Ancient and Medieval Irish Clothing

I enjoyed meeting with a book group the other night who had read Her Warrior King, and the members asked me if I would post pictures of the clothing mentioned in my books. To begin with, this is a photo I scanned from one of my costume books. It’s one of the older styles, and the man is wearing a brat, which was a popular garment that could double as a shawl or cloak. He is also wearing a masculine version of the leine, and in early days the men did not wear the trews or trousers.

This next photo is a color version of an early Irish warrior. You can see the style of cloak and brooch that they wore more clearly here.

Here is another photo of men’s clothing. Try to imagine close-fitting leggings as trews, and I’ll see if I can scan or locate a photo of them. Next time, I’ll see if I can get some images of the women’s clothing. There were fewer examples of this in my costume books (why, I don’t know. Personally, I’d much rather see color pictures of women’s clothes).


Can you think of anything else you’d like to see pictures of?