The Sources
Years ago I made the decision to try to emulate accurate Irish wear to the best of my ability, and thereby to
honor the history of Ireland, rather than my preconceived notions of what it should be, or what I wanted it
to be. Once I made this decision, I found myself not knowing where to turn. I ran into a number of
frustrated Scotsmen as well and empathized with their plight.
The Internet was just starting to take off. I was able to track down a few resources within a year of finally
getting online. Still, pickings were slim. What little I could locate has proven invaluable--two works in
particular. These two books, along with museum pieces, art, archaeological reports, and poetics from the
timeframe, form the core of this guide. I will refer to other sources throughout this guide and include a
bibliography for your future endeavors, but these books are so heavily used that I wanted you to be familiar
with them from the beginning, so that you have an idea what is being referenced as you read this guide.
They should be yours to read at your leisure, as they will lead to your own speculation, experiments, and
conclusions (which archaeology may verify for you in the future). They will also provide you with a level of
investigation and detail I cannot offer you.
Dress in Ireland: A History, by Mairead Dunlevy, The Collins Press, 1989; ISBN 1-898256-84-5
This is the only book dealing with this subject still in print at the time of this writing. Though it doesn’t
cover Scotland and Man as separate cultures, it does provide a large amount of detail for the garments
and items worn by the Irish through many periods. It is more comprehensive and linear than McClintock’s
earlier work, covering differences between native dress and foreign fashion. It can be located on
Amazon.com as well as through interlibrary loan.
Old Irish and Highland Dress, with Notes on That of the Isle of Man, by H.F. McClintock, Dundalgan
Press, 1943
Well, the bad news is that this work has been out of print for quite some time. Even an interlibrary loan
has a hard time finding it. It may still haunt some old bookshelf in your area, but good luck finding it. Now,
here is the good news. www.Scotpress.com has for sale on CD not only this entire book, but many
others as well, most of which deal with Scottish and Irish history. So you may very well be able to get the
sweat-drenched work of Old Man McClintock for yourself. It is worth every penny. McClintock is the
pioneer in this field, charged with determining historic Irish dress for the Irish government in the ‘forties.
Before him was P.W. Joyce, author of a text called A Social History of Ancient Ireland, which was based
on the Victorian work of Professor O’Curry, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, published in 1873.
O’Curry was a sound scholar but he proposed translations that simply didn’t pan out when investigated,
especially concerning fashion, so McClintock started over. He gives the reader sculpture and shrines, art
and literature, sacred texts and even Brehon Law to back his conclusions. Though some of what
McClintock wrote is now a little dated, his writing remains the foremost resource for this topic.
Neither of these works is definitive. Discoveries and more detailed understandings of daily life and dress
are coming to light every day. However, these books form a strong foundation for any scholar or
enthusiast to begin their dabblings and should be sought with haste.
I have also turned to a few sources these authors used, primarily the Book of Kells and the Book of
Durrow, which date from between the 7th and 9th centuries. Scans from both can be found online. These
artifacts of illuminated wonder have also had numerous books written about them, one of which is The
Book of Kells, by Peter Brown, Thames and Hudson, 1980 (ISBN 0-500-27192-5).
I also explored the Tain bo Cuailnge, an Irish epic first penned in the 1100’s and translated by numerous
authors. My favorite translation of this work is The Tain: From the Irish Epic Tain bo Cuailnge, by Thomas