Of Irish Descent...Which tartan?

[Avonlea22]

Hello everyone! Let me first introduce myself, since this is my first post here. My name is Brian, and I live in Florida. I'm of Irish descent, but have always had an interest in kilts. I do not currently own one, but I'm in the process of looking to buy one.

My dilemma is finding a proper tartan. Is it really necessary? My family is Wilson, from County Tyrone. I've been looking at buying an inexpensive kilt as my first. Right now I'm looking mainly at either a Sportkilt or a Stillwater. Now obviously thier tartan choices are limited, so how do I choose? Sure, I'd like to find a family tartan, but with the price range I'm looking at (under $100.), I don't believe it possible. In this case, is it ok to choose based on personal color preference? I really like dark green, so I've been looking at tartans with mostly dark green and black. Is this morally wrong?

[bubba]

Howdy Brian. No choosing by color preference isn't moraly wrong. You might get looked at funny by the hard core traditionalists, but most guys here get tartans because they like the tartan. Most of my kilts I make myself and use fabrics I find on sale cheap. I got some MacKinlay that I like for $5 a yard from www.bestfabric.com. It's not listed as tartan, just plaid (the pic on their site stinks though. There's a better one in my gallery) Going for Irish you also have the options of green or safron. Safron was a common color for the Irish liene.<sp>

[Miah]

I agree with Bubba, get something you like.
If you want another choice at under 100 and may have more tartans is
http://www.usakilts.com/casual_kilts.htm.
Also Bear has a Cool Irish kilt (other then the Safron)
http://bearkilts.com/irishkilts.html
I think Bears will Run you over $100
I can identify with wanting a cheaper "starter" kilt
I own a USA and a Bear Kilt and Both are Nice
as for the others you mentioned I can't speak to much to the quality but i know there are people on the Msg board that do own them.

[GMan]

Brian,

WELCOME I want to say that I too am of Irish Descent. I have a Co Fermanagh a District Tartan. I want both a green and saffron, but as of yet have not gotten any. I would like to suggest that you look at the various kilt makers that post here. I know that both Rocky (USAKilts) and Bear (Bearkilts) have tartans that you may like that do not have an affiliation with the Highlands. Bear has on his sight a kilt comparison section which is very helpful in decision making. Also like Bubba said you can get a tartan that you like.

Read some of the posts here, and do not be afraid to ask questions, because even if you think that it is a shallow question, it means something to you, and by the responses you get you may even be educating the others on the board.

What you may find is that we are a very independant bunch here, and we are not necessarily bound by tradition.

[macwilkin]

There are tartans for all 32 Irish counties in the Republic & Northern Ireland, as well as "general" tartans like the Irish National, St. Patrick's, Irish Disapora, etc. The Ulster Red tartan is quite nice, and I personally prefer the Saffron kilt, because it is associated with Irish pipers and regiments. The Tara tartan is another beautiful Irish tartan that anyone can wear.

I personally believe that you should have some connection to the tartan you wear, but that connection should not necessarily be "blood" or family ties -- the least connection will do. Maybe it is honour of a friend with that last name, a famous person you admire, or a geographic region. People will ask why you wear a specific tartan, so it is always good to have a story to tell as an answer.

Cheers,

T.

[Freelander Sporrano]

Hi and welcome to the board Avonlea22

Although of Irish decent myself .I have no Scottish family. my surname seems to come from Scotland althouth my Dad was Irish.
My irst kilt was a Modern Gunn this is a good choice for a Wilson and readily available. Not only that a fantastic tartan.

There's a link to a tartan finder

http://www.house-of-tartan.scotland....se/tfinder.htp

Good luck with your choice Avonlea22

[Avonlea22]

Thanks for all of the information!
it's actually a bit overwhelming. I thought it would be easy.

I'm focusing my search on USA and Sprtkilts, right now. I'll probably go with the Shamrock tartan, since tgat seems to be an all-Ireland tartan.

I'll keep you all posted whenever I make my final decision.

[Colin]

The Shamrock tartan is quite nice, just remember that it is a tartan name created by that company, and wouldn't likely be recognized as an official tartan.

[Graham]

Hello Brian, good to see you here, welcome to "my place"

How are you going with an Irish tartan? did you check out that site I mentioned?
Another place of interest might be the Irish Kilt Club http://www.somebody.to/irishkiltclub.htm

I understand that Rocky (USAK)is out of stock of the Shamrock tartan, I was asking about it.

[Casey]

How about an Irish National Tartan. What a though Casey. Oh yeh, expensive! Actually saw one of these as a rental the other day. FAAAAAANNTASTIC.

I would suggest that you PM Jimmy Carbomb for Irish advice.

Casey