Quote Originally Posted by Bob C. View Post
My wife and I are buying a new house and moving - hopefully next month.

Does anyone know of any Scottish/Irish/Celtic customs for dedicating a new home?

No religious stuff, please. We're not religious.
Might want to reconsider the Celtic customs if we're to leave out "religious stuff", there's not much left after that.

Anyway, a nice Viking custom was to bring something from your previous home, if it was a happy place ( a not nice Viking custom was to bring something from other people's previous homes, ha). Something from the building itself. A lot of north British customs originated from the Vikings.

Food, fire, drink are all welcoming. Clan structures are based more on common bonds than blood so those items reinforce that. Generally, your friends should bring the traditional gifts, that would be nice.

Horse-shoes, iron, heather, silver in the hearth/mantle: darn, they're all religious. Stick with food, fire and drink.