Irish kilt books

[flairball]

As I recall from a thread here some years ago the use of kilts in Ireland was always connected to politics, or the military. In a nutshell, as I remember it, the politicians from northern Ireland adopted kilt wearing as a way to stand out in parliament. Likewise, Irish regiments of the British military also followed the Scottish design and wore kilts to differentiate themselves from the English regiments. And as has been discussed in this thread, an Irish nationalist movement adopted the klt, and tried to encourage its wearing.

These things do not however make up a cultural tradition of kilt wearing in Ireland, but a history of kilt use in Ireland. In every case the kilt was used to make a statement, as a uniform. That statement would be understood by the Irish, and anyone seen wearing a kilt would be associated with the movement or military. The kilt was not ever accepted as cultural Irish dress, however. To be accepted as a cultural form of Irish dress it would have to be accepted by those who chose not to wear it, and not just seen as a statement.

Of course, none of this means that you can't just wear a kilt because you like it.