The Kinsale cloak (), worn until the twentieth century in
Kinsale
Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 (a ...
and
West Cork
West Cork ( ga, Iarthar Chorcaí) is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownbe ...
, was the last remaining cloak style in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. It was a woman's
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
outer garment which evolved from the Irish cloak, a garment worn by both men and women for many centuries.
Historical development
The Kinsale Cloak, also known as the West Cork Cloak or Irish Cloak, evolved from
cloak
A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, serving the same purpose as an overcoat, protecting the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. Cloaks have been and a ...
s which were worn throughout Europe since at least the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. Worn since prehistoric times in Ireland, by the early historic period, the outer wrap garment had become a four-cornered "brat" of almost rectangular shape. In a 1904 discovery in Armoy, County Antirm, Ireland, late Bronze Age tools were found wrapped in a woolen brat sewn from two pieces of wool, giving evidence that cloaks were worn in Ireland as far back as 750 BC.
Likely by 600 AD, the brat had evolved into a cape-like shape of the type worn in the drawing of St. Matthew in the
Book of Durrow
The Book of Durrow is an illuminated manuscript dated to c. 700 that consists of text from the four Gospels gospel books, written in an Irish adaption of Vulgate Latin, and illustrated in the Insular script style.Moss (2014), p. 229
Its origin a ...
(dated to shortly after 600 AD), which was fitted at the shoulders and reached to below the knees.
In the sixteenth century, when cloaks became common items of dress in Europe, woolen weather-proof cloaks evolved in Ireland.
However, English laws passed during the reign of
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
tried to get rid of the cloak as an item of dress in Ireland. During the Elizabethan Wars, the cloak was especially frowned-upon because it was associated with rebellion: it was both warm and waterproof, and it enabled Irish fighting men to remain out in the hills in the worst of weather. "A fit house for an outlaw, a meet bed for a rebel, and an apt cloak for a thief", wrote
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...
, an English poet who lived in the
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
, describing the Irish cloak at the end of the sixteenth century.
Irish women of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries adopted the hooded cloak as a general-purpose outdoor garment. These cloaks varied in colour throughout Ireland, being red in
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
and blue in
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, mapsize = 220px
, pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
, but the material was always a quality
melton, which has a wool pile.
Nineteenth century
In 1842, Mr. and Mrs.
S.C. Hall praised the Irish cloak commenting on its "graceful drapery". They said that "the material falls well and folds well. It is usually large enough to envelope the whole person; and the hood is frequently drawn forward to shield the face of the wearer from sun, rain or wind."
In the early nineteenth century, red was a popular color used for cloaks, but it began to fall out of favor. According to Dunlevy, "An aversion to the colour red in these cloaks developed in some places: an aversion explained by
Thomas Crofton Croker
Thomas Crofton Croker (15 January 1798 – 8 August 1854) was an Irish antiquary, best known for his ''Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland'' (1825–1828), and who also showed considerable interest in Irish song and music.
...
as due to the consternation caused through confusion with the red coats of the English soldiers at the time of the
1798 rebellion
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a Irish republicanism, ...
. While his anecdote may contain some truth, an equally likely reason was the cost of red dye, for grey or “undyed” cloaks were used by the less wealthy in areas where red was popular. The Dublin Society surveys record that in the first decades of the nineteenth century the fashion for red cloaks survived strongly in Sligo, Leitrim, Longford, Cork, Meath and in Connacht, but that different shades of blue, as well as grey and black, were used throughout the country."
By the end of the nineteenth century, and following the social upheaval of the
Famine of 1847, the traditional hooded cloak had nearly disappeared from much of Ireland, but remained popular in the western part of the country, thus giving the name "The
Kinsale
Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 (a ...
Cloak" or "
West Cork
West Cork ( ga, Iarthar Chorcaí) is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownbe ...
Cloak" to the garment.
Twentieth century
By the Twentieth Century, West Cork alone upheld the tradition of the Irish cloak, and with rare exception black was the common colour. They were often a mother's present to her daughter on getting married and handed down from one generation to the next.
Throughout West Cork, the overall design of the cloak did not vary, but details such as the ornamental beaded braidwork did - and so towns like Macroom, Bandon, Clonakilty, Skibbereen and Bantry claimed to have had local garments. Because the variations were small, it would be more accurate to speak of the West Cork Cloak as a general term rather than mentioning the individual towns, with the exception of Kinsale. The hood of the West Cork Cloak was never to be thrown back entirely, however the Kinsale Cloak had a hood that could be worn either erect or thrown back.
The cloak was entirely hand made, and sewn with a long needle. Four yards of heavy black cloth (
melton) went into the making and the trimmings included
satin
A satin weave is a type of fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave ...
for lining,
jet and beaded braid. Fastened by a single
hook and eye
A hook-and-eye closure is a simple and secure method of fastening garments together. It consists of a metal hook, commonly wire bent to shape, and an eye (or "eyelet") of the same material into which the hook fits.
History
The hook and eye clo ...
near the neck, the folds of the garment were relieved by a pair of mock pockets faced with
jet, which covered the hand slits.
The upper part of hood proper was, if possible, fuller than the cloak, being gathered and rucked behind the neck. The inside of the hood was satin lined and the top of the hood was finished with a satin bow. Within the hood sat the flat jet collar ornamented with a pattern of beaded braid and tied with a satin bow over the single functional fastening of the cloak.
Two of the best known Kinsale Cloak makers were Ellen Kirby (née Richardson) and her daughter Mary. Ellen Kirby was born in Ballinspittle near Kinsale in 1834, and learned the art of cloak making from her mother. Mrs. Kirby's workroom was at Fisher Street in Kinsale, but she also covered parts of West Cork travelling regularly by train to Bandon and Clonakilty to take orders and measurements. The cost of materials for a Kinsale Hood Cloak prior to 1920 was about 14 to 20 pounds, and Mrs. Kirby's charge for making the cloak was five shillings. After her death in 1920, her daughter Mary, a dressmaker, took up the business and dedicated herself to its traditional skills until her own death in 1940 at the age of eighty-two.
Today
A Kinsale cloak is on display in "The Way We Wore" exhibit
among the
National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History
The National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann – Na hEalaíona Maisiúla ⁊ Stair) is a branch of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) located at the former Collins Barracks in the Arbour Hill ...
collections in Dublin. Although the Kinsale Cloak is no longer seen on the streets of Ireland, it has occasionally inspired fashion designers to create evening cloaks with a similar design. The Kinsale-style cloak is most often worn today at historical reenactments and Renaissance Faires internationally, in part due to a popular sewing pattern available to the home seamstress.
File:The Irish Hood.jpg, "The Irish Hood" by Daniel Maclise (1837) showing a woman wearing a Kinsale Cloak
File:The Kinsale Cloak on an Irish Colleen.jpg, An 'Irish Colleen' wearing a cloak and holding rosary beads
File:Clothing of people of the West of Ireland around 1900.jpg, Nineteenth century clothing of people of the west of Ireland. The Kinsale Cloak was worn about a finger length shorter than the skirt
File:Back of a Kinsale Cloak.jpg, The back of a Kinsale Cloak, made by Mrs. Kirby, showing the satin lining of the hood and the beadwork on the collar
File:Collar of Kinsale Cloak showing beading.jpg, Glass beading on the back collar of this Kinsale Cloak suggests it was a cloak for special occasions
References
Further reading
* Minihane, Hannah. "Reflections and Recollections of the Hooded Cloak of Kinsale". ''The Kinsale Record''. 4(43).
"Irish Cloak" (2009) ''Brewer's Dictionary of Irish Phrase and Fable''. London, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd
{{Historical clothing
Kinsale
Social history of Ireland
Robes and cloaks
History of clothing (Western fashion)
Irish clothing