Handwoven Donegal Tweed’s Trials and Traditions

This vibrant remnant of an Irish cottage industry survives in our digital age

Photo compliments of author

Coming up with gift ideas for men, according to groupthink, stretches our imagination. Ties, golf balls, and button-down shirts pile up over the years. Gift buying is a bit easier if the fellow, like my special man, happens to be bald. Hats. Hats to not only keep warm, but to protect the top of his head. Being bald is like being a cat without whiskers — a bald man never knows exactly how close his noggin is to the undercarriage of the car he’s working on. Or where the pipe under the sink is as he installs a new garbage disposal. Ouch!

Last fall, while researching Irish textiles, I stumbled upon a distracting factoid: actor Sarah Jessica Parker sings the praises of an Irish weaver named Eddie Doherty. Wondering what possible nexus exists between a Cincinnati girl like Sarah Jessica and a County Donegal hand weaver named Eddie Doherty, I dug in. Turns out, Sarah Jessica’s husband has roots in the area. The Brodericks have been vacationing there for decades. And, like every vacationer, Sarah Jessica shops.

This led to my discovery of Donegal tweed and an answer to my quest for a great gift.

Hand weaver Eddie Doherty declares in his promotional pamphlet, “I am now one of a dying breed” and points to his weavings…