Saffron kilt showdown

[slohairt]

The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers were formed in 1881 and their RHQ was in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, which is part of Northern Ireland. In 1961 they amalgamated with the Royal Ulster Rifles and the Royal Irish Fusiliers to become the Royal Irish Rangers. Then again in 1992 they merged with the UDR (Ulster Defence Regiment) to form the Royal Irish Regiment. Their pipers did (and still do) wear saffron.

I have a saffron kilt which I enjoy wearing very much. I believe the Stillwater Saffron kilts are actually a "shadow tartan"?

[macwilkin]

The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers were formed in 1881 and their RHQ was in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, which is part of Northern Ireland. In 1961 they amalgamated with the Royal Ulster Rifles and the Royal Irish Fusiliers to become the Royal Irish Rangers. Then again in 1992 they merged with the UDR (Ulster Defence Regiment) to form the Royal Irish Regiment. Their pipers did (and still do) wear saffron.

I have a saffron kilt which I enjoy wearing very much. I believe the Stillwater Saffron kilts are actually a "shadow tartan"?

Pretty common knowledge, though...most of the above facts are found in Murphy and Harris, as well as on regimental web sites -- I'm specifically looking for primary source information that dates the adoption of the saffron kilt to pipers of Irish regiments at mid 19th century.

T.

[slohairt]

Of course! (And it took me all of one minute to find it! ) I was posting the information mainly to show when and where the RIF were established, not to imply that their pipers started wearing the saffron at that time.

[macwilkin]

Of course! (And it took me all of one minute to find it! ) I was posting the information mainly to show when and where the RIF were established, not to imply that their pipers started wearing the saffron at that time.

oh..my apologies for the misunderstanding.

T.

[O'Callaghan]

Haven't found anything that you would call a primary source. However, I did find one reference to a regiment called the Royal Tyrone Fusiliers being founded in 1859 and having pipers. Never heard of them, but I wonder if they might have been amalgamated with the Enniskillen Fusiliers at some point? Mergers between regiments are nothing new, and a regiment will understandably tend to trace it's history back to the oldest regiment that was amalgamated to form it, sometimes without even mentioning that they had another name.

The designation "Royal" in front of regimental names was certainly not automatic, but I think more likely earnt in battle, and always maintained in mergers between regiments, whatever the new name. So, for example, a statement that the Royal Enniskillen Fusiliers was founded in 1881 can't necessarily be read as saying that the Enniskillen Fusiliers were founded that year as you might think, and may even indicate that it was amalgmated that year with one or more other regiments, and that at least one of them was "Royal". ETA: In fact any statement that an entirely new regiment was formed and that it was "Royal" is automatically suspect, and far more likely to refer to an amalgamation of two or more old ones.

I'll leave the historians to look for the primary sources, while I just surf the web for the usual inaccurate information, LOL!

ETA: The wool 'heavyweight' SWK in saffron is 'shadow tartan', as are the green and the black in that style, but the acryllic 'standard' that I have is a true solid saffron kilt

[fluter]

ETA: The wool 'heavyweight' SWK in saffron is 'shadow tartan', as are the green and the black in that style, but the acryllic 'standard' that I have is a true solid saffron kilt

southern-pride, please do note that SWK has a standard, acrylic saffron; and a heavyweight, wool saffron. I'm not sure which of our colleagues is wearing which. I think that Greg's may be the wool??

I gather that you have a wool kilt being tailored, so the acrylic may be a good choice. Then again, the wool is only about half again as much as the SWK standard---both are excellent value, so it's hard to go wrong.


The wool "shadow tartan" is woven with a pattern in the cloth (see the Web site), which only shows up at certain lighting angles. The acrylic is a plain colored twill, a tad darker than the wool if I recall correctly.

P.S. comparison with pix here