Irish Kilts and Tartans

[CMcG]

First of all, thanks to the authors for an enjoyable and well researched article. My favorite part was this:
one William Royce called for the adoption of the kilt by the volunteers, saying that the only objections to such a move would “come from the skinny-legged, knick-kneed type for whose faulty or undeveloped ‘understandings’ the pants as a covering are a veritable Godsend.”

<snip> as it stand's the Kilt is for everybody to wear and was adopted by the Irish to affirm a link to their rich and glorious past. Irish men have been wearing the Kilt for long enough to claim it as an Irish icon as well.

I agree with The Thing. The city I grew up in (and where both my parents were born) was barely more than a fur trading post for the Hudson's Bay Company when the Irish started to wear kilts. That's plenty enough history for me in both cases!

Despite the fact that the kilt is not much worn in contemporary Ireland outside of pipe bands and some traditional dancing, it is worn in the Irish Diaspora. This is a fairly common situation for immigrant communities in multicultural environments: people have to try harder in a new locale to stake out a sense of cultural heritage than they would in the homeland.

What I get out of this is that when one wears a kilt as an Irishman, they should acknowledge their debt to Caledonian origins but try to wear it in a Hibernian fashion. Here is a very apt picture to illustrate the point of style versus origin. Solid saffron kilt with green Kilkenny style jacket, but note the watermark that says scottishkilts.net!

[Woodsman]

First of all, thanks to the authors for an enjoyable and well researched article. My favorite part was this:
one William Royce called for the adoption of the kilt by the volunteers, saying that the only objections to such a move would “come from the skinny-legged, knick-kneed type for whose faulty or undeveloped ‘understandings’ the pants as a covering are a veritable Godsend.”



I agree with The Thing. The city I grew up in (and where both my parents were born) was barely more than a fur trading post for the Hudson's Bay Company when the Irish started to wear kilts. That's plenty enough history for me in both cases!

Despite the fact that the kilt is not much worn in contemporary Ireland outside of pipe bands and some traditional dancing, it is worn in the Irish Diaspora. This is a fairly common situation for immigrant communities in multicultural environments: people have to try harder in a new locale to stake out a sense of cultural heritage than they would in the homeland.

What I get out of this is that when one wears a kilt as an Irishman, they should acknowledge their debt to Caledonian origins but try to wear it in a Hibernian fashion. Here is a very apt picture to illustrate the point of style versus origin. Solid saffron kilt with green Kilkenny style jacket, but note the watermark that says scottishkilts.net!

I agree. Those of us of Irish heritage can certainly recognize the Scottish origin of the kilt yet wear it in a style and decor that is recognizably Irish. The adaptation of this dress should be seen as a form of flattery to the Scots and a profession of our historical separations from British rule. Wouldn't it be nice too if now the rest of the world would come to its' senses and adopt the kilt?