Summary: Head Wear
Key dates:
Many people went bare headed. Some wore cone shaped hats or balaclavas which were influenced by armour and helmets. Hats could be unisex and were often affected by European fashions.
Other caps were found in Tipperary. These were made from thick wool and similar to those of French and German peasants. Horned and decorated headdresses were worn by wealthy Irish women. Married women wore white linen head coverings or herchiefs. Unmarried wore their hair loose or filleted up and bedecked with ribbon.
16th century Irish women’s head dress was distinctive; a cumbersome roll of white or patterned linen “loaded on the head” was worn by married women after the birth of her first child. The quality of the linen indicated the status of the wearer.
Expensive fabrics, jewels and feathers were used for ornaments on English style caps.
The plain felt hat was found in Donegal in 1962.
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