Pagan = not a follower of the Abrahamaic faith group [ Islam, Judaism, Christianity] - obviously a church definition.
Where many get confused is over pagan -v- heathen. By and large [Animus will agree/disagree here], heathen = Germanic, Northern European pagans. Best I can do on that one.
There is an interesting twist in Irish Christianity. Goes back to Roman Britain when the Romans attempted to eradicate the Druids because they represented a challenge to Roman authority. They were forced back into the island of Mona [Anglesey] and supposedly all butchered. However, many slipped away, via the Isle of Man, to Ireland where they were subsumed by the Celtic Church - there were many similarities between the Celtic Church and the Druids as both had animist tendencies and had "holy places" in nature. Move forward several centuries. The newly converted king of Northumbria/Bernicia invited monks from Iona [off the coast of Scotland] to found a Christian centre off the coast of Northumbria [Lindisfarne] - these were monks of the Celtic Church [pagan-christians ?]. So, Northern England was "converted" by the Celtic Church, not the church of Rome.
To complete this story, in the 20th century Gardner and Ross Nichol working together formed both Wicca and the New Order of British Druidry. Both men were ordained priests of the Celtic Church ! What goes around, comes around.
