Replica of famous Shinrone Gown currently being made

There was great excitement in South Offaly at the recent announcement by Shinrone Heritage Group that it had secured funding to commission a historically correct replica of the internationally renowned Shinrone Gown.

The gown itself is housed in the National Museum of Ireland, and the chair of Shinrone Heritage Group, Michael Leonard, expressed his delight that the new Shinrone Gown would become part of the village School Museum. He added that this would help to bring the story of the gown to a wider and younger audience.

The Shinrone Gown has a fascinating story, as Ann-Marie Healy explained.

"The gown dates from around 1620 and is the only known example of its kind in the British Isles, having been found in a bog outside the village after which it is named in the Spring of 1843," stated Ann-Marie.

The circumstances of the find are somewhat of a mystery, as indeed is the question of why the gown was placed in the bog.

Joe Cleary of Shinrone National School said, "there was always a great interest in the Gown and the idea of having a replica made had been on the Heritage Group's 'to-do' list for many years."

Bernie Stapleton and Rosalind Fanning have been commissioned by Shinrone Heritage Group to produce the dress. Meanwhile the American historical costume lecturer, Kass McCann, is providing guidance on its technical and historical accuracy from her home in Holland.

As part of reproducing the dress, an exciting series of free workshops are taking place in the coming weeks. These will take place on July 16 and 17 in Shinrone, and on August 14 in Birr.

The public can come along to these events and get real hands-on experience of dress making some 400 years ago.

As part of Heritage Week, the reproduced Shinrone Gown is scheduled to be unveiled at a public talk in Shinrone on Friday, August 23, at 7.30pm.