Irish Tartans Questions

[Gàidhlig]

So I should continue to look at the Tartan for County/Province Kerry?

[pipesndrumsnun]

Can't answer your question, but WELCOME from Flint, Michigan!

[gilmore]

So I should continue to look at the Tartan for County/Province Kerry?

Some, perhaps most of those informed, are of the opinion that a tartan is the official tartan of an entity, whether it is the tartan of a clan or a district (a political, geographic entity) only when it is officially approved or adopted by the governing body of that entity. For clans this would be the clan chief. For states in the US, this would be the state government, and indeed there are several state tartans. The rest are called fashion tartans, and while the tartan manufacturers and kilt merchants are happy to sell you these as authentic, almost all are of very recent provenance and have not been taken up by the various counties, states and provinces they purport to represent. As I recall none of the Irish counties has approved such a tartan. In fact, the notion of Irish tartans is a fairly recent invention, dating back only a few decades for the very oldest.