MacDonald of Islay & Kintyre / MacDonnell of Dun Naibhig & The Glens Tartan

[BoldHighlander]

Okay, in another thread I mentioned that "I know there isn't a Macdonald of Kintyre tartan (that I'm aware of), but there is a Kintyre 'fashion' tartan registered", however while checking out this site yesterday, I discovered much to my surprise (& joy) a tartan listed as MacDonald of Islay & Kintyre and MacDonnell of Dun Naibhig & The Glens!

My question is this (I hope you are reading this Matt? ):
is this a tartan that's readily availible (in 16oz), and if so, which mill(s)?
Or is this a tartan that is a special weave only?

I'm thinking after my MacDonnell of Keppoch kilt having one done up in this tartan to honour my MacRanalds from the Kintyre peninsula

Here's a picture of the tartan & other particulars:


MacDonald of Islay & Kintyre and MacDonnell of Dun Naibhig & The Glens
“Cath Dath” (Battle Color) of Clan Donald (WR420)

Source: Wilson’s of Bannockburn ‘1819'

sIndex: BRB:GRG

Thread Count: B22, R4, B4, R8, B30, R4, K30, G30, R8, G4, R4, G22

This was Wilson’s rendering of the original MacDonald tartan found at Culloden and became the standard MacDonald regimental sett worn during the 19th Century. Clan Donald of Skye uses a tartan of scarlet with bands of pale green, while Islay uses this more ancient pattern with the very narrow black line (to indicate the Line of the Tanister of Islay).


Any assistance in answering my questions would be greatly appreciated

[xman]

That's Clan Donald or MacDonald of MacDonald. It's readily available everywhere.

The Islay definition sounds like it might be MacDonald of Sleat.

[BoldHighlander]

That's Clan Donald or MacDonald of MacDonald. It's readily available everywhere.

The Islay definition sounds like it might be MacDonald of Sleat.

hmmm....You might be right. I was looking at an incomplete sett of Clan MacDonald so it didn't look the same. That & the name threw me.

However if Matt (Newsome) could chime in I'd appreciate it

Thanks.

[BoldHighlander]

The Islay definition sounds like it might be MacDonald of Sleat.

Except Sleat is a red based tartan.

[Hothir Ethelnor]

That is the generic MacDonald Clan tartan in brighter colours.

[BoldHighlander]

That is the generic MacDonald Clan tartan in brighter colours.

I wonder why a "generic" MacDonald Clan tartan would be called MacDonald of Islay & Kintyre? Variation in colours? (as Hothir noted its brighter in colour)


If there is no significant difference between this & the generic MacDonald Clan tartan, was there ever a tartan specifically called MacDonald of Islay & Kintyre?

[xman]

I wonder why a "generic" MacDonald Clan tartan would be called MacDonald of Islay & Kintyre? Variation in colours? (as Hothir noted its brighter in colour)


If there is no significant difference between this & the generic MacDonald Clan tartan, was there ever a tartan specifically called MacDonald of Islay & Kintyre?

Colour tone is a weavers prerogative and wouldn't be a deciding factor. I suspect the difference is in the tread count one having some slimmer red lines than another. These different counts could have been attributed to different divisions of Clan Donald initially but today there likely wouldn't be such a delineation.

[figheadair]

Okay, in another thread I mentioned that "I know there isn't a Macdonald of Kintyre tartan (that I'm aware of), but there is a Kintyre 'fashion' tartan registered", however while checking out this site yesterday, I discovered much to my surprise (& joy) a tartan listed as MacDonald of Islay & Kintyre and MacDonnell of Dun Naibhig & The Glens!

MacDonald of Islay & Kintyre and MacDonnell of Dun Naibhig & The Glens
“Cath Dath” (Battle Color) of Clan Donald (WR420)

This was Wilson’s rendering of the original MacDonald tartan found at Culloden and became the standard MacDonald regimental sett worn during the 19th Century. Clan Donald of Skye uses a tartan of scarlet with bands of pale green, while Islay uses this more ancient pattern with the very narrow black line (to indicate the Line of the Tanister of Islay).


Any assistance in answering my questions would be greatly appreciated

You need to treat this (MacDonald of Leinster) site with a great deal of caution/scepticism. There is no such tartan as MacDonald of Islay & Kintyre and MacDonnell of Dun Naibhig & The Glens
“Cath Dath” (Battle Color) of Clan Donald , it is simply the Clan Donald sett.

Further, the claim that the Clan Donald tartan was found at Culloden is, to put it politely, rubbish. Nor do I know to which regiment the writer referred when he claimed that it was the standard MacDonald regimental sett in the C19th - there was no MacDonald Regiment. He may of course be referring to the Glengarry Fencibles but we don't know for certain which sett they wore and there is evidence (the Kaufmann portrait of Glengarry in his regimentals) that a different setting was worn.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Ditto all that Peter (figheadair) said. What you see pictured there is simply the Clan Donald tartan, readily available in ancient, modern & weathered colors. Of course if you want it woven up in Wilsons' of Bannockburn's original dye colors, I can do that, too.

[Lachlan09]

Is there a MacDonald of Kintyre branch ? I'm aware of MacDonald of Largie, on West Kintyre's coast, but MacDonald of Kintyre sounds more historical than current ?