celtic Frames font and press the shift key and the letter A (upper case). You will also need to select a larger font size.
You will see from the chart that some fonts print only in lower case, some only in upper case and some in both.
Sometimes a character prints blank or as a box. This means the character does not exist or does not print in the size selected.
Try changing the sizes of the font and perhaps check to see that you have installed the font correctly.
You can work with these fonts in the same way as most of the other fonts on your computer.
We are sure you will find this chart useful to help you to choose the right font/design for your Celtic art activities.
(A FREE downloadable version of this font chart is available below)