Universal Irish tartans

[kiltbook]

Are there any universal Irish tartans? I know that Black watch, Hunting Stewart, and Royal Stewart are universal Scottish tartans.

I have been looking at Irish National, Irish Heritage, and St. Patrick tartan kilts. Which one is the universal Irish tartan?

I would also like to know which tartan should be worn by a groom at a wedding?

[Scout]

There is no one "universal" Irish tartan. "Irish National," "Ireland's National," "Irish Heritage" etc. are simply the names the designers gave the tartans and have no "official" standing. There are also Irish County tartans available.

Bottom line, wear the Irish tartan that you like the best!

[longhuntr74]

Scout is dead on...I think a better question is "Are there any Irish Tartans (County, national, or otherwise) that AREN'T universal tartans?"

I'm not aware of any specific Irish tartans that have a specific clan affiliation, etc. Also, I think that most of the Irish tartans in existence have been designed as fashion tartans in the latter half of the 20th Century. Can anybody give any information on any "older" Irish tartans?

Ooops...found my own answer. Ulster Red appears to be VERY old (17th Century). I am interested to hear from you Irish Tartan experts out there on this subject, though!

[longhuntr74]

My good friend CajunScot shared this link with me...I will re-share it here:

Irish Kilts

[Zardoz]

With a couple exceptions all of the "Irish Tartans", mostly produced by Marton Mills (MM)or House of Edgar(HOE), are 'universal' tartans, not ascribed to any family names. So any one that you take a shine to would be fine for you to wear.
Irish National(HOE), Ireland's National(MM), Saffron, Irish American, Tara, and St. Patrick are the ones most frequently seen to be general Irish tartans, but there are at least two tartans for each county, so if you know where you're from, you could look at those. And there are few others like the Ulster tartans as well.
As has been said, to my knowlege none of them has ever been recognized by the places they're named after, so wear what you like.
Personally, If I was going to pick one for a wedding getup, I'd go with Marton Mill's 'Ireland's National' it's my favorite

[CMcG]

I designed one called the New World Irish tartan, which is partially in recognition of the fact that kilts seem to be far more popular among the Irish diaspora than the Irish in Ireland.

[Spartan Tartan]

You have already had a few good responses about universal tartans. As to the proper tartan for a groom to wear...I would say any that you like. There is no Irish Wedding Tartan that "should" be worn by the groom. I would suspect that most people wear the tartan they would otherwise normally wear...or what ever is available by the local rental company

[John_Carrick]

In Ireland kilts are quite frequently worn at weddings. The hire companies tend to offer well known Scottish tartans or modern tartans copyrighted to the companies that distribute them. I agree with the others, if you see a tartan you like, Irish or otherwise, then go for it.
John

[opositive]

also worth looking at would be the list of irish county tatrtans, such as the one at usa kilts. i managed to pick up 2 wool irish county kilts in our for sale sections.

[Mike_Oettle]

While it is true that Irish kilts are a 19th-century invention, I see no harm in them.
In fact, I am greatly fond of the range and variety of Irish tartans (and preferences for plain-colour kilts).
In Ireland itself you will probably find that kilts are worn by pipers (and not all of them), and by the Ulster Scots. In the US you find Irish kilts worn everywhere (or so I am told).
As has been said, there are tartans for every Irish county (at least two). There are also tartans for all four provinces and for some of the other minor kingdoms of ancient Éire.
Most of these are recent inventions, the solitary exception being the Ulster tartan – having been dug out of a bog, the genuine article is deeply peat-stained, and there is disagreement as to what it actually looked like. There is a version in brown and yellow, but I much prefer the version called Ulster Red (which I plan to use in a gift for my wife).
You pays your money and you takes your choice.
I will also put in a special pleading for the All Ireland range – All Ireland Red, All Ireland Blue and All Ireland Green, all of which are most attractive and, to my mind, very expressive of Ireland.
As for family tartans, there are a great many (granted, also all of quite recent devisement). By my count (including setts registered by Irish folk in the US and Scotland) there are close on 70 Irish families that have their own tartans.
Knock yourself out, Kiltbook. It’s your wedding. Please yourself (and your bride, of course).
And please post pictures!
Regards,
Mike