Hi there,

I think the question is pretty self explanatory but it's something that has always confused me as someone who is actually Irish! I always see videos of Irish American societies within police forces and fire departments in the USA parading in Scottish style kilts and playing bagpipes as signs of their Irish heritage.

Bagpipes and kilts have no connection to Ireland whatsoever. I am aware Irish nationalists back in the early 20th century did attempt to 'claim' the kilt as a Celtic symbol and not a uniquely Scottish one but it never really took off and no one in Ireland would really consider wearing one today unless they had some connection to Scotland.

Likewise, whilst there were early Irish versions of the bagpipes these were commonly found across much of western and northern Europe at that time (16th century) but had effectively died out by the 17th century and were then replaced by uileann pipes in the late 18th century, a very different instrument to the contemporary Scottish bagpipe.

Anyway, in summary where did this decision to adopt Scottish culture and pass it off as Irish come from by these bodies ?

Was it simply a mistake by individuals who didn't know the difference between Ireland and Scotland or was it a deliberate decision because the idea of kilts and bagpipes seemed 'cool'? Or perhaps it was a group who feel that Irish culture does involve kilts and bagpipes as I outlined above.

Would love to know the views of historians on this as my research so far has led to a dead end.