Irish
Connemara Tartans & Clan
Connemara is found in the province of Connacht on the Atlantic coast of western County Galway. This area is renowned for its harsh but beautiful landscape with its many mountains, coves, islands and lakes which inspired the Connemara tartan.
Connemara Tartans
1 variationsEach tartan can have multiple variations, the most common of which are Ancient, Modern, Weathered, Hunting and Dress
About tartan variations
- Ancient
- Modern
- Weathered
- Hunting
- Dress
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.
Helpful Advice
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.
Helpful Advice
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.
Helpful Advice
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.
Helpful Advice
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.
Dress 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.
Helpful Advice
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.
From the start
Connemara Clan Origins & History
Explore the History
How it all started
Connemara is found on the province of Connacht in the West of Ireland. This area is renowned for its harsh but beautiful landscape with its many mountains, coves, islands and lakes. The largest city with the region is Clifden which is often described as “the Capital of Connemara. This area is defined by Oscar Wilde as filled with “savage beauty”. Sadly this area was ravished during the civil war with the unionist army arriving in the town of Clifden and attempting to burn the city down. Today the town hosts over 1,597 people and has become a massive tourist attraction with its links to the Galway!
What's in the Tartan?
The Connemara tartan is largely red with green and blue tints throughout and was inspired by the wild yet picturesque area situated in the north west of County Galway.
Kylemore Abbey
Kylemore Abbey was founded in 1920 and is a Benedictine monastery which was formed by Nuns. The original castle that the abbey was built on was the private home for Michell Henry who was a wealthy doctor from London who went on to the MP for County Galway. In 1920, the Irish Benedictine Nuns purchased the Abbey castle and lands after they were forced to flee Ypres during World War I. The nuns, who had been based in Ypres for several hundred years, had been bombed out of their Abbey during World War I. The Abbey went on to be the main educational establishment for Catholic girls in the nearby area.
The name Connemara is said to have derived from the Conmhaícne Mara tribe who's land was situated by the sea in the west of County Galway.
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