THE IRISH CULTURE

Presented by Group 2: Lauren Heikes, Lisa Holt, Lola

Jackson, Ieesha Irving, Mykel, Thomas Gwinn

August 9th,2011

Ireland Culture is Presented in the Following Order:

The Geography and Background of Ireland People (By the Group) The Nonverbal Use of Clothing:

Formal: Irish Eadaigh, Iran Knits, and Kilts (By Lauren Heikes)

Informal Rituals:

Verbal Traditions Nonverbal Traditions

Festivals: Cultural Traditions (By Lisa Holt)

The goal of this presentation is to explore and better understand Ireland’s culture by explaining the geography and exploring the history that shaped Ireland as a country.

The Irish culture will also be defined through three important nonverbal aspects: the use of clothing, the Irish rituals,

aswell as festivals and the traditions presented.

THE NONVERBAL USE OF CLOTHING IN

IRELAND

Image Source: http://www.googleimage.com/stpatricksdayclothing.jpg

Formal Clothing(Traditional: Medieval & Renaissance Times, Irish

Dancers, Kilts, Aran Knits, and St. Patrick’s Day)

BY Lauren Heikes

Source: http://dcpages.com/gallery/ Washington-

DC-St-Patricks-Day-Parade/DSC02078.jpg.htmlImage Source:

http://www.dalefield.com/knitting/

Irish Eadaigh (Nonverbal Use of Formal Clothing: APPEARANCE)

Eadaigh means “clothing” in the Irish language.Appearance:

Many cultures around the world place a high value on appearance: including clothing. The clothing worn conveys ones sense of culture to others. “Although we believe “clothes don’t

make the man,” clothing and artifacts do affect how we feel about ourselves and how we are perceived by others” (Beebe et al., 2010; p. 95). All forms of traditional clothing in

Ireland, from the color green- to the Aran knit sweater- to the kilt, have made an impact on the views of the Irish culture.

http://www.gowealthy.com/travel/culture/Traditional-dress-of-Ireland.html

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Traditional Style (Medieval & Renaissance)

The traditional dress of Ireland during the early days was inspired by the Gaelic and Norse costumes.

14th Century: Men wore a linen shirt called a leine (seen on rt.) Women wore long dresses that often laced up in the front. They

are decorated with hand-embroidered Celtic designs based on the Book of Kells and Irish stone crosses (seen to rt. and top lt. corner). 

Both men and women wore shaggy brats (cloaks in Irish) called mantles mostly of scarlet coloring. The cloak or brat was a symbol of rebellion during the suppression since it enabled the rebels to endure the worst weather while holding out in the mountains (seen lt. bottom corner).

During the 18th and 19th century they began dressing like the English. During some of that time it was actually against the law to wear

the traditional clothing. The most common colors used in the dress were green and white.

Red was deliberately avoided because of its relevance to England. The ancient Irish were fond of bright colors, as it was a mark of high social status in the community to be allowed to wear more than one color (rt. Bottom corner).

Information Source: http://www.gowealthy.com/gowealthy/wcms/en/home/articles/travel/culture/Traditional-dress-of-Ireland-MdehXbCxQa.html

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Image source: www.allthingswhiskey.com/irelandflag.jp

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IRISH DANCERS Women's dresses or skirts are very elaborate:

When a female dancer reaches a high standard of skill and displays perfection in competitions, she may wear a solo dress with her own unique choice of color and design

The crios, worn by some dancers, is a colored hand-woven belt originally worn by Aran Islanders.

Pipers wear a kilt and in 1910 male dancers began to wear kilts as well.

Men dancers wear a jacket and trousers or kilt regardless of level.

Women dancers just started wearing shoes a century ago.

Around 1924, soft shoes were introduced for the first time by girls dancing jigs, reels and slip jigs.

Source of Information: http://www.gowealthy.com/gowealthy/wcms/en/home/articles/travel/cultur

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Kilts in Ireland are typically a solid color.Kilts did not originate in Ireland but instead

Scotland. The Irish turned to their Gaelic cousins, the Scottish

Highlanders, for inspiration. The Irish chose to adopt a solid-colored (or self-colored) kilt, dyed either green or saffron.

From the late 1800’s the pipers began to wear the kilt

From 1910 on the male dancers began to wear this form of dress. They became popular to step dance in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

FUN FACTS ABOUT KILTS

Information Source: http://www.gaelicclothing.com/irishkilts.htm

Image Source: http://superstock.com/irelandkilt.jpg

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ARAN KNITSThe Aran Stitch was first introduced in the 17th Century

The the traditional name for the Aran wool is ‘bainin’, pronounced ‘bawneen’, and is the Irish word for undyed wool.  

Aran knitting orignated in the Aran Isles six miles west of the Ireland coast.

• The islands are part of the county Galway, where fishing is the main industry.

Tradition has it that the original Aran sweaters incorporated patterns that could identify a drowned fisherman if lost at sea. 

The patterns for each family are handed down generation to generation and many incorporated these traditional patterns into the knitted sweaters that the men wore.

Patterns Include: • heavily embossed stitches and intricate patterns• usually knit in the natural off white yarn

• Made with wool that was partially scoured (washed), the wool retained much of the natural oil, or lanolin and made the sweaters more water resistant. 

• The original sweaters were knit with a wide range of natural colors: today we regard the cream as the authentic color and most popular color for all types of Aran garments.  The lighter color, especially the cream, shows the stitches off in the greatest detail.

• The Aran stitches are very distinctive and traditionally Aran sweaters will incorporate as many as eight patterns in a sweater.

• Each stitch type has a symbolic meaning.

Information and Image Source: http://www..irishcultureandcustoms.com/aemblem/sweaters.htm

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o People in Ireland do not typically wear green.o On St Patrick’s Day (March 17th) most people

wear a small bunch of shamrocks pined to the outside of their coat.

o The three leaves of the shamrock symbolizes the teaching of the holy trinity by St Patrick:

he used the three leaves of a shamrock to explain the Christian holy trinity: the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

ST PATRICK’S DAY

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Information Source: http://thefastertimes.com/news/2011/03/17/slainte-celebrating-st-patricks-day/

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INFORMAL CLOTHING

CONCLUSIONIrish culture has clearly incorporated the elaboration of nonverbal communication

through the use of Irish clothing, including Aran knits, Traditions and Rituals, as well as

festivals. We first gained knowledge by seeking important information on

geography, climate, as well as, in Ireland’s history. And then learned the Irish traditions and cultural values in celebrating Ireland’s

festivities, cultural traditions such as holidays, and the styles in which they dress.

QUESTIONS 1) In Ireland, how are families and

family members identified through Aran knits?

2) ?3) ?4) ?5) ?

REFERENCESBeebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Ivy, D. K. (2010). The Blue Book of Communication Studies (TCC Custom Edition ed. , pp. 94-95). Boston: Allyn and

Bacon. Haggerty, Bridget. Aran Isle Sweaters - how a dropped stitch gave rise to a popular myth (2011, March 4 th). Retrieved July 28th, 2011, from Irish

Culture and Customs.com: http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/aemblem/sweaters.htmlIrish Traditional Clothing Old and New (2010, January). Retrieved July 26th, 2011, from The Irish Path.com: http://

www.the-irish-path.com/irish-traditional-clothing.htmlIrish Kilt-History (2011, July). Retrieved July 26th, 2011, from Gaelicclothing.com: http://www.gaelicclothing.com/irishkilts.htmPaul, William JF. Slaint: Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (2011, March 17th). Retrieved on July31st, 2011, from The Faster Times.com:

http://thefastertimes.com/news/2011/03/17/slainte-celebrating-st-patricks-day/Traditional Dress of Ireland (2006, December). Retrieved July 26th,2011, from Go Wealthy.com: http://

www.gowealthy.com/gowealthy/wcms/en/home/articles/travel/culture/Traditional-dress-of-Ireland-MdehXbCxQa.html

REFERENCES CONTINUED