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Irish Tartans
There are dozens of Irish Tartans, most are
arranged by county and district and are reminiscent of
each particular County with soft warm colours. However
a number of Irish families, including the Doyle
Clan, have tartans that are exclusive to their
members. The 6th April 1998 was declared National
Tartan Day in the USA for the first time.
The Doyle Tartan Shawl
This date was chosen because 6th April 1320 was the
date of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath,
which formed the basis for the US Declaration of
Independence. The weaving of woollen fabrics into the
style known to us today as the tartan has been taking
place on the Gaelic fringe of Europe for centuries;
yet, it is impossible (from the physical evidence
which has come down to us) to determine when the first
tartans were created, or by whom. One of the most
ancient of all tartans was discovered, quite by
accident, in an Irish peat bog in the 1960s. This
tartan goes by a number of different names and is
recognized officially as the ‘Ulster District Tartan’.
Experts have estimated that the pattern was
constructed in the early to mid 1600s, and that it may
have been worn by the O’Cahans of Antrim. A
reconstruction of the tartan in now on display in the
Ulster Museum in Belfast. There is evidence that the
Irish Gaels, during the late middle ages, created a
number of ‘tartans’ or ‘proto-tartans’ which
have pre-dated the early Scottish tartans. The Irish
forerunner to the Scottish belted plaid (a very early
form of kilt) is generally described as being a solid
saffron-yellow in colour, and Irish pipe bands wear
kilts of this solid colour today.
Dwelly (Gaelic Dictionary - published 1901) writes
(under breacan) Parti-coloured cloth was used by the
Celts from earliest times, but the variety of colours
in the breacan was greater or less according to the
rank of the wearer. That of the ancient kings had
seven colours, that of the druids six, and that of the
nobles four. In the days of Martin the tartans seemed
to be used to distinguish the inhabitants of different
districts, and not the members of different families
as at present. He expressly says that the inhabitants
of the various islands were not all dressed alike, but
that the setts and colours of the various tartans
varied from isle to isle. As he does not mention the
use of a special pattern by each family, it would
appear that such a distinction is a modern one, and
taken from the ancient custom of a tartan for each
district, the family or clan originally most numerous
in each part eventually adopting as their distinctive
clan tartan the tartan of such district.
MacLennan (Gaelic dictionary - published 1925) writes
(under breacan) A parti-coloured dress, used by the
Celts from the earliest times. ‘Breacan an fhe/ilidh’,
the belted plaid (consisting of twelve yards of
tartan, worn round the waist, obliquely across the
breast and over the left shoulder, and partly
descending backwards). According to Keating it was the
custom in ancient time to have one colour in the form
of a slave, two in the dress of a peasant, three in
the dress of a soldier or young lord, four in the
dress of a brughaidh (land-holder), five in the dress
of a district chief, six in the dress of an ollamh and
in that of a King and Queen.
Irish Family & County Tartans
There are very few Irish Family Tartans,
unlike Scotland where there are hundreds. Most people
of Irish heritage wear the Tartan of the Irish County
where their families originated.
Some of the Irish Family Tartans are of ancient
origin, some of more recent design.
The book "Clan Originaux" was published
in Paris, France in 1880 by J. Claude Fres et Cie. It
contains the earliest known records of a number of
Irish Family Tartans and many variations of Scottish
Tartans. The only copy known to exist was discovered
recently in America.
"Click" on any of the hypertext
links below to view the currently
available illustrations of known Irish Tartans:-
Currently known Irish Family Tartans:
Irish National & County Tartans:
If
you know of any Irish Tartan that is not listed above,
please send us details by E-mail or post. If you have
illustrations of any of the above named Irish Tartans
that do not presently have a hypertext link, please
contact us by E-mail (or snail-mail) as we would very
much like to have an illustration of every known Irish
Tartan.
E-mail
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