Dooley Tartan?

**Captain** · 27th August 07, 12:47 PM

Okay, due to everyone else making tartans online and the very cool tartan generator some of you linked to here, I have decided to try my hand at a tartan for my family. I took (as a basis) the pattern of the Cian tartan as that would be our clan tartan, and completely redid the colors with colors more to my family's liking... we're big on earth-tones and orange... with a few who really like blue... Anyway, here's what I came up with. What are your honest opinions? I've never done something like this, so be brutally honest... would it work? Would you wear it? What would you change?

**slohairt** · 27th August 07, 12:55 PM

I like it. It's very Autumn-looking. Reminds a little bit of the Ulster tartan.

**James MacMillan** · 27th August 07, 01:03 PM

OK - I have no brown tartans. I don't think that I would buy this.

I have a MacMillan Tank, that I seldom wear, cause, I just don't like it.

With the right color shirt, brown hose, brown belt and sporran, and bone handeled skean, I think it would look nice.

I like it!

Having said that - How about adding a vivid red or green to accent the brown?

Just how much would it cost to get your own tartan made? What would the minimum run be?

We have our own X-Marks tartan - so someone should know.

**Peter C.** · 27th August 07, 01:49 PM

I will not comment on the colours because you have chosen colours you like so they are perfect for you.

The pattern of the tartan is too busy for me.

I would remove the thin white and dark (not sure of the colour) lines which run right through the center of the pattern, then it would be purfect for me.

Peter

**Captain** · 27th August 07, 05:01 PM

I kind of agree with you, it is busy. I just adapted this from the clan tartan, so I haven't changed any of the thread counts yet... Once I get my cian kilt and see it in the flesh I may decide to change up this tartan slightly... Thanksgiving cannot get here fast enough!

**gilmore** · 27th August 07, 05:27 PM

I wouldn't wear it because there is already at least one that is approved by the chief of one's clan. Whether the colors are to one's liking is irrelevant.

**Captain** · 27th August 07, 06:05 PM

It's not about the colors necessarily, it's about having a tartan specifically for my family. I used the clan's pattern as a starting off point because it's one of the tartans that my family is associated with. For that matter I could have used a Scott or Burnett tartan as the basis... again, tartans my family is associated with. I chose Cian because it's the clan the Dooley name is most closely tied to.

It is not meant to supplant the clan tartan at all, but since Irish clans/tartans are more about a region or district and less about a family's lineage, I thought it would be nice to eventually register a tartan for my actual family... and to be honest, whether a Dooley somewhere else wanted to wear it or not would be their call, I certainly wouldn't have a problem with it.

**gilmore** · 27th August 07, 07:17 PM

I am not sure I understand. Families are associated with a clan of living and desceased people, not tartan designs woven into pieces of cloth. Clan is from the Gaelic for "children" and the members were all said to be descended from a single progenitor (at least at the beginning of such things), thus clan is family and family is clan. So, either you are associated with a clan or you are not. If your family is indeed associated with a clan, that IS your family, and there is no need to design another tartan not approved by the chief of the clan. If you are not associated with/a sept of, etc a clan, you can make up anything you want. It will be known as a fashion tartan, not a clan tartan.

**Captain** · 27th August 07, 08:19 PM

Sure, maybe at one time thats what a clan was. My clan is something that has to do with my past, where my family came from. They are part of the Cian / O'Carroll clan because of where they lived, not necessarily even because they were related to the head of the clan. It's a part of my heritage that I am proud of... but in my day to day life, it's something I can pay a lifetime fee now to become a part of and get a quarterly newsletter. Other than that, I haven't really seen what difference it makes in my day to day life.

My Family is my one remaining grandparent, a handful of aunts, uncles, and cousins... but mostly it's my parents, my two sisters, my unbelievably amazing wife, my miracle newborn daughter, my parents-in-law, and my wife's brother and his fiance... I don't want another CLAN tartan. I want something that represents the aforementioned people who make up my daily support system, my daily dosage of love, and my daily inspiration to become a better person... Does that make sense?

If you want to call it a fashion tartan, knock yourself out... To me it represents the essence of my family... Or it will, when I've finished it.