Last month the museum got a lot of press with the launch of the St. Ninian tartan, celebrating the Papal Visit to Scotland on Sept. 16, 2010 (St. Ninian's Day).

There was enough demand for the tartan that the manufacturer, Ingles Buchan, working with the Catholic Church in Scotland, has put the tartan back into production so that it is available to the public.

We have had a page on our gift shop site where people could pre-order items, and the first bit of that shipment has gone out last week. Ingles Buchan is still making product as fast as they can, so we'll be able to fill more orders very soon.

In the meantime, on the advise of the Scottish Catholic Media Office, I've established a dedicated web site at www.stniniantartan.com (also mirrored at www.papaltartan.com) for information about the tartan. There is also a "shop" section on that site.

All sales through the St. Ninian Tartan web site are handled through the Scottish Tartans Museum gift shop, and the check-out procedure is the same as on our web site. But this site has a lot more history and information about the tartan design, and more products listed.

It's still a bit of a work in progress -- there are several product images I still need to do the photography for. And there will be a section added for people to order kilts in this tartan, as well as yard goods. But in the meantime one can order all kinds of other items such as scarves, ties, sashes, etc. as well as get information about the tartan.

Thanks!