The Irish cloak was a standard 19th century garment worn by women all over the country. It is described as a sleeveless garment reaching to the ankles, open in front and fastened with a hook-and-eye or with ribbons. One width of material goes into the back and a half width into each side. On the shoulder, the material is tightly gauged, and attached to the back of the neck is a large hood which hangs down the back when not in use. The hood, which is lined with satin, silk, or sateen, is made of a rectangular piece of material drawn into pleats at the back. It was constantly used when the cloak was worn, even on hot days, when the hood could be drawn to shield the eyes of the wearer from the sun. The cloak formed very graceful drapery, fell well and folded well, was very elegant and usually large enough to envelop the whole person.
According to the historian James Hardiman, the ancient Irish habit for a woman consisted of: “A blue mantle, a red body gown, a petticoat of the same colour and a blue or red cotton handkerchief bound around the head. On Sundays and festivals, however, they make a more modern appearance, a matron’s dress being generally composed of a blue rug cloak trimmed with fine ribbon, a rich calico stuff gown, with the flannel body-gown, however, occasionally, worn over it, and a silk handkerchief on the head.”
We have to rely on British tourists for much of the evidence on what women wore in Galway and the Claddagh during the 19th century, but it would seem inconceivable that such a small and casual detail of clothing on even the most prejudiced would have grounds for distortion of fact. Women were generally fond of gay dress and bright colours, the countrywomen often wore madder red cloaks, but blue was the preferred colour in the Claddagh.
An 1835 article on the Claddagh describes how: “A large blue cloth cloak, thrown open at the front and hanging from the shoulders, forms a part of the costume”. In 1852, Sir Francis Head tells us: “On Sundays, the women turn out with scarlet cloaks and white caps.” Julius Rosenberg wrote in 1858 how: “The market was full of women in blue capes squatting behind barrels selling lobsters while girls in red petticoats walked in between, the young ones with their mantillas draped around their heads often looked charming.” In 1888, Richard Lovett wrote that: "Claddagh women often go barefoot, wear a short blue cloak, bed gown and red petticoat, their headdress being a kerchief of many colours."
Cloaks were expensive and symbolised the woman’s confidence in her womanhood, her femininity, and her stature in life as an important person within the community. Cloaks were tailored and only worn (with pride ) on special occasions. Some women might have been lucky enough to inherit one as an heirloom. Most of the rest of their clothes would have been home-made. There seems to have been some confusion in the various reports as to the length of the red cloak and the blue cloak. A long red cloak would have been impracticable in the Claddagh, similarly a long skirt, as the streets in the village could be muddy and would have been difficult to negotiate in full length dress.
Occasionally, some women wore black cloaks which had a peaked hood and which were fastened under the chin by a strap with a button either side that was attached to two buttonholes on the cloak itself.
Our photograph today was taken on May 27, 1913, by two young French photographers, Marguerite Mespoulet and Madeleine Mignon. They had been sent to Ireland by a philanthropist named Albert Kahn who asked them to record some traditions that were fast disappearing. The subject of their image was Mary Jordan from Dogfish Lane, who was dressed in her finery as she would have been for a Sunday or a special occasion, a unique specimen of a very beautiful costume which, by 1913, had not been worn for years as "it was too heavy and the women did not want to hear about it anymore". She is wearing a red petticoat without any black velvet bands around the bottom. I have heard that if a woman wore one black band on her petticoat, it meant that she was single, if she wore two bands, she was bespoke, or engaged to be married. Mary is wearing a starched white cotton apron over her petticoat. She is holding this up at the front but we can see from the side that it would reach below the petticoat and cover it completely. This working apron was known as a ‘práiscín’ and was designed to protect the petticoat. On top, she has a beautifully patterned shawl wrapped around her in a hug-me-tight fashion. It was of a type that old Claddagh women used to refer to as ‘me cashmere’. Finally, she is wearing a fabulous red cloak, its edges bound with a gold or yellow binding. She is barefoot.
Sadly, by the time this photograph was taken, the cloak was regarded as an outmoded, outdated, version of Irish femininity and had gone completely out of fashion.
This is one of the photographs from a book entitled Irlande 1913, Clichés en couleur pris pour Monsieur Kahn which shows all of the images taken by those two young ladies in Ireland in 1913, possibly the first colour photographs ever taken in this country.
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