Hand-Woven Donegal Tweed Is Just Top-Drawer

Included in all the good reasons for visiting Ireland is shopping, particularly if you seek the superb hand-woven tweed from the republic’s scenic county of Donegal.

Hand-woven Donegal tweed means top quality and sophisticated taste in men’s and women’s clothes just about everywhere.

Hollywood celebrities and British nobility, Tokyo bankers and Madison Avenue advertising wizards regularly buy sport jackets of this extraordinary fabric for $350 (U.S.) apiece in the toniest stores.

But a savvy shopper can buy identical garments for far less. I just did, in Ireland’s gracious capital of Dublin.

I flew here for that purpose on a special trip, leaving New York on Wednesday, returning Sunday. The $375 fare made it a bargain trip. Saving a total of $420 on the two jackets that I bought, it meant the transatlantic part of the trip cost me minus $45.

Were these garments really worth the journey? What’s so special about handwoven Donegal tweed?

First, it is durable. This super fabric wears well and weighs less than other tweeds. It’s also cooler and more comfortable.

Inspired by Rocks

Unlike the many tweeds that come in aggressive patterns, this quietly elegant cloth is expertly loomed in subtle shadings inspired by the granite rocks of Donegal.

The 120-year-old House of Magee in Donegal, which makes and tailors at least 95% of the noble fabric, is committed to these natural, low-key colors.

By carefully selecting the yarns it delivers to 50 weavers, who work in their own homes in the countryside, Magee maintains the tradition.

You don’t have to take the five-hour drive--a pretty one--from Dublin to Donegal to find bargains in hand-woven tweed jackets, suits, coats, ties, scarfs and skirts. They are available in at least 10 stores in Dublin.

Among those with the best selections is Kevin & Howlin Ltd. at 31 Nassau St., facing the historic campus of Trinity College. Strolling down Grafton from the large park named St. Stephen’s Green, turn right onto Nassau,and then Kevin & Howlin is 100 yards away.

The main floor and basement offer a full range of Magee and other jackets priced from $140 to $190. For $20 more you can have one custom fitted and tailor-made.

A few doors nearer Grafton, at 39 Nassau St., is Kennedy & McSharry, with a staff that is exceptionally attentive and helpful. Prices for both ready-made and custom-fitted garments are roughly similar to those at Kevin & Howlin.

From there it’s a short stroll to Irish Cottage Industries at 44 Dawson St., a no-pressure store that’s never crowded.

Now 60 years old, Irish Cottage Industries offers a variety of quality tweed and knitwear clothes for men and women. It is a favorite of mine for fine wool ties, with an exceptionally classy selection in great colors for $7 each. If they don’t have the sport jacket you want in the cloth you prefer and size you need, they’ll order it.

A patient saleswoman at this shop explained the economic realities of Ireland’s value added tax. If you take or send your purchases out of the country, you get a rebate of the 9% VAT normally paid.

She also noted that having clothing tailor-made usually takes about three weeks, so the garb will probably follow you home.

Surface shipment of a jacket costs $11.60--including insurance--and generally takes six weeks. Sent by air, you get U.S. delivery in seven or eight days. Ask about the VAT rebate when paying.

The rebate is available everywhere, including the big Brown Thomas department store on Grafton Street. Brown Thomas is the most fashionable large retailer in town, Dublin’s version of Saks or Bloomingdale’s. It offers a good range of excellent tweed jackets and other attire, both hand- and machine-loomed, at competitive prices.

Long-Time Wool Merchants

The Dublin Woolen Co., nine blocks away by the River Liffey, is operated by the Roche family who have been wool merchants for 99 years. It is at 41 Lower Ormond Quay near famous old Ha’penny Bridge.

In addition to a fair selection of hand-woven Donegal tweed jackets for men at $150 and for women at $115, it features an assortment of hand-knit sweaters and colorful tweed ponchos.

Hand-woven Donegal tweed attire and fabric are also on sale in other Irish cities. Visitors traveling south to County Kerry on the Atlantic should consider visiting P. J. O’Shea’s unpretentious men’s shop on the main street of the little town of Cahirciveen on charming Dingle Bay. O’Shea’s prices were the lowest my wife and I found.

Magee’s, which carries a wide variety of men’s and women’s clothing, is easily the largest emporium in Donegal. The store never undersells competitors, who buy roughly 96% of what Magee’s produces in the company’s factory (only blocks from the retail store).

Still, it’s worth the drive down from Dublin, just for the pleasure of the outing.

“ ‘Tis a lovely trip,” a salesman at Magee’s in Dublin told us. “And after you shop, go next door to the pub and have a nice cool jar.”

The man was referring to a glass of Guinness.

It was good advice.