The history and heritage of the Aran Sweater

The three Aran Islands sit at the mouth of Galway Bay, overlooking the wild Atlantic Ocean. The biggest island, Inis Mór is home to the ancient fort of Dún Aonghasa, one of the oldest archaeological remains in Ireland. It is a fort perched on a sheer cliff edge above the sea. Historical remnants of Ireland are visible on the islands; beehive huts, dry stone walls and thatched cottages still mark the landscape today. This is evidence of a community that has always had to build for shelter and warmth first.

  • Dún Aonghasa + Atlantic Ocean

    Credit: Discover Ireland

  • Honeycomb fields

    Credit: Discover Ireland

The Stitches

The sweater that now carries the islands name grew out of this world. Traditionally made from undyed báinín - sheep’s wool - Aran designs often incorporate combinations of stitch patterns. These patterns are imbued with different symbolic meanings; cable stitches are said to represent fisherman’s ropes, and bestow good fortune on the wearer for safety on their journey out at sea, as well as good luck for a bountiful catch. Honeycomb stitches pay homage to the hard work of honeybees and the sweet reward their efforts carry. The diamond stitch depicts the stone boundaries of the fields which farmers worked on the islands. Diamonds stand for wealth and hope for a bountiful harvest.

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The Islands

The islands developed a resourceful, self-sufficient community with their own rituals and customs, music and storytelling traditions. As the last stop of the British Empire, before America, it was one of the last places to be anglicised and introduced to the English language. On the islands today, Irish is still the primary language.

The development of the Aran industry

The sweater’s commercial success began with the establishment of the Congested Districts Board, set up by the British government in 1891 to develop the west of Ireland, which encouraged knitting on the islands as a way for households to earn extra income alongside fishing. In the 1930s, Muriel Gahan, a rural Ireland campaigner for traditional crafts, visited the islands and is credited by historians with commissioning the first Aran sweater in its modern form. By 1935 they were on sale in her Country Shop on St Stephen's Green in Dublin, where knitters were named, valued and paid fairly. Electricity didn't reach the islands until 1973, so for decades the women worked by paraffin lamp after dark.

Aran goes global

Vogue featured the sweater in 1956, and demand grew quickly in the United States. Around this time, an Irish journalist who had recently acquired Galway Bay Products Ltd. named Pádraig Ó Síocháin began to develop, market and export hand-knitted Aran Islands's knitwear through his company. He worked with the islanders to develop written patterns and standard sizings, replacing the oral tradition that had passed knitting on before. In March 1961, the Clancy Brothers, an influential Irish folk band who are credited with bringing Irish traditional music to the USA, wore matching Arans on the Ed Sullivan Show, reaching tens of millions of viewers. Hollywood followed with Steve McQueen, Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe all wearing aran or aran-inspired .

The Rise of Knitting Machines

By this point, demand had outgrown what hand-knitters could supply, and the industry's response was mechanisation. Domestic and semi-industrial knitting machines, developed through the 1960s and 70s, made it possible to reproduce Aran cables and textures far faster than by hand, without losing the look that had made the garment famous.

IrelandsEye Knitwear Est. 1988

IrelandsEye Knitwear emerged out of this movement. We started with six family members in 1988, and our business has now involved three generations of the same family. Today we employ a team of 50 people in our factory in Dublin, as part of our extended family, and we continue to produce high-quality knitwear that we ship to customers all over the world. Like the islanders before us, we're inspired by nature and by the colours and textures of the Irish landscape. Every design starts life as a sketch in our designer's notebook, before it becomes a piece of knitwear built to last.

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