How many tartans does your clan/sept/surname have?

[BroosterB1]

From what I can tell 7 distinct Lindsay tartans (in all the variations) plus the sept tartan (Birse,which I've only seen computer rendering)........ but wait there's more; Stewart from a maternal g-grandfather, Cameron from another maternal G-grandfather, Gordon from a maternal G-grandmother and Counties Cork and Mead (sp?). Oh my head hurts from thinking about them all...Hamish be afraid, when I'm at your state in life I could have a closet bursting with family tartens.... All wanting to pick fights with each other for hanger space!

[O'Callaghan]

One at best, and that available only as a special weave and only registered very recently by a clansman, but for an Irish clan that's not doing too badly. Some don't have any. I would probably have to win the lottery before I order a kilt in it, and that would be difficult without buying any tickets, LOL!

It wasn't the question, but we (the O'Callaghans) have a recognised chief of the name (in Spain!) and yet no clan society, which doesn't seem to be a common situation amongst Scots clans (for comparison), although a few of the latter seem to have a clan society and no chief. There was apparently a society based in Mallow, Co. Cork, right next to the original Pobul i Callaghan (clan lands), or that's where the secretary lived, but the e-mail address I had for him bounced.

Of the few Irish names that have a tartan, even fewer correspond to any of the clans with recognised chiefs, of which there are also very few, or to names that were even clans atall.

This makes sense when you consider that Irish kilts only go back to the 19th century celtic revival, and that the clans were effectively defunct by then. There was more emphasis on nationalism, initially with solid green and saffron kilts (I have one of each).

A slew of different national tartans were invented to represent Ireland since independence, at least a dozen different ones that I know of, the older ones of which you can no longer obtain. I have Irish National, but it's no more official than any of the others, i.e. it isn't atall, it just sounds like it. The sad truth is that they are all proprietary, made up by the various English and Scottish mills.

I wouldn't count County Cork as a clan tartan, although for that matter there are two different tartans for every Irish county (because they were designed by two different mills), and I do have one of the County Cork tartans. I suppose I'll eventually have to get the other one as well.

I suspect that most of the kilt wearers in Ireland are either pipers or attending a wedding.

ETA: The wife is clan Davidson through her Scots grandmother, so I suppose I could wear theirs, but I don't think it wise to get a Davidson kilt before she has one.

[skauwt]

its interesting to read that some have more than others i was never aware of the amount of other clans like the Stewart's tartans for example thats a fair amount of tartan ,

i know i could have have a wee peek myself at the register for other clans but i guess i wanted to read folks views on the other tartans and also learn a wee bit about the tartans aswell
i must admit im a bigger fan of the variations on tartans from say the ancient/weathered/hunting ranges rather than the original clan tartans
as the Chisholm modern is a well ....a wee bit red for me
Ive always like the browns and light blue/greens from my Chisholm hunting ancient

also when i started this post id never even thought about the folk who have more than one clan they go by .....a good few mentioned here i also have found those surnames connected in my ever growing family tree so who knows we may even share a common ancestors to a point

[ronstew]

To be fair, many of those Stewart tartans are really fashion tartans. Camel, navy, golfing, grey, dress blue and even (arguably) black Stewart are fashion tartans. Problem is, as far as I can tell, our clan chiefdom resides in Her Majesty the Queen, and she does not make pronouncements on our clan tartans. I reckon that old sett, royal, hunting, dress and the local (Stuart of Bute for example) tartans are the ones that you could call "official." Of course, not every Stewart would be entitled to wear the Bute tartan.

[Draelore]

Minor thread hijack (since I couldn't find the answer in a search)

Is Campbell modern the same sett as Black Watch? They look different to me on the Tartan Ferret, but my eye is not trained.

[chasem]

Campbell and Black Watch are the same pattern. Typically, Campbell looks the same as Black Watch Ancient, though.

[piperdbh]

My Lockharts have one tartan, with modern, ancient, and weathered colorways, all woven by Dalgliesh in Selkirk.

[Dirk Skene]

There are 3 called Skene. 2 are official, that is, recognised by the cheif.