EMAP_2012_Report_6_1.pdf (7.3 MB) - The Heritage Council

young lords of territories; six in the clothes of ollavs; seven in the clothes of kings and
queens’ (O’Donovan 1848-51, i, 45).
Quantities of garments are occasionally referred to; in Crith Gablach, the mruigfer (landman)
and his wife are described as having four costumes each among their possessions (MacNeill
1923, 291). There is also an implication of dress being differentiated for various purposes;
costumes for special occasions are suggested, including the festival garment of a king,
mentioned in Bretha im Fhuillema Gell (Kelly 1988, 166). A mention in a late legal gloss of the
contents of a queen’s work bag including a veil (Atkinson 1901, 383) hints at a possible
secular use of such headdresses, although most evidence for veils occurs in religious texts,
with reference to nuns. Quantities of garments, including tunics and a variety of cloaks, are
also listed among the stipends and rents exchanged between kings and their underlings in
Lebor na Cert (The Book of Rights) (Dillon 1962).
Sagas offer a broader view of dress and ornament, including descriptions of richly coloured
clothing, fine fabrics, and elaborate ornaments of gold and silver set with jewels. These
details also extend to accessories; in The Wooing of Becfhola, for example, the beautiful
woman met by Diarmuid son of Aed Slane, king of Tara, wears ‘two blunt shoes of white
bronze, two gems of precious stones in them…’ (Cross & Slover 1969, 533). Much of this,
however, must be considered in the light of literary conventions: being largely written for an
aristocratic audience (Ní Bhrolcháin 2009, 42) and usually dealing with the exploits of kings,
heroes and other high-status individuals, it is not surprising that rich garments and
ornaments are portrayed. More mundane items also appear, usually worn by churls or lowstatus
persons, for example in Cath Maige Tuired, the Dagda wears shoes made of horsehide
‘with the hair outside’ (Gray 1982, 47).
Saints’ Lives might not be expected to include much detail of dress, but they contain some
interesting details of what holy people might wear; references to animal skin clothes, and a
focus on white as an appropriate colour, both have biblical echoes. An extract from the Rule
of Ailbe, which states what a monk’s clothing should not be, also suggests what secular
alternatives were in use: ‘His feet should always be shod, but fringes of red leather are not
to be worn. His clothing is to be without blue, red, or any kind of ornamentation’ (Ó Maidin
1996, 19).
In terms of specific textiles, reference is made to garments of wool, linen and silk. Woollen
cloaks are a common feature, and are worn by most types of characters; linen is occasionally
mentioned in hagiography, especially in relation to shrouds (e.g. Connolly 1989, 30);
references to silken garments appear from the ninth/tenth century in tales such as Togail
Bruidne Ui Derga (Dillon 1994 [1948], 25) and Tocmharc Becfhola (Whitfield 2006, 2), and
increase (along with the range of figures shown wearing silk) by the twelfth century, when
Cogadh Gaedhil re Gallaibh also refers to the presence of ‘silk-clad young women’ in Hiberno-
Norse Limerick (Todd 1867, 79). Decoration of textiles, including embroidery, is implied by
occasional references to embroideresses and their valuable needles in the law tracts (Kelly
1988, 78), and in saga descriptions such as the tunics with red embroidery mentioned in the
Táin (O’Rahilly 1976, 125-6).
While different types of ornaments are mentioned in texts, the main focus, especially in the
law tracts, is on brooches and their use to symbolise status. In Críth Gablach, for example,
the aire desa is said to have clothdelg n-ungae, ‘a precious brooch of an ounce’ (MacNeill
1923, 297), which probably refers to its worth in silver rather than its weight (Kelly 1988,
114). The laws also refer to the method of wearing brooches; the seventh/eighth-century law
tract Bretha Étgid exempted a man from liability for injuring another with the pin of his
brooch provided he wore it properly, on the shoulder; a woman, however, was supposed to
wear her brooch on her breast (Ó Floinn 2001a, 1; Kelly 1988, 150). These legal references,
while limited, provide some important clues as to the use and meaning of brooches in early
medieval Ireland – not least the fact that they were worn by both men and women. The
apparent focus, however, on their use by lords and heads of families may obscure the
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