A ccording to legend, the Celts first arrived in Spain under the leadership of Brath. His son was King Breogán, who founded the town of Brigantia on the coast of northwestern Spain. Today this city is known as La Coruña.

The oldest functioning lighthouse in the western world stands in the harbor, known as the Tower of Hercules. Now declared a National Monument, it was built at the beginning of the 2nd century by order of the Emperor Trajan. There have been many refurbishments throughout history, the last of them in 1791, when Carlos III ordered the architect Giannini to restore and reface the tower. It was probably built on the site of a much older tower. According to legend, King Breogán constructed a massive tower of such mythic proportions that his sons could see Ireland from there. It was the tempting glimpse of that distant green land that lured them to sail north and land in Ireland. It is a fact that sea routes between Galicia and Ireland were established in prehistoric times and strengthened after the sixth century BC. The site where the lighthouse stands was reconstructed by the ancient Phoenicians before the Romans, but neither were the first to build there. Some structure was already in existence by 3000 BC and even possibly before the Great Pyramid.

For the Galicians, Breogán is the founding father of the Galician Celtic nation and they recognized as such in the present Galician national anthem where they sing to Breogán. The National Anthem of Galicia is Os pinos ("The pine-trees"), and it was composed in 1886 by Maestro Pascual Veiga using the lyrics from a poem by Eduardo Pondal. Notice that the name of Galicia does not appear in any part of the poem, but is replaced by Nazón de Breogán [Nation of Breogán].

"What does the murmuring say
in the greenish coast
to the transparent beam
of the placid moonplace?
What do the high
dark pine needle jagged tops say
with its well compassed
measured grumble?
"With your girdled greenness
and with benign stars
limit of the green castroes
and courageous land,
don't give to oblivion
of outrage the hard effort;
wake up from your dream
home of Breogán.
"The good and generous
our voice understand,
and with determination they attend
our harsh sound,
but only the ignorant,
and wounded and hard,
idiot and dark
don't understand us, they do not.
"The times are arrived
of Age Bards,
that your indeterminacies
end they will put down;
because where it wants, giant
our voice proclaims the redemption of the good
Nation of Breogán".

The real history of Brigantia is lost in the mists of the past but it is undisputable that it is truly an ancient port. The harbor is a natural stopping place for sea travelers.This seaport was the western terminus of a major trade route in tin, gold, lead and silver. Historically La Coruña has always been an important site. It was the departure point for the Spanish Armada many years later.

IN 61 BC Julius Caesar stormed Brigantia, which was a stronghold of Celtic resistence in Spain. He took over the city and established Roman rule. Augustus continued the Roman hold over Brigantia through 19 BC. Gradually Latin and the Roman culture replaced many of the Celtiberian traditions.

Nevertheless, Celtic pride remains strong. Near the ancient Tower of Hercules, the Galicians have erected a larger than life statue of King Breogan. Also in La Coruña there is a sixty foot mosaic depicting the seven Celtic nations as points on a star: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, AND Galicia. In 1996, a group of Galicians formed the League of Celtic Galicia to honor Celtic culture in the province. The motto of the league: "A people who forget their origins lose their identity; a people who lose their identity become dust."