Quote Originally Posted by O'Callaghan View Post
a Tibetan monk's saffron robes, which I think are cotton (??), turn out a relatively similar shade to a woollen saffron kilt.
I see monks in their robes very often where I work. I don't know where they're from, or what fabric their robes are, or what they dye them with, but they're not the orangish brown of the modern "saffron" Irish kilt, but rather a pale yellow or yellow-orange.

People have mentioned the dying of wool. I don't think there's any old references to the wool brat or mantle being dyed saffron; it's the leine or shirt that's saffron.

Of course Irish revivalists saw the bit of the leine which hangs below the ionar or jacket and mistook it for a kilt. Likewise the pleated skirts of early jackets are often thought to be kilts by these wishful thinkers.