Irish Kilt?

[CMcG]

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What I briefly remember about that period from the survey course 'Scottish History 1' (C. 800 CE to 1707 CE) at Glasgow University was that the evidence pointed to two way traffic in trade, human migration and cultural cross-pollination between the north-east of Ireland (primarily Antrim, but even as far west as Donegal) and the western sea board of Scotland especially from Galloway to Argyll from the earliest times.

In the Ewan Campbell article that MacSpadger linked to earlier, he says basically the same thing; Gaelic peoples inhabited what is now Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Scottish Highlands/Western Islands since at least the Iron Age (i.e. prehistoric times). He finds no solid archaeological, historical, or linguistic evidence to support an "Irish" invasion of the Highlands and Islands form out the Picts and form the ancient kingdom of Dal Riada, rather that there were Gaels there the whole time. Furthermore, he suggests that modern geopolitical boundaries skew our perception of that region and that the sea connected northern Ireland with the Highlands/Islands rather than separating them, as per this diagram from that article:


In his conclusion he says:

"Surely the question that is of interest here is not 'where did people come from?', but 'how did people establish and change their personal and group identity by manipulating oral, literary and material culture?'. Indeed, merely by re-labelling the supposed 'Irish settlers' as 'Gaelic speakers', following the practice of contemporary writers such as Adomnan, the whole issue can be studied in an atmosphere free from the colonialist implications which have distorted the study of early medieval western Britain."

I'd like to frame the origins of the Irish kilt in his terms of establishing and changing identity, because I agree that it is more interesting and especially because it is more germane to the OP's questions.

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Basically, all rambling aside, I was wondering if the Irish wear kilts at all. Is wearing a kilt on St. Patricks Day misrepresenting Ireland by wearing a garment predominantly Scottish?...

The late 19th/early 20th century Gaelic revivalists in pre-republic Ireland looked to the nearest Gaelic people for ideas of what could have been. Traditional Irish attire had long been Anglicized and they were romantically re-imagining themselves in an effort to reestablish a sovereign Irish nation, so they chose the kilt as their attire.

The kilt never gained widespread support among people in Ireland as everyday wear but did get picked up by Irish bagpipers, dancers, and even sometime as boys school uniforms. Some of our Irish members, in Ireland, have told us that kilts have gained some popularity as wedding attire. It appears, however, that Irish kilts have gained more currency in the Irish diaspora than at home.

It is a misrepresentation to suggest a historical, ancient origin for Irish kilts. The kilt comes from the Scottish Highlands. It is also incorrect to suggest that the kilt is Ireland's national attire, because it has never been officially accepted, nor been widely used as such. The kilt is Scotland's national attire.

I don't think wearing a kilt on St. Pat's, in North America is somehow "misrepresenting" Ireland. The Irish kilt has now logged over a hundred years of history, despite the modern origin. Personally, I accept the premise of the Gaelic revivalists in pre-republic Ireland, if only as a romantic elision of history to imagine an ethnic attire. I think it is grand!

Enjoy your Irish kilt, but just don't represent it as something other than a modern phenomenon -- and one that is fraught with nationalistic and historical problems that provide endless amounts of discussion on Xmarks