Irish Kilt?

[Meggers]

Kilt-wearing is undoubtedly Scottish in origin. Prior to fairly recent times the only kilts you would have seen outwith Scotland would have been local pipe bands or occasional ex-pat Scottish groups having a celebration.
In the last 20 years or so, however, kilts have become more widely worn and examples of this are the various Irish and Welsh tartans which have been created to fill this demand. They have no basis in historical fact, however, and have been created principally to satisfy a desire to wear what is a unique and distinctive form of dress. There are no doubt various reasons for this, some of which it is perhaps best not to go into too deeply. Suffice it to say that highland dress can provide an acceptable alternative to trousers (pants) while providing a robust rebuttal to the inevitable negative responses that unconventional clothing can provoke.
The history of Ireland is a long and circuitous path, full of traps for the unwary, and not really one suited to this Forum, bearing in mind the inevitable pitfalls which are bound to arise due to the entrenched views held by the protagonists of either side. Kilt-wearing, however, has never been a feature of Irish life and is still, to this day, a very marginal thing, usually reserved for the odd wedding. This is a little surprising given the close association between Scotland and Ireland over the centuries. Gallowglasses served as mercenary soldiers with the Irish but their clothing didn’t seem to catch on there. The MacDonalds and O’Donnells were virtually one and the same with close ties between Antrim and the western isles but they did not import kilts to Ireland. The Plantation of Ulster consisted mainly of individuals from the Scottish borders and Ayrshire, none of whom counted kilt-wearing amongst their normal attire so they would not have imported kilts.
Nowadays it is difficult to be dogmatic, however kilts and kilt-wearing are very much seen as the province of pipe bands although these can be found equally across the religious divide there.

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Thanks