Irish Kilt Thread

[scottography]

So I have been looking at getting an Irish tartan kilt as I play Irish fiddle and enjoy wearing the kilt, but looking at those little tartan swatches on the net still leaves me a bit unsure about which way to jump.

I've noticed there are quite a few XMarkers interested in the Irish tartans so maybe we can start this thread as a place to post our Irish kilt pics so that - hopefully one day - we will have a great reference of Irish kilts being worn.

So from Cork to Down, Dublin to Kerry lets see if we can't cover the emerald isle...

Scotty

PS- Sorry I can't start the ball rolling... But I hope to post a pic in the not too distant future.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Well, I don't own any Irish tartan kilts, but I have made quite a few. If people don't mind, there are several Irish tartan pics in my gallery, including...


Ulster


Another version of Ulster


Yet another version of Ulster

The other Irish tartans pictures in my gallery are Irish family tartans, such as FitzGibbon, Fitzsimmons, Cian, and Downs. I have made several kilts from other Irish county tartans, though, and have pics of a lot of those on my hard drive somewhere.

[BEEDEE]

County Antrim - from the Marton Mills County Crest range - semi trad from USA Kilts

The sett

Pleat shot

At a wedding


Brian

[Big Mikey]

Here is the SWK Irish National with matching fly plaid.

[pdcorlis]

I'll Play...



County Cavan



County Clare

[Tattoo Bradley]

Ireland's National - Marton Mills
Made by Rocky at USAK

[O'Callaghan]

I don't have any pics, but I have kilts in Irish National and County Cork (Macnaughton) tartans. So you can add Cork to the counties so far.

There are about a dozen tartans that represent Ireland, many with confusingly similar names and setts, plus two for every county (the Marton Mills and Macnaughton versions), and at least one for each province, but more than one for Connaught, and more than one interpretation of what the Ulster tartan would have looked like it it hadn't been buried in a peat bog for hundreds of years, as Mr. Newsome has shown us.

Then, there are family and clan tartans, but officially there are only 16 Irish clans, not all of which have a tartan, and yet there are also tartans for a scattered few other family names.

Of course, many say that none of these is correct, as an Irish kilt should be plain green or plain saffron! If most Scottish tartans don't predate the nineteenth century, few Irish ones predate the twentieth, and even green or saffron kilts only go back to the nineteenth century, although you could say they are descended from the ancient leine.

I'd like to get a green kilt, and perhaps eventually one in the Munster tartan (Irish province, not Herman and Lilly Munster's clan!). Fabric is available (costing an arm and a leg) in the Callaghan tartan, registered ever so long ago in 2007, so maybe one day I'll have a kilt made up in it, shortly after pigs become airborne!

[Woodsheal]

Forde (Irish family) tartan:

[scottography]

Am really enjoying what I'm seeing so far! Lovely lovely stuff.

Goodonyagang! Tis sure to be a grand pictorial guide of all the tartans from various mills and, indeed, the varied tartans from individual counties themselves. And most interesting to see how Ireland is represented in tartan, however contemporary it's "history".

Scotty

PS- Will pop over and check out your gallery now Matt. Ta mate. And I hope you can find those other pics lurking in the depths of your hard drive!

[Coemgen]

There's always saffron (SWK has it in wool). Here I am in mine at my senior prom: