Aran Jumper - History

History

There is debate about when island residents first started making the jumpers. Undoubtedly, residents of the islands produced a local version of a Gansey jumper similar to other areas of the British Isles for several centuries. Traditional Ganseys from neighbouring regions have much of the same cabling and pattern-work seen in Aran jumpers; however these Ganseys use different construction methods and are knit from a finer wool. Some have suggested that the jumper is an ancient design that has been used on the islands for hundreds of years. Proponents of this theory often point to a picture in the Book of Kells that appears to depict an ancient "Aran jumper". Also, many megaliths around Europe depict similar patterns to those used in the knitting, which are carved into the stone, and date back several thousand years. However, it is more likely that the knitting stitches were modelled on these than that they evolved contemporaneously.

Most historians agree that far from being an ancient craft, Aran knitting was invented as recently as the early 1900s by a small group of enterprising island women, with the intention of creating garments not just for their families to wear but which could be sold as a source of income. These women adapted the traditional Gansey jumper by knitting with thicker wool and modifying the construction to decrease labor and increase productivity.

The first commercially available Aran knitting patterns were published in the 1940s by Patons of England. Vogue magazine carried articles on the garment in the 1950s, and jumper exports from the west of Ireland to the United States began in the early 1950s.

The development of the export trade during the 1950s and 1960s took place after P.A. Ó Síocháin organized an instructor, with the help of a grant from the Congested Districts Board for Ireland, to go to the islands and teach the knitters how to make garments to standard international sizings. He commissioned the Irish artist Seán Keating, who had spent much time on the islands, to design and illustrate marketing brochures. Knitting became an important part of the islands’ economy. Adding to the popularity of the Aran jumpers were The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, an Irish folk music group which started recording in New York City in the late 1950s and who adopted the Arans as their trademark on-stage garments. In the early '60s they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and even in a special televised performance for President Kennedy. The national exposure and the rising popularity of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem fueled the demand for Aran jumpers even more. During the 1960s, even with all available knitters recruited from the three islands and from other parts of Ireland, Ó Síocháin had difficulty in fulfilling orders from around the world.