Gaels is a broad term to refer to Gaelic people, that is Irish and Scottish (to simplify things).
The Golden Gaels is the name used by Queens University in Kingston.
In the US, we have Iona in New Rochelle, New York and St Mary's in California using the Gaels name.
As an Irish/Scottish American, it doesn't bother me in the least. I am amused by Notre Dame's mascot. Since they have been successful in college football for a hundred years and do okay in basketball, I am not offended.
On the other hand, I never liked Chief Wahoo for the Cleveland Indians. The team was renamed from the Spiders supposedly after a Native American player. From Wikipedia:
Spiders outfielder
Louis Sockalexis played for the team during its final three seasons and is often credited as the first
Native American to play professional baseball. The
Cleveland Indians, major league successor to the Spiders in Cleveland, have long cited Sockalexis as inspiration for their team name, though that claim is disputed.
First Native American means before Jim Thorpe. Cy Young pitched for the Spiders and the team name wasn't changed to the Youngs in his honor. The Spiders played in the NL for 11 seasons. They can stay as the Indians as long as they
completely get rid of that cartoon-like mascot. The team took it off of their caps a few years ago, but you can still buy team merchandise with it.
I also never liked Chief Knockahoma for the Atlanta Braves. They dropped him in 1985. Thank goodness that was all in Atlanta and was never used here in Milwaukee. It was embarrassing for a major league team to do that.
One local university, Marquette, dropped their Warriors mascot about 20 years ago to become the Golden Eagles.
Former men's basketball coach Al McGuire spoke out publicly and repeatedly for the mascot change.
While I dislike Chicago sports teams, I think that the name Black Hawks is okay. I would drop the iconic Indian head before the tomahawks, but I am not in favor of doing either. He was a historical person. He fought against the US a few times (1812, 1832) in an effort to keep white settlers out of his tribe's territory in present day Illinois. He went as far east as present day Sandusky, Ohio. He surrendered after the Black Hawk War in 1832 to Lt Jefferson Davis. Abraham Lincoln was one of the volunteers who fought in the war against the Sauk tribe.