The Irish Red Mantle
This fiery red cloak is based on archeological fragments discovered in May 2005, when the remains of a young woman were uncovered during peat-cutting operations in a bog in County Roscommon, in the Irish Midlands. Tragically the peat-cutting machinery damaged the remains, and archaeologists only had fragments to work from. However, radiocarbon dating placed the woman in the 7th century AD, making this one of our earliest examples of a pile-woven Irish mantle.
My recreation is woven in 2/1 twill, with contrasting colours in the warp and the weft. The shaggy pile is made by inserting long locks of unspun fleece into the cloth during weaving. The mantle is dyed a vivid red, with deep purple and black vertical stripes. These colours were created with ground madder root, which was a common natural dyestuff in Medieval Ireland, over naturally light and dark fleece respectively.
The cloak is included in my Vararfeldr exhibition, which is currently touring across the UK and Europe.
