Irish Garb Part 2
Early Medieval Irish Garb Part 2: Materials & Decoration To read about the sources for documenting Irish garb, see Irish Garb: Part 1 . Materials Bast fibers: The Irish grew copious amounts of flax, mostly for the sake of its long fibers. The flax plant, the fibers, and cloth made from the fibers were all called lín (1) , or various derivatives of the word—such as linbratt (linen blanket/cloak). Linen was common but was associated with wealth, since producing linen from flax is a labor-intensive process. Because of this, Irish property law regulated values and ownership of flax sheaves, hackled flax fibers, and woven linen fabric. For instance, during a divorce, a farm wife was owed one sixth of any sheaves of flax harvested that year (2) . Book of Kells f.183r depiction of an angel wearing a blue leine and a red bratt. There have been suggestions that the nettle plant (ramie) was also in use for producing linen in Ireland prior to and contemporary with the ...