Traditional Irish Clothing
A description of Irish clothing through history.
Location: Ireland
Traditional Irish Clothing
Many Irish people wore traditional clothing until the 15th or 16th centuries. While their outfits underwent a few changes over the centuries, one of two major styles through the medieval and Renaissance eras. Members of the upper classes wore the léine, a type of sleeveless tunic. The léine, worn by both genders, fell to men's calves and women's ankles. Women would later cover it with a sleeved dress. Around the léine they wrapped a long, fringed mantle called a brat. Expensive brat were secured with ornamental brooches and decorated with embroidery.[1][2]
The léine and brat were likely borrowed from Roman and Celtic cultures and were limited to the nobility. Farmers and soldiers preferred trousers and short tunics, covered by an inar jacket. This outfit grew more common as Norse settlements along the coasts influenced their Irish neighbors. Elements of Nordic fashions can still be found in the modern Irish language, such as the cnaipe buttons the Norse called knappr.[3][4]
Farmers made their clothing from wool, linen, and leather. In many regions, the peasants dyed their linens saffron-yellow with local lichens. The nobility imported silk, satin, and furs and were legally permitted to wear more colors, based on rank. Blue and purple were reserved for kings.[2]
Irish Clothing as a National Symbol
The British viewed the billowing cloaks, bare legs, and shrouded hoods of the Irish with distaste and suspicion. More threatening than the Irish, however, was the cultural assimilation of Anglo-Irish lords living among them. Many of the English families ruling Ireland adopted elements of Irish dress and culture. Edmund Spenser declared their actions "more malicious to the English than the very Irish themselves." Spenser, no big fan of the Irish, further criticized their hooded mantle as "a fit house for an outlaw, a meet bed for a rebel, and an apt cloak for a thief."[5]
A series of laws passed by Tudor monarchs attempted to suppress Irish fashions and hairstyles, including a ban on their saffron-yellow dyes in 1446. European styles became a more familiar sight on the island in the 16th century. For many Irish people, the adoption of English fashions was as much a political choice as a stylistic one. Gaelic-Irish fashions lasted longer in rural areas, where clans resisted English control and continued their traditional way of life for several centuries.[6]
Modern Irish Clothing and Style
Through the 18th and 19th centuries, the Irish adapted British and Continental fashions to their own tastes. Women wore shawls, most notably Galway shawls. Hooded mantles also survived in some areas as Kinsale cloaks. Traditional clothing in shades of green and yellow became symbols of Irish nationalism in the early 20th century. Modern Irish people may refer to their heritage in their clothing, but most follow Western fashions. Woollen knits, crochet, and driving caps are still commonly seen in Ireland today.[7][8]
Bibliography
Seán Duffy, Ailbhe MacShamhráin, and James Moynes, eds., Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia (New York: Routledge, 2005), 156.
Patrick W. Joyce, A Social History of Ancient Ireland, Volume 2 (Dublin: Gresham, 1903), 176-224.
Joseph C. Walker, An Historical Essay on the Dress of the Ancient and Modern Irish (Dublin: Printed for the author by George Grierson, 1788), 3-28.
Katherine Holman, The Northern Conquest: Vikings in Britain and Ireland (Oxford: Signal, 2007).
Edmund Spenser, The Works of Edmund Spenser: With Observations of His Life and Writings (London: Printed for Henry Washbourne, 1849), 493-494.
Susan Flavin, Consumption and Culture in Sixteenth-Century Ireland: Saffron, Stockings and Silk (Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: The Boydell Press, 2014), 66-67.
Jill Condra, Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing Around the World (Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2013) 266.
Jakki Rochelle, "The Clothing Culture of Ireland," USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, accessed February 16, 2017.
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