County tipperary castle

Irish

County Tipperary Tartans & Clan

County Tipperary is a landlocked county in the south of Ireland found in the province of Munster. Before the Norman's invasion in the 12th century, Tipperary was divided into two separate lands which were ruled by both the O'Brien'sand the MacCarthy's and the Rock of Cashel was also the traditional seat of the Kings of Munster. Discover more about County Tipperary below.

Who Wears County Tipperary 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.

  • Corish
  • Crosby
  • Dermody
  • Dinan
  • Donegan
  • Dwyer
  • Egan
  • Fanning
  • Fennessy
  • Fogarty
  • Furey
  • Gilfoyle
  • Gleason
  • Halley
  • Hickey
  • Hogan
  • Honan
  • Kelleher
  • Kennedy
  • Lannigan
  • Looby
  • Lynch
  • McGrath
  • Mackey
  • O'Brien
  • O'Callaghan
  • O'Dea
  • O'Donnell
  • O'Dwyer
  • O'Hurley
  • O'Lornasney
  • O'Meara
  • O'Shanahan
  • O'Slattery
  • O'Sullivan
  • Quinlan
  • Quirke
  • Reidy
  • Ryan
  • Scully
  • Sexton
  • Spillance
  • Tobin
  • White

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County Tipperary Tartans

1 variations

Each 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.

County tipperary landscape

From the Start

County Tipperary Clan Origins & History

County tipperary castle

Explore the History

How it all started

County Tipperary is a landlocked county in the south of Ireland found in the province of Munster. Before the Norman's invasion in the 12th century, Tipperary was divided into two separate lands which were ruled by both the O'Brien'sand the MacCarthy's and the Rock of Cashel was also the traditional seat of the Kings of Munster. The county itself was established in 1328, making it the first Irish county and it was granted to the Earls of Ormond. By the 19th century the county was divided again into North Tipperary and South Tipperary for managerial purposes. America's 40th President Ronald Reagan also has traced heritage to the county to the town of Ballyporen, where in which he boasts of his Irish descent!

What's in the plaid?

The County Tipperary plaid is mainly a deep red with stripes of black and green running throughout.

Rock of cashel

The Rock of Cashel

The Rock of Cashel, otherwise known as St. Patricks Rock, sits dramatically right in the heart of the town of Tipperary and the iconic cluster of medieval buildings is one of Ireland's top historic attractions. The grand fortress is believed to be the site of the ancient kings of Munster who ruled for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasions. It is also believed to be the site of conversion between St. Patrick and the King of Munster during the 5th century when Christianity was brought to Ireland, which is why it is also sometimes known as 'St Patricks Rock'. The main structures which are still around today are mainly from the 12th and the 13th century, with one of the earliest surviving buildings being Cormac's Chapel which is home to the only remaining Romanesque frescoes in Ireland. The Rock of Cashel is most definitely one of Irelands most extraordinary historic attractions and is without a doubt worth a visit!

The name Tipperary derives from the Irish of 'Tiobraid Arann', meaning 'well of the Ara'.


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