Kilted in Ireland? Any Irish X-Markers?

[fudgeman]

Iwas on holiday in Ireland recently and wore the kilt all the time I have never had as many compliments I never saw anybody else in a kilt when I was there

Well that's certainly good to hear. If all goes well, I hope to be able to vacation in Ireland next year and I wasn't sure about taking any kilts.

[thanmuwa]

Well that's certainly good to hear. If all goes well, I hope to be able to vacation in Ireland next year and I wasn't sure about taking any kilts.

It also depends on which part of Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, kilt-wearing is almost non-existant. (One of my uncles remembers a guy wearing one when he grew up in Clifden. That was the only Irish guy he had ever seen in a kilt in 55 years until me). In Northern Ireland it is still rare, especially for everyday use, but formal kilt-wear has links to pipe bands, Scotland (ie Ulster Scots or Scotch-Irish I think you call 'em in the States), the British army etc, so some people may suspect you are declaring your politico-religious affiliations (only until they hear your accent, assuming you do have an American accent ).

Saying that, the people both sides of the border are in general very friendly and your kilt is far more likely to be used as an excuse to start a conversation than anything else. You might even be bought a whiskey or two . I would recommend (south of the border) Green Spot or Redbeast (THE best Irish whiskey) if you can find them, Powers if you can't and north of the border Black Bush is nice or any well aged Bushmills. You are only allowed to add a drop of water, no other mixers allowed in good whiskey (Aside: My other half insists on adding coke, most recently to a 16yo Lagavulin! She is lucky I love her!)
Wear your kilt and enjoy your trip! Are you planning anywhere in particular to visit?

[Beertigger]

Aside: My other half insists on adding coke, most recently to a 16yo Lagavulin!

That sounds dreadful.

[Carolina Kiltman]

(Aside: My other half insists on adding coke, most recently to a 16yo Lagavulin! She is lucky I love her!)

I'm not sure our 50 year marriage would have withstood that! :buttkick: (But as long as she sticks to rum, she is safe.)

[O'Callaghan]

It also depends on which part of Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, kilt-wearing is almost non-existant. (One of my uncles remembers a guy wearing one when he grew up in Clifden. That was the only Irish guy he had ever seen in a kilt in 55 years until me). In Northern Ireland it is still rare, especially for everyday use, but formal kilt-wear has links to pipe bands, Scotland (ie Ulster Scots or Scotch-Irish I think you call 'em in the States), the British army etc, so some people may suspect you are declaring your politico-religious affiliations (only until they hear your accent, assuming you do have an American accent ).

Saying that, the people both sides of the border are in general very friendly and your kilt is far more likely to be used as an excuse to start a conversation than anything else. You might even be bought a whiskey or two . I would recommend (south of the border) Green Spot or Redbeast (THE best Irish whiskey) if you can find them, Powers if you can't and north of the border Black Bush is nice or any well aged Bushmills. You are only allowed to add a drop of water, no other mixers allowed in good whiskey (Aside: My other half insists on adding coke, most recently to a 16yo Lagavulin! She is lucky I love her!)
Wear your kilt and enjoy your trip! Are you planning anywhere in particular to visit?

I would just add that they do have plenty of pipe bands in the Republic too, not just in the North, and those were the ones I was talking about, not those in the North. Their origins have nothing to do with Scotland as such.

I agree, though, that kilts could be misinterpreted in the North, although I have never been there (the North, that is, I have indeed visited the Republic). I would especially be concerned, rightly or wrongly, that a saffron kilt might be interpreted as representing the loyalist cause in the North, even though it is worn by the pipers in the armed forces of the Republic as well as by those in the Irish regiments of the British Army.

[Niblox]

I lived in Ireland (Galway) for ten years up to last October ('07) and there were very few who wore kilts. A group of kilties did emerge and I went to their inaugural dinner, but they were a rather strange bunch - some of them seemed embarrassed about wearing a kilt and it wasn't very well organised.

Just as I was leaving I met a guy who was a regular kilt wearer (from Irish dancing), but that was about the extent of it.

[Woodsman]

I intend to travel to Ireland soon and would like to hike Crough Patrick kilted. Would an AmeriKilt seem out of place in Ireland? How about the Irish national tartans, etc.

[thanmuwa]

I intend to travel to Ireland soon and would like to hike Crough Patrick kilted. Would an AmeriKilt seem out of place in Ireland? How about the Irish national tartans, etc.

Good on you. You know of course the traditional way to climb the Croke is barefoot? If you want to be even more traditional, buy a stick from the tinkers that hang around the bottom for a pound (probably 2 euros now), abandon it halfway up, and watch them sell the same stick to someone else on your way back down. Lovely mountain to climb by the way, the views on a clear day are stunning.

As to which kilt to wear, if you could find an Mayoman who could tell the difference, I'd be surprised. You might get more (positive) comments with the Irish national cos of the colours, but it would probably be the first time most people have seen a kilt for real. My uncle lives in Castlebar, not too far away from Westport and the Croke, so if you meet him he may say "my mad nephew wears kilts too", but you are unlikely to meet him unless you play golf :-)

Fantastic scenery around that neck of the woods, the beach under Croagh Patrick is where I spent many happy childhood summer days, Westport house is a lovely example of an old stately home (the ones still standing tend to be the ones where the aristocracy who owned them were at the very least sympathetic to "the cause" if not members themselves), Matt Molloy's pub in Westport (he was one of the Dubliners) is good and often has live music and you are also not far from county Sligo, the countryside that inspired Yeats (the Lake Isle of Innisfree etc)(please pronounce it innishfree by the way!) and the Galway Gaeltacht etc.