One of the reasons you don't find a lot about Irish tartans is that they are relatively new. Most Irish tartans are associated with a county or province, and not with a specific family, though some Irish family name tartans have been developed. Some (such as Cian) actually have the approval of a family society or other governing body, but most would strictly be regarded as fashion tartans.

The Bowling tartan is the same as the Cladadh tartan, if memory serves, which is itself just a color variant of the Royal Stewart. I seem to recall that sometime in the 60s the information for the Cladadh tartan was recorded and there was a hand written reference to either the name Bowling or Dowling (the handwriting was not clear) and that is how the name became affiliated with the tartan.