IRISH ARTS REVIEW

THE ULSTER COAT

Belfast certainly rarely challenged
London or Paris in the province of
costume design. Traditionally the dour
Ulsterman has seldom been interested
in the flippancies of dress-style and, as a
result, few fashions have originated in
this corner of the kingdom. One of the
exceptions is the "Ballykilbeg suit"
made and sold by James R. McKee of
Donegall Street in the late 1860s, priced
at three guineas. In a notice taken in the
Belfast News-Letter of 9 Dec. 1868, the
merchant clothier announces that:
"I have this day had the honour of
receiving an order from WILLIAM
JOHNSTON, ESQ., M.P., Ballykilbeg,
for one of the above suits, made to
measure."
It appears that this singular vestment
was named after that famous and con
troversial Orangeman who had, in the
eyes of his followers, won glory in
Bangor that summer by defying a
Government ban on Orange parades. It
was certainly a cute business angle;
there were many loyal brethren in the
province only too willing to display
solidarity with their leader's cause by
sporting his cloth.
Apart from this purely local - and
political
- tailoring phenomenon, the
north of Ireland can boast one original
item that brought its clothing trade an
unprecedented fame and reputation.
This was the famous Belfast overcoat,
the "best storm defier ever produced",
which caused the word "Ulster" accord
ing to one advertisement, to be "import
ed into every language in the civilised
world."
Exceedingly popular throughout the
Empire and in America during the last
two decades of Victoria's reign and into
the turn of the century, the Tatler and
Cutter went so far as to suggest in 1897
that "no gentleman's wardrobe is
complete without an ulster." It has been
glimpsed a hundred times in films set in
fog-bound London, usually muffling a
waiting cab-driver or even decked
betimes the shoulders of the great
Holmes himself. The coat was designed,
introduced and sold world-wide by
McGee & Co., of 30-34 High Street,
Belfast.
Listed in the mid-century directories
as "Tailors, clothiers and general outfit
ters, woollen drapers, hatters, robe and
gown makers, Masonic jewellers, etc.",
the firm had aspired to a high-class
clientele since its establishment in 1842
by John Getty McGee. Born in Antrim
in 1816, McGee arrived as a young man
intent on setting up a fashionable tailor
ing business in early Victorian Belfast. A
stickler for good craftsmanship and
quality cloths, his shop quickly attracted
the right kind of customers; soon the
McGee cut became a conversation piece
for the young dandies and beaux-about
town. A year after opening he was able
to land the agency in the north of Ireland
for Hyam and Co.'s "Pantechneteca"
tailoring emporium of Gracechurch
Street, London. For many years there
after McGee would use this hybrid
word (it meant roughly "high-class
bazaar") as his trade-mark. Doubtless
the cultured classes he was out to
attract would have appreciated such a
classical designation. Anyway, it proved
unusual and successful enough to be
copied, for John Arnold, another tailor
a few doors down, decided to follow
suit and christened his establishment
the "Heimatemporion."
McGee was selling a wide range of
goods from the start - frock, dress and
riding coats, silk waistcoats, French
velvets and fancy satins - and servants'
liveries. Determined not to be seen
doing things by half measure, he
imported a French tailor to run his
trousering department and employed a
London hatter. In fact in 1848 he
opened a hat warehouse in Donegall
Place where he offered for sale, inter
alia, "the very best satin hat at seven
florins and a half." Already he had an
eye to innovation and in 1886 advert
ised patent weatherproof Jerry hats
"impervious alike to grease and rain and
got up in an entirely new style." Four
years after opening his High Street
doors he was known well enough to
merit editorials in the provincial news
papers; witness the following from the
Downpatrick Recorder of 2 December
1848:
"We know of no establishment in
this line of business where a cheaper,
more elegant or a more durable article
of dress can be purchased than in the
emporium of this spirited firm."
Although the later addition of the
"ulster" to the firm's stock-in-trade
would make for it an international
fame, business was already so satisfact
ory that John could afford to reside at
"Spafield," a villa in Holywood, then a
genteel and fashionable resort. He
could also afford to have printed, in the
1840s and 50s pictorial Pantechneteca
Almanacs, "curious illuminated pro
ductions" which he gave away gratis to
his patrons. Full of "gilt and gaudy"
colours and devices they presented "a
fanciful appearance", so much so that
they attracted reviews in the local press.
During the first half of the nine
teenth century the greatcoat or surtout
was the main item of a man's ward
robe. Long, full, swinging loosely from
the shoulders and often with several
overlapping collars or capes, it was for
long the required town dress, whatever
the occasion or season. Especially suit
able for travelling, it was nevertheless
heavy and cumbersome; to wear this
voluminous garment confidently and
with ease took a certain amount of
practice. Mid-century, however, was to
Jack McCoy, Local Studies
Librarian for the South Eastern
Education and Library Board,
Ballynahinch, Co. Down, relates
the history of the garment which
made "Ulster" a household word.
p A 0NnE
A
L
49 O.ON C .. it! z7cC 42
JOHN C. M'CEE & Co.,
M1ERCHANT CLOTHIERS,
EMBROIDERED VEST MANUFACTURERS,
RCBE ANlD GOWF} MAKERS,
(For the Pupit, tae Bar, or the Colkge,)
TAILORS, BY APPOINTMENT,
TI '1'H E QUEEN, H.R.H. PRINCE ALBERT,
TIIE LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND,
63eiteral
0ut-litters
lo all parts of ike (-Iobt.
PANTE CHNETHECA,
46 & 48 HIGH STREET, BELFAST.
1;ooka if Prices, coxtoixing oirectio.sfor AFeaOures; also Patew
of Neo Materiah, forwarded Grotiu
on application.
McGee and Co.'s first premises,
before their removal to 30-34, High Street.
-18
Irish Arts Review
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IRISH ARTS REVIEW

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<a;-{-G.7
A Ladies' ulster with hood
Courtesy of Faber & Faber.
'0' 0
00
The classic caped ulster, circa 1876.
Courtesy of Faber & Faber.
Note ticket pocket above the cuff.
see a move away from the all-purpose,
all-weather greatcoat towards specializa
tion and variety. The new Chesterfield
Overcoat, for example, and the Albert,
light, firm and elegant, were ideal for
wearing to the club. Included in this
new generation of fashion experiment
ers was John McGee who had set himself
the task of designing a modern travell
ing coat, still as weatherproof as the old
surtout, but with a more up-to-date
line.
A decade or so before the "ulster" was
launched, McGee was already specializ
ing in overcoats, advertising in 1852 the
"largest stock of winter overcoats in the
north of Ireland", some of Irish frieze,
and some patent india rubber water
proof coats and capes. The previous
year, what must have been a shadowy
forerunner of the "ulster" was shown as
one of the Irish contributions to the
Great Exhibition in London. Described
in the Downpatrick Recorder of 19 April
1851 it constituted "an Irish gentle
man's fine frieze wrapper, lined with
rich watered tabinet." Tabinet is a
watered fabric of silk and wool resembl
ing poplin and, according to the Oxford
English Dictionary, "chiefly associated
with Ireland."
After a dozen years or more of
reworked and abandoned patterns,
McGee at a last, in 1866, came up with
a garment to his satisfaction; following
the general trend at the time, his
creation was fitted close at the chest,
buttoned down the front and fell to
either three-quarters length, or fully to
the ankles. It could be single or double
breasted. The first versions of the
McGee "travelling wrap" were fitted
with a hood but later sported an
impressive shoulder cape instead.
Another characteristic of the Belfast
coat was the large number of pockets -
no doubt to make up for the loss of
concealment space under the loose
folds of the greatcoat -
including a
handy little leather ticket pouch above
the left cuff. Although certainly of less
generous proportions than the surtout it
replaced, the garment was still, by our
standards, bulky. Made of rugged frieze
cloths it was invariably belted although
later and lighter models were to retain
only a half-belt at the back. In many
ways it was a typical north of Ireland
product, plain, serviceable and common
sense, with few frills, although as the
years passed the original design would
be modified here and there to accom
modate the shifting requirements of
fashion. McGee called his overcoat "the
ulster" and no one was more surprised
than he at the speed and enthusiasm
with which it caught on. Within a few
years of its introduction the modest
High Street premises
-
whose lintel
exhibited an impressive scroll device -
was forced to expand into 26?2 High
Street; this extra address was used
simply as the "Ulster Coat Warehouse".
From 1870 onwards the firm made a
point of promoting itself, not just as
tailors, but as "inventors and sole
makers of the Ulster Coat", a title it
proudly held in its trade advertise
ments for the next sixty years.
Some of the earliest "'big-time"
advertisements for the "Ulster Coat
Overcoat" were run in the Belfast news
papers in the winter of 1870. "Made of
best Irish frieze and perfectly water
proof' it was "invaluable for travelling
or driving to the covert side." Priced at
three and a half guineas or five guineas
with Windermere lining, it was obviously
fashioned for the professional well-to
do. These same advertisements carried
the following testimonial from W. Eyre
M. Shaw of the Metropolitan Fire
Brigade, Watling Street, London, dated
4 November 1868, a mere two years
after the coat's introduction:
"I never gave a testimonial about any
thing in my life before, but I cannot
refuse your request. The 'Ulster' Coat
is, without exception, the best driving
Coat I ever possessed. It is quite imper
vious to wind and rain; and, even in the
present weather, I come home warm
and comfortable every day, although I
drive some four or five hours at least
-19
IRISH ARTS REVIEW
THE ULSTER COAT
every time I go out. Congratulating you
on your business success, I am, Sirs,
yours truly. . ."
Success was so swift and total that,
although designed originally as male
attire, there was soon a clamouring for a
ladies' model. And so, early in the
1870's, an ulster for fashionable gentle
women was on the market, caped (or
hooded) and tightly belted in the usual
way, but trained slightly along the
ground, like the skirts of the time.
There was even the hint of a bustle.
Compared with the plainness of the
man's garment, the feminine version
could be quite ornate, with as many as
five capes lined, for example, with blue
and gold checked satin. The bodice
which was shaped to the figure could be
ornamented with coloured buttons.
McGee is discovered advertising his
"ladies" ulster coat at reduced prices in
the local newspapers during the winter
of 1878.
The designers describe their product
as follows in a trade notice of 1888:
"made to the ankles; lined with the
softest woollen texture; trebly sewed;
trebly stayed in every part; the innumer
able pockets of wash leather; velvet
collar; contracting sleeve inventions;
and many other characteristics intro
duced by the original makers."
Even at this early stage, the Belfast
design was being widely copied, a fact
with which the originators make us
familiar at every opportunity:
"since imitation is the sincerest form
of flattery, it is not surprising to learn
that (the garment) has been imitated
and pirated by every tailor in the world.
Be that as it may, the design is their
(McGee's) property and invention and
to them its introduction is originally
due."
McGee's earliest imitator was Simpson
and Marshall of Castle Place who, a
matter of months after the ulster was
released, were advertising "our NEW
TRAVELLING COAT which is quite
novel in design and better adapted for
travelling than any previously worn."
Despite the claims to novelty and
superiority, it was nothing more nor less
than a straight copy.
John G. McGee the innovative found
er and proprietor died in December
1883 on board the Cunard steamer
Servia en route from New York. Ailing
for some time, he had been pressed to
take a sea-trip for the sake of his health.
He had always been noted for his
involvement in civic and Church of
Ireland affairs and died at the age of
sixty-seven, one of the city's most
respected citizens. His greatest source of
pride was not that persons of worth
from Viceroys downwards beat a regular
path to his doors, but that he had intro
duced a new word - with derivatives -
to the dictionaries. Thus Chambers, for
example, enters "ulster" with the defini
tion "a long loose overcoat". A light
version of the garment is an "ulster
ette". The cloth used to make it is
known as "ulstering" and to be snugly
cloaked in one's travelling wrap is to be
- what else? - "ulstered".
The outfitters was carried on by John
G. McGee's eldest son
James,
not only
an able businessman but a great devourer
of books. The breadth of his knowledge
and his intimacy with the latest novels
was the unfailing marvel of his customers
with whom he delighted in holding
literary discourse. Under his astute
guidance McGee & Co. continued to
flourish and in 1899 was removed to
more modern and spacious premises in
the Scottish Provident Buildings at
Donegall Square West, Belfast.
James' residence was the splendid
"Woodville", Hill Street, Holywood,
itself a reflection of the firm's health
and profitability. It is fair to say that the
1880's and 1890's saw the influence and
prestige of McGee & Co. at full tide.
The Province's woollen manufacturers
were doing particularly well during
these decades, providing an unceasing
supply of good cloths. All the major
Belfast stores are discovered publicizing
McGee's famous ware in the run-ups to
Christmas. Alexander Orr Reid & Co.,
of North Street were offering "stylish
cape ulsters"; J. Robb & Co. of Castle
Place and Lombard Street had in stock
"children's reefers, jackets and ulsters in
the different classes of material, at all
prices", and Arnott & Co. of High
Street were drawing especial attention
to their "ulsters and dolman ulsters."
The following review of the firm's
standing published in 1891 bears empha
tic witness - however over-zealous the
rhetoric - to the coats by now inter
national "coverage" and popularity:
"These coats have been turned out
by the firm in endless numbers, and
diverse styles, and to suit every taste
and requirement. They have gained
universal patronage in America, in
India, amid the snows of Russia, in
Turkey, and indeed in every land where
a warm and waterproof wrapper is a
desideratum. In no place has their
popularity been more marked than in
the United Kingdom, whose humid and
varying climate, and chill night airs, are
inimical often to life itself. Hundreds of
voluntary testimonials bear witness to
the wonderful services rendered by this
unequalled wrapper to officers on
campaign, special war correspondents,
sea-going travellers, and all sorts and
conditions of racing, coursing, yacht
ing, and hunting men."
As intimated previously, McGee &
Co. prided themselves on being a
"gentlemen's outfitters"; the same re
view describes them as
"excellently appointed for carrying on
the high-class trade to which alone they
confine themselves."
They were more than keen to publi
cize the patronage they were graced
with by the elevated sectors of society.
The catalogue of distinguished clients
below, which includes a royal personage,
makes splendid reading, if reminiscent
at times of Boys Ow Paper:
"Captain E.M. Shaw, well known in
-%.,,ST
E Rco
"ULSTER" OVERCOAT
THE ORIGINAL IRISH FRIEZE
DRIVINC AND TRAVELLINC WRAP.
P'attcrms of :\aeil,andl all Isrcin for Self -Mcasureme-- : ;-h
1Ittrtt Cataie,g-l, f-)r ardlcd cn, ,pIpli,azi,n-.
M'GEE & CO., BELFAST, IRELAND.
A McGee advertisement for the ulster coat.
-20
IRISH ARTS REVIEW
THE ULSTER COAT
In every commtanlty you will find young nmen who *t3nil ar-itt trotI tie crowtl- On tVii4 1 ;(ue at-
Mfter nCvrftOAts !f 4
.ti er ebrc:,i !1y
f.Ating
for
>'oung
mtn's
well dresscrl young fellows who. beeatise
of the sen. ct,e or,.oThty '2 -hoalua!il of 41 I.X t ayu We A!"o al s t eoti. t t
.
t U. e r;svge 'A c.'4e et r
t?:eir wearing apparel. fairly rraldiate stnocees. Those ;re t !,e .:s wi:o m.ko a i.,t'e -.:t v a at, le ti ni-n r, . : tt to V11'Jr. tl0 ,, I in tt.r tc.
and forceiall iM:rejsion when entering business life-the k' zl ltata .a: - to and attr.t W- 1.-ri I ct,.l t ho -an etacdy rak;fe
-i t actf ty selr,tion.
!sm,:C
e
r r 5
aubstantiAl business men. if, tru::o:
c ii arl lAarks t-I fk
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hit A
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(l1A.01)l-.%1 /,y
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rse le.
I
WA.L1JlY and seytte.
l
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per ce't
All Around Belted PopularPatch Attractise Double Breasted Popular Double Breasted Our Best
Ulsterette-Favorite
Pocket Ulaterette. Ulsterette.
Belted
Ulsterette.
Form
Fitting Model.
457r4726 Brawn Heat*.
457P4734-Oxford Cray. 4SI54732-Brown sncl Blue hieather. 4S4744-Broewn Heather. 44729 -Gree-n Hiather.
4674?735-Autumn 4574733-Green
i
45r474S-Green 4SF4730-D lq
Brown.
$19.95 lieather. $28.50
i
$18.50
0 D $Gr3y.
36.50
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Alt
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SEARS.
R0EBUCK&5C0.
393
enocerceet cc. .; -; tc2.O.C 1i. .' ta'en- acre nest . . . . . . . . . . .......______________________________;.-;_'_-,__________,_________;_. .
An advertisement for the lighter
"ulsterette".
from Sears, Roebuck and
Co.'s New York catalogue of 1921.
-21
IRISH ARTS REVIEW
THE ULSTER COAT
connection with the London Fire
Brigade, the Lancet, Bailey's Magazine,
Sir Louis Cavagnari, Colonel Allin,
A.D.C. to Baker Pasha, Major Higginson,
Count Batthyany, Sir William Elliott,
the Rev. Mr. Spurgeon, Prince Edward
of Saxe-Weimar, Capt. the Hon. Robert
Neville Lawley, and a host of other
well-known personages, who have tested
it in all climates and under every
condition, are unanimous in the praise
of McGee & Co.'s 'Ulster.' One gentle
man used it for twelve months as a
blanket, in the Rocky Mountains, and
after seven years' wear, finds it "as good
as new". Another had sat in it, in the
saddle, from dawn to dark, under heavy
rain, "without a drop penetrating", and
Sir P. Louis Cavagnari lay in it all night,
in a pool of rainwater, d'uring his service
in India, "without knowing anything of
it" till the morning, when, though the
coat was heavier, "it had not allowed
the water to penetrate." Medical men,
too, on night duty, find it an indispens
able garment, and are loud, even
eloquent, in its praise. We need not add
another word, except to notice the
commendable fact that the material is
Irish frieze, and so the whole is in every
respect an Irish speciality."
And so, we learn that the great ulster
could double most conveniently as
sleeping-bag or groundsheet; doubtless
the "treble-sewing" had a say in the
matter.
By the end of the first decade of the
century, although the ulster-style coat
was still quite in vogue, the fortunes of
McGee & Co. began to wane notice
ably. James had died in 1905 and the
subsequent management seems to have
been complacent rather than dynamic.
As a result, the mantle of tailoring pre
eminence in the town passed to the
shoulders of Wj. Marshall & Co., who
lost no time flaunting it for all it was
worth. In the Belfast newspapers of
1910 we read that this concern claimed
to be
"long known as one of the leading
fashionable tailors in the city, employ
ing a cutter of recognized ability and the
best society workmen."
Sited at 39, High Street, just a few
doors from McGee's earlier premises,
they promoted themselves unabashedly
as the "Ulster Overcoat House" and
"sole makers of the 'Pluventus' Irish
frieze Ulster coat." Not only that but
they were tailors
"by Royal Warrants of Appointment
to His Late Majesty King Edward VII,
and His Majesty King George V; also
patronized by the Earl of Aberdeen,
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Earl
Dudley, the late Governor-General of
Australia."
The registered "Pluventus" ulster,
which was their speciality, they described
as
"up-to-date.. .waterproofed by a
special process and lined with blanket
or camel fleece lining (which) have
proved a great boon to many of the
gentry and professional men of Ireland,
as well as in other parts of the world,
who have much travelling in wet and
cold weather by car, motor, or rail."
It all seems like a remake of the original
story, but under a different name.
McGee's hit back at the "Pluventus"
with a new "Slieve Donard" ulster and
could boast, by the 1920s "appointment
to His Grace the Governor of Northern
Ireland" - but it was a second best to
royal patronage. McGee's was obviously
moving into eclipse. It is interesting to
read that the master tailor, T.H.
Holding, editor of The London Tailor
and The Ladies' Cutter, writing in 1902,
confirmed that the popularity of the
ulster had already passed its zenith
(besides giving a couturier's estimation
of the apparel):
"It is important that every tailor
should be able to cut properly a really
stylish Ulster. It is true he may only
make a few in the season, for the reason
that there are so many competitive
coats now in use, and in the next place
because one of these coats lasts a man a
lifetime, and again in the third place
they are not - thanks to lighter makes
of overcoats - so much in demand as
they were when Magee, of Belfast, first
introduced them, now thirty-six years
ago.
Many of us remember the time when
every country gentleman must have one
of these wardrobes - if one may call it
so, for it weighed half-a-dozen suits - in
frieze, and the -more it curled, and the
thicker and heavier it was, the better. I
have seen linings almost as thick as the
outside put in, until these coats have
weighed nearly two stone. [ed. 28 Ibs]
Irish frieze is a grand material for
overcoats, but,
milled up to the thickest
possible pitch, made into a heavy and
extravagantly big coat lined in heavy
tweed also inside, brings it to a weight
that no man could do anything in
except sit still."
The ulster has both added to the
English language and been included in
its literature. Sherlock Holmes -
more
-usually associated with the Inverness
cape. - nevertheless took recourse to
the Irish frieze when the season demand
ed it. As the sleuth and his companion
stepped out, for example, to investigate
the case of the Blue Carbuncle, Watson
recounts that
"It was a bitter night, so we drew on
our ulsters and wrapped cravats about
our throats."
Ironically, literature also records the
Victorian era's most infamous criminal
as favouring the Belfast wrap. Marie
Belloc-Lowndes' classic novel, The
Lodger (1913) has Jack the Ripper stalk
ing the gas-lit alleys of Whitechapel swa
thed in an ulster. In the 20th Century
Fox film of the book, made in 1944 and
starring Merle Oberon and with Laird
Cregar as the villain of the piece, we see
the mysterious lodger burning his caped
overcoat in the fireplace after it had
become bespattered with blood during
one of his
-
as he weakly explained to
his landlady - "pathological experi
Laird Cregar as Jack the Ripper
in a caped ulster.
Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox.
-22
IRISH ARTS REVIEW
THE ULSTER COAT
ments." It was altogether a rather fitting
garment in which to dress the Ripper;
its massiveness afforded a degree of
anonymity and its folds - and innumer
able pockets - easy concealment for the
instruments of his grisly practice.
The coat receives an honourable
mention too in James Joyce's Dubliners,
first published in 1914. In the story
'Grace,' we find Mr. Power, "a tall agile
gentleman of fair complexion, wearing a
long yellow ulster, (coming) from the
far end of the bar," to assist a Mr.
Kernan who had fallen down drunk in
the lavatory of a public house. In all
likelihood it is an "innocent" reference,
but certain critics
-
particularly American
- remain unconvinced that such a meti
culous wordsmith as Joyce would have
used the term without hinting at a
deeper meaning. Richard M. Kain, of
the University of Louisville, for example,
notes in his critical analysis of the story
(James Joyce's Dubliners, ed. by Clive
Hart, Faber & Faber, 1969) that Mr.
Power works for the English in the
Constabulary Office. That being the
case, he suggests that there is a
significance both in the man's name and
in the fact that he is wearing an
"ulster", a word loaded with political
import. Other critics have drawn atten
tion to the atmosphere of "shabby
gentility" prevalent throughout the
story; it is appropriate therefore that an
ulster - a gentleman's garment
-
should
be worn in this context, and also, that it
should be yellow - the colour of decay.
The popularity of the garment was
given an extra lease of life
-
as revealed
by W.J. Marshall's advertisement seen
above - by the arrival of the private
motor car. Given the draughty and
unprotected nature of the early auto
mobiles, a snug wind-cheating water
proof for driver and passenger alike was
essential; it became for a time the ideal
car-coat. We read, for instance, in the
Wind in the Willows how Mr. Toad, that
irrepressible motoring fanatic, was
arrayed in all the required parapher
nalia:
"goggles, cap, gaiters and enormous
overcoat."
As he was an Edwardian gentleman,
as well as a motorist, one could make a
safe bet as to the make of the overcoat.
The advent of the enclosed saloon
car, however, soon removed the need
for such cumbersome wear, and with it,
an important market. The ulster had by
now had its day. A brief revival in the
1930s, of large, square-shouldered coats
for men did little to check the falling
out of fashion of the Irish mantle. It was
during this period that McGee's finally
and tellingly dropped their "inventors"
title and chose instead to promote
themselves as "naval and military
tailors", a profitable line they had
developed during the First World War.
They would not repeat the success in
the second war though, for, unable to
stem their decline, they folded in 1940.
The remnants of the business were
bought over by R.A.Erskine the last
surviving director, and refloated under
the new trade-name "McGee & Co.
(1940) Ltd." Removed to the less
central premises of 34, Arthur Street,
the firm struggled on for another
decade in name only. Their reputation,
little remembered now, or realized at all
by a different generation, had largely
passed away.
The business which had started to
trade under the young Queen Victoria
and had won worldwide fame for itself
and brought honour to its native city
was unable to reach into a seventh
reign. By the time of the present
sovereign's coronation, the shutters had
gone up for good.
Little tangible remains today of
McGee & Co. and their heritage. Their
various addresses bear no traces
to suggest that they had ever been.
James McGee's salubriously positioned
"Woodville", once elegantly ringed
with trees, has long since been bull
dozed; the site was purchased for the
erection of a new primary school,
opened in 1954.
Of the ulsters themselves, very few
have been preserved in historic dress
collections. As they were much prized
at the time by their owners -
and
expensive -
they were worn out rather
than relinquished for exhibition. Neither
the Victoria and Albert Museum,
Kensington, nor -
ironically
-
the
Ulster Museum, retain an example of
McGee's celebrated cut.
Jack McCoy
I wish to acknowledge the assistance of Elizabeth
McCrum of the Department of Art, The Ulster
Museum and Avril Hart of the Department of
Textiles and Dress, The Victoria and Albert
Museum. Thanks are due also to the British Film
Institute for supplying the still from The Lodger.
SOURCES
Penelope Byrde,
The Male
Image, London,
Batsford, 1979
C.W. and P.E.
Cunnington,
A
Dictionary of
English Costume, 900-1900, London,
A. and C.
Black, 1968.
C.W. and P.E.
Cunnington,
Handbook
of English
Costume in the nineteenth
century,
Third
edition,
London, Faber, 1973.
Death of Mr.
John
G.
McGee, Belfast Newsletter,
14 December 1883.
T.H.
Holding,
Coat
cutting,
Fourth edition,
London,
T.H.
Holding,
1902.
T.H.
Holding,
The Coat
Cutter, 1902, gives
patterns
for double-breasted and
single-breasted
ulsters,
and instructions for their
assembly.
Industries
of Ireland, London, Historical Publish
ing Co.,
1891.
The man who
put
Ulster in the
dictionary, Belfast
Telegraph,
18
January,
1941.
John Montgomery,
1900: The End of
an
Era,
London, George
Allen &
Unwin, 1968.
The Ulster
Coat, Belfast Newsletter,
2 October
1951.
The
Belfast Newsletter, passim.
The
Downpatrick Recorder; passim.
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