The Kilt's use in Irish Nationalism

[CMcG]

I'm not sure that civilian kilt wear in Ireland can be fairly described as having declined, given that only a miniscule percentage of the civilian population wore the kilt in the first place. If one looks at the period 1900-1939 I think one would be hard pressed to find any evidence to suggest even 1/10th of 1% of the Irish population went about kilted.

Ah, MoR! So nice of you to join the fray

Perhaps it was not so much the amount of people who went kilted as the impact they had? I'm thinking particularly of Patrick Pearse and his influential thoughts on the matter of the kilt. Also, after the brief and small -- yet still significant -- flourishing of early 20th century civilian kilt wear in Ireland, the pipe bands and Irish dancers also made their contribution to solidifying the image. What started as a trickle gradually grew into a river.

Rather than being a tradition sustained by the diaspora, it more than likely seems to be an attempt by some in the diaspora to create a national costume and, at that, an attempt that really only started to pick up steam with the proliferation of "Irish tartans" and "Irish kilts" and "Irish kilt jackets" in the 1990s.

Indeed. I actually wrote that Irish kilt wearing "gained strength in the diaspora, who have now sustained it to the point of becoming established as a tradition" not that the diaspora sustained a tradition.

I suppose the diaspora should thank you, as I believe you had a hand in designing some of those Irish jackets, no?

...
Ironically the creation of this "national costume" in the USA has led to feelings of homogenisation and a threat of loss of cultural identity over here. What was once instantly recognisable as Scottish is no longer so. We are a small nation and the few things we have appear to be getting taken from us by a large nation.

I think 'folk dress' or 'ethnic costume' would be a better terms, as "national costume" is too loaded a term. And it's not fair to lay all the blame on the US either, it happens in Canada, probably in Australia as well.

Now perhaps we're getting down to the meat of your opposition. I can recognize that the kilt is THE national attire of Scotland even as I observe how it has been appropriated by other Celtic peoples (there is that word again!). It is understandable to wish to reserve such a wonderful form of attire for the Scots, but the cat is well and completely out of the bag at this point.

What is the solution? You wrote a way back in post #47 that you don't mind if anybody wears the kilt, including "punks, fashionistas, members of the gay community, (particularly down Soho in London on a Saturday night), pop stars, entertainers," which is quite open minded of you

So if the Irish kilt wearers just went about wearing their Irish tartans and Irish kilt accessories, without making any claims to symbolic value, would that be enough? Then they could enjoy the kilt like anyone else?

I'm actually being serious in my questioning. It would be fantastic to find a way to ease some of the hurt and tension that the issue of the Irish kilt brings up for some people...

One of these fine days I would like to buy you a drink!

MacSpadger definitely deserves a drink, not only for his excellent posts, but also (if he uses the same name on SoundCloud) for his piping

In the end does it really matter. No amount of banter is going to reverse the emergence of the Irish kilt. Whether you view the kilt as strictly Scottish or not doesn't matter. Other Celtic nations have adopted it as well...

Well, if this thread has shown anything, it is that it really does matter. It matters both to people who wish the kilt was only for the Scottish, as well as for people who -- for a variety of reasons -- would like to make connections to kilt wear...