Folkwear #207 Kinsale Cloak pattern. For centuries, rural irish folk wore voluminous full-length woolen cloaks of ancient origins. Handowven in a straight twilled tweed, these heavy cloaks took their color from the native black sheep, whose wool provided a natural water repellent. The social changes wrought by the Potato Famine of 1846 saw a decline in the cloak's popularity; however, lined with black linen, silk, or satin, it may still be seen in West County Cork today. Our Kinsale Cloak is ankle-length on a 5'7" person. Lined and hand-gathered into a wide collar, it falls in small unpressed pleats to a gracefully curved hem. The Cloak fastens at the neck with a large hook and eye. Our version offers an optional detachable hood for women that buttons to the Cloak under the collar. It may be worn down over the shoulders as an overcaepe, or pulled up and fitted over the head with ties as a loosesly fitted hood. Without the hood, the Cloak still looks as dashing on men as it did in centuries past.
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