Irish

County Sligo Tartans & Clan

Who Wears County Sligo Tartan? - Associated Names

First of all to explain why there are so many tartans, way over 2000 in fact. There are an awful lot of Scottish clans to start with and on top of this each clan can have many different tartans and names associated with it.

Burke
Coleman
Concannon
Conway
Devlin
Durkin
Hely
Kernaghan
McDermott
McDonagh
McFirbis
McGeraghty
McGorley
Noone
O'Creane
O'Dowd
O'Feeney
O'Flannelly
O'Howley
O'Keeran
O'Moran
O'Mullany
O'Mulvany
O'Rafferty
O'Rattigan
Spelman
Taaffe
Tarpey

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County Sligo Tartans

1 variations

Each tartan can have multiple variations, the most common of which are Ancient, Modern, Weathered, Hunting and Dress

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County Sligo

About tartan variations

Ancient
Modern
Weathered
Hunting
One thing to remember if you are ordering your tartan to match an existing kilt or accessory is that although the sett and colours are the same, there can be a slight difference in colour from one mill to the next. This is purely down to yarn dying so if

Ancient Tartan

Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer colours typical of the Ancient tartans, mossy greens and sky blues, a more orangey red and some would say showing off the pattern to much greater effect as as the contrasts are much brighter than the Modern tartans. The pattern or sett remains the same across all variations of a single tartan, and only the shades or tones vary.

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Post 1860 chemical dyes replaced the natural animal and vegetable dyes and the Modern Tartans were born with their stronger and bolder colours. The soft greens and blues become bottle green and navy blue, reds are scarlet.

Modern Tartan

Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer colours typical of the Ancient tartans. Post 1860 chemical dyes replaced the natural animal and vegetable dyes and the Modern Tartans were born with their stronger and bolder colours. The soft greens and blues become bottle green and navy blue, reds are scarlet.

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The Modern tartans are often the more subtle combinations such as the classic Black Watch Modern

Weathered Tartan

Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer, more earthy colours typical of the Weathered tartans, reminiscent of bolder colours subjected to wind, rain and sunshine producing beautiful faded tones, olive greens and browns, and very light blues with reds that are more pink than red.

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Some mills refer to the Weathered tartans as Muted.

Hunting Tartan

The Hunting Tartans are the camouflage tartans and some clans don't have these variations because they are already predominantly green or brown and don't need amendment to blend in with nature's colours. The Black Watch or Gunn tartans are examples of these, whereas a tartan such as the Fraser is predominantly red and would not provide much cover for men out hunting.

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One thing to remember if you are ordering your tartan to match an existing kilt or accessory is that although the sett and colours are the same, there can be a slight difference in colour from one mill to the next. This is purely down to yarn dying so if you need an exact match we suggest you order a swatch to double check.

One thing to remember if you are ordering your tartan to match an existing kilt or accessory is that although the sett and colours are the same, there can be a slight difference in colour from one mill to the next. This is purely down to yarn dying so if Tartan

The Dress Tartans were designed as the name suggests for celebrations and highland dance. The sett or pattern of the tartan remains the same and the main colour is changed to white, or extra white is added to the pattern to give it a brighter, more "fancy" appearance. The Scots do like to bend the rules and occasionally instead of white thread, yellow is used and this is where the rather wild MacLeod Dress Modern and Barclay Dress Modern came from.

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From the Start

County Sligo Clan Origins and History

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How it all started

Count Sligo is found on the north west coast in the border region of Ireland. It was officially established in 1585 by the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Henry Sidney, who was a prominent courtier and political figure during the reigns of both Henry VIII and Edward VI. However, it did not formally come into effect until the aftermath of the Nine Years' War in the late 16th century. Sligo itself is the capital and it is the largest town in the county which bestrides the Garvogue River where it meets Sligo Bay. The town was founded in the early 13th century by Maurice Fitzgerald who was a Norman knight, who initiated the first building of Sligo Castle and Sligo Abbey. Uniquely, the town was set aside from the majority of Ireland at the time as it was the only medieval town which was under Gaelic Irish control throughout the medieval era, with the O'Donnell clan being the most dominant. It remained under autonomous control until the late 16th century when it was shirred in the newly created county of Sligo during the Elizabethan conquest by Henry Sidney.

What's in the plaid?

The County Sligo plaid is mainly blue and has brown and bright gold accents running throughout.

Sligo Abbey

Sligo Abbey which still stands in the heart of Sligo today was built in the Romanesque style in the mid 13th century by Maurice Fitzgerald, the founder of the town itself. It is home to a great wealth of gothic and renaissance tomb sculptures as well as the only 15th century high alter to survive in the country. The Abbey was unintentionally partly destroyed after it caught fire in 1414 and it suffered further damage during the 1641 rebellion. Now restored, the Abbey is available for tourists and welcomes thousands of visitors from across the world each year who wish to discover the beauty of the architecture and the superb sculptures which are scattered across the site - a real treasure trove in Irish heritage!

The name Sligo comes from the Irish name 'Sligeach', meanings 'abounding in shells' which refers the the plentiful shellfish found in the river!