Blind Irishman needing some Kilt help plus my intro

[DarraghThePoet]

Dia duiat, My name is Darragh and I just signed up a few hours ago and I am excited to find such a forum. I am of Irish descent and my family is from Derry. I have managed to obtain my family tartan thus far and my problem is determining what I need for my kilt as far as belt, sporann and chain or strap, flashes, etc to be authentic to my heritage. Being blind makes this quite difficult in trying to figure out the terminology of what things are. I look forward to communicating with this forum and again, go raith maith agat to all. Slan agus slainte

[The Wizard of BC]

Can you tell us the name of the Tartan you got?

The kilt for the Irish seems to be more a product of a 1900's national pride movement than a historical thing.

It is also common, for the Tartans designed for the Irish, to be named for the Counties where they come from, more than for family names.

Another fairly common thing is to see a solid colored kilt in Saffron yellow or Kelly Green and think "That's an Irish Kilt".

So I'm curious which Tartan you chose.

[Father Bill]

Welcome to the "Great Rabble"!

If you can be exact about what you're located, perhaps the local Rabble could help by meeting up for you to get a 'feel' for what they have in the way of accoutrements.

Cheers!

[Taskr]

I am presuming you have the Derry tartan. It is quite striking! Of course, a family named tartan is undoubtedly as handsome.

Is your kilt going to be for regular wear, or is it for special occasions? That will make a bit of a difference to accessories. However, from advice received here my plain black sporran with simple strap and chain, a few pair of hose (charcoal, bottle green and blue), and plain maroon flashes kept me nicely attired while the rest of the kilted wardrobe came together over time. The rest I already had; plain shirts, ties, a good pair of shoes and even a shorter cut suit jacket that would do in a pinch (very few times). I did get a belt with the kilt, but find I don't wear it very often.

[Kiltedjohn]

Welcome from a Scotsman living in the English midlands.
Many years ago, I worked for three years in the north of Ireland, so it holds many memories.

[Tarheel]

Well met good poet. Glad to have you with us here. The combination of hose colors mentioned earlier will give you good variety that will blend with shirts and ties of different styles.

[John_Carrick]

Welcome from Co Antrim

[WillowEstate]

Hi and a warm welcome from sunny Queensland!

[O'Callaghan]

Can you tell us the name of the Tartan you got?

The kilt for the Irish seems to be more a product of a 1900's national pride movement than a historical thing.

It is also common, for the Tartans designed for the Irish, to be named for the Counties where they come from, more than for family names.

Another fairly common thing is to see a solid colored kilt in Saffron yellow or Kelly Green and think "That's an Irish Kilt".

So I'm curious which Tartan you chose.

Not sure this is quite accurate.

Traditional Irish kilts are the solid coloured ones (rebel green or neutral saffron), they go back to the 1800s, not just the 1900s, and anything tartan is much later, i.e. 20th century. The county tartans are the invention of the tartan mills, to be exact, two complete entirely different sets of tartans invented by two mills. Family tartans exist too, simply because anybody can register anything as a tartan, and they are not regarded as belonging to an Irish clan even when there is one of the same name.

So, for example, my family were Callaghans from Cork, but the most authentic kilt would be be green or saffron. There are two Cork tartans (just as there are two Derry tartans) and the tartan industry flogs those to us as well. There is a Callaghan tartan, and there is a corresponding clan chief who lives in Spain, but no connection between them.

For that matter, there are also tartans for each of the four historic kingdoms of Ireland. Generally these are older than the invented county tartans, although the Ulster tartan has an interesting provenance as it represents a fragment found in a peat bog, and no-one knows its true origin!

Finally, there are about seven or eight generic Irish tartans designed by various people at various times, none of them more or less authentic than, say, the Flower of Scotland tartan, but mostly including green and gold somewhere.

You pays your money and you takes your choice, as the old saying goes.

[Steve Ashton]

Traditional Irish kilts are the solid coloured ones (rebel green or neutral saffron), they go back to the 1800s, not just the 1900s,

This is one of those topics that is highly debated and one that has been discussed at great length here. Can you provide any new documentation that we don't already have?