Doyle Tartan

[The_PreacherMan]

Hello all,

As I said in my introductory post, I don't wear a kilt yet but I'm planning on getting one. The question I have is about which tartan to choose.

To start with, I am perfectly aware that many people believe you should where any tartan you want to. I am simply stating up front that the tartan which I want to wear is the one with applies to my name which is Doyle or Doyel. (My name used to be spelled Doyel until my g-g-grandfather Isaiah Luther Doyel)

There are three tartans for the Doyle/Doyel name in the Scottish Register of Tartans:

The "official" tartan of the "Clann O DubhGhaill/Clan Doyle":
http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tar...s.aspx?ref=970

The "fashion" tartan designed by Scotch Corner:
http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tar...s.aspx?ref=971

And a tartan that someone designed for "anyone of the name Doyel or any of its spellings."
http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tar....aspx?ref=5686

I like the first one alright (it might be a tad bit bright for my taste) but even though it's the "official" tartan, it seems that it is no longer available. The clan doesn't respond to emails and the website was last updated in 2001. Besides, the website doesn't give an actual weight for the wool, it just says "medium." The Registry says that there are no restrictions so I supposed I could get someone else to weave it for me.

I don't really like the second one. The picture on the Scotch Corner website looks like an "ancient" or weathered version of the one on the Registry. I don't really like either. However, this is the one that a couple people seem to have heard of.

The third one, I don't really know anything about. I just found it while searching the Registry. I really like this one, but this seems to me to be the most likely one to disappear.

Does anyone own any of these tartans? Have you ever seen any of them? Are any of them obvious copies of other tartans? Do you have any opinions about them? Does anyone know what happened to "Clan Doyle"? Has anyone ever been a member of it?

I suppose I could encourage the use of these through my Ancestry.com contacts... would anyone suggest that? If I'm going for identity with a tartan, would one of these be a good choice? or should I stick to something regional like Irish National, or the USA Tartan, or the Washington State tartan?

And again, I know that "anyone can wear anything", but I want to go with identity. I like the idea.

The_PreacherMan

[Zardoz]

As someone with primarily Irish heritage myself, I feel your pain on this one. The fact is that in spite of what one sees on the interweb, the Irish never really had a clan system. I know there are Irish family name "clan organisations" around, but they, like most of the Irish tartans are fairly recent inventions. My direct family line was in Ireland for over 800 years, and we never had a "clan" just a bunch of tombstones and a disused family crest.
If asked what clan I am, I always tell people "My people where Irish, we have gangs". My Dad and I call the Ireland's National tartan our gang colors.

Of the tartans you found, the only one that seems to be easily avalible is the blue 'Scottish Corner' number, you can get it through the Scotweb Store at the top of the page. I can relate to wanting to go with something with heritage or identity, but if you don't like or can't get the name tartans you found, I'd suggest checking out the Irish national and county tartans that are sold through House of Edgar or Marton Mills or your state tartan, or one of the "American" tartans, like USA Kilt's great 'American Heritage".

[RockyR]

The first tartan shown looks pretty similar to the HOE's County Cork tartan:

[Riverkilt]

You also have the choice of two different Irish county tartans IF you know where your Doyles came from.

Ron
great great great grandson of Isaac Doyle who came to Warren County, Illinois about 1830