7.1 Case Study: The Aran Sweater

When you think of an iconic piece of Irish ware, what comes to mind? You may be familiar with a wool knitted sweater that comes in many varieties of patterns and colours. This kind of sweater is available in quintessential Irish clothing shops including The Aran Sweater Market but also available in tourist shops throughout the island, as well as being available for sale in gift shops and airport lounges the country over. Aran sweaters are also important cultural artifacts, and can be found in important museums and galleries domestically and nationally. What is this iconic sweater, and how does it connect to the making of the Irish landscape?

The Aran Islands comprise three islands off of the coast of Galway Bay in the Atlantic ocean. The islands are named Inis Oírr, Inis Mór, and Inis Meáin. Given the water-locked location of the Aran islands, the area has historically relied on a strong fishing industry that continues to this day. Aran sweaters first emerged in the late 1800s, and were knitted by the wives of fishermen for use when they were out at sea (Corrigan 2019, Aran Sweater Direct).

Historically, Aran sweaters were made of local wool from lambs which is coarse in texture and water resistant (Corrigan 2019, Aran Sweater Direct). The wool itself was ‘unscoured’ meaning that it maintained natural oils that afforded water resistance (Aran Island 2024). The patterns of Aran sweaters have specific references to the Aran islands landscape. For example, the diamond stitches are said to represent farm fields of the islands, and some diamond stitches include a ‘carageen moss’ stitch, referencing a type of seaweed from the area. The cable stitch can represent fishing ropes, and a double cable stitch represents a couple working together. The zigzag stitch reflects winding paths of the island (Corrigan 2019, Aran Sweater Direct).

The Aran sweater craft offer insights into the physical and human landscape on the west coast of Ireland. This includes:

• the relationship between women, domesticity, and craft work on the Aran islands as it relates to the development of Aran sweaters for men at sea; what does the development of this craft reveal about labour patterns and gender on the island?
• the role of farming on the island in relation to its wool products that allowed for the development of this sweater craft; how do materials from farming develop into tangible wares, and what does this tell us about the interrelationship between humans and nature on the island?
• the symbolism embedded within the sweaters speaks to an intricate relationship between aspects of the islands, such as its winding paths and farmlands with the physical garments that islanders wear; how might craftwork hold knowledge of the physical landscape in unique and/or informative ways?
• the growing global recognition of Aran sweaters in museums and shops reveals the Aran sweater as a symbol of Irish national identity and culture that circulates in both domestic and global realms

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Artists have explored different themes through the lens of the Aran sweater. For example, Pauline Cummins’ 1985 exhibit Inis T’oirr/Aran Dance drew on the Aran sweater, known for its deep connections with domestic craft traditions, to explore women’s use of the sweater in relation to the ‘terrain of the male body’, subverting existing associations of women with nature and the Irish landscape, but also adding new perspectives that complicate gender and Irish national identity.