The Kilt's use in Irish Nationalism

[MacSpadger]

Hobsbawm and Ranger's book is on my self-generated PhD reading list... it just got a whole lot more interesting...

I have not read this one, but have read Trevor Roper's "Invention of Tradition". Just as Roper's book regurgitates previous works, I wonder if there's anything new in Hobsbawm and Ranger's book?

I am pleased with the reaction to this thread. No-one has exploded yet, or risen to throw stones at me, but you can't blame me for being cautious. There are an awful lot of ideas and events that occur in the USA (and over here, but to a lesser extent), that are considered "traditional" to Scotland or, in particular, Ireland, that have absolutely nothing to do with either country. In fact, they see alien to us.

The reinvention of Scottish national identity began some years after Culloden with the polite society fascination with the "noble savage". It accelerated massively in Victorian times under Queen Victoria, who possibly created one of the world's first theme parks, with town and castle building on a huge scale. Often the locals, real trouser wearing Highlanders, were expelled to make way for kilted lowlanders who fitted in with the Queen's views. In the area where I was born and raised, the north east of Scotland, there is a city and several towns that were built entirely according to English views as to what The Highlands should look like. Townships such as Bonty were eradicted and the locals evicted to make way for the Victorian Highland Gothic architecture of Aboyne.

Back to the OP: Evidence so far suggests very strongly: The Scottish kilt as we know it can be dated to the 1720's, was worn by the military, it later became hugely fashionable, (as did all things Scottish under Queen Vic), and became Scotland's national dress in the Victorian period.
The Irish kilt can be dated to the very late 1800's or very early 1900's. Written contemporary evidence by Pádraig Pearse/Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais clearly says it was not in existence as a considered Irish garment in 1900.
There was an attempt by a wealthy but influential minority to make it the national dress of Ireland/a symbol of Nationalism around this time, but it failed for several reasons very obvious to anyone who has studied Irish history.