Chucks early irish shoes

[Chuck Russell]

chuck's irish shoe (picture too large to post)


early irish shoe
www.vicus.org.uk/documents/ironageshoes.htm

thought i would try my hand at making a pair of early shoes. whatya think? any pointers? i need to rub in some needsfoot oil to water tighten these. now the discription i have says early irish shoes, but i've heard that 1 piece shoes range a good bit on the continent as well. any clarification on this?

[Primvs Pavlvs]

Lookin' good! I think these are not only Irish, but similar ones have been found in Northern Europe. I read once that the Irish actually wore these until the early 20th century in more rural areas. Sometimes they were laced on the foot with a green hidr (hair in) and allowed to cure while being worn.

[M. Demetrius]

That general kind of shoe was found pretty much everywhere, far as I can see, and a variation of it was used for something like a thousand years. Not that different from AmerIndian moccasins, if you look at it.

Two things to consider, that we've found help.

1. Don't oil it until you're finished. If you're using veg tanned leather, you may want to wet and stretch something, or even better, make the shoes tight, then put them on, wet them and wear them until they dry. They'll fit just right if you do that. Make a heavy felt pair first, just to make sure you have it the way you want it, then use the trimmed felt for a pattern.

2. Almost all of the feet we've seen aren't "rectangular" in the back, so if you trim the heel section a little, so it is narrower at the top than the bottom, the shoe will fit better. Also, as the lacing goes across or however you choose to do it, leave enough to go around the back of your heel at the Achilles' Tendon, and tie in front, like modern ghillies. it lends a little support to the ankle, and makes the shoes more likely not to move around as you wear them. We often put a small loop at the back, top of the seam, for the lace to go through. This holds the heel up. You can accomplish the same thing with a slit in the right place back there.

You'll find that they're a lot easier to make and wear than talk about...

PM if you need more help, Chuck. We've made a bunch of shoes like these. You can also make a thick leather outsole, and sew that on the bottom layer. That helps repel thorns and gravel. There is a rumor that some people have put a Dr. Scholl's gel pad between those two leathers, but I wouldn't know anything about that. :lol:

[Martin Moser]

thought i would try my hand at making a pair of early shoes. whatya think? any pointers? i need to rub in some needsfoot oil to water tighten these. now the discription i have says early irish shoes, but i've heard that 1 piece shoes range a good bit on the continent as well. any clarification on this?

You probably know this already, but that pattern is basically a simplificaion of what is generally termed carbatina for Roman finds, which show more cutouts and thus fit the foot with less folds and look more "fashionable" therefore. Lots of specimens exist especially for the 2nd and 3rd century AD. Typically those shoes did not have an extra outer sole nor were they nailed. At best you find patches sewn on the sole were the leather was worn through, but many it seems were just simply thrown away and replaced by new ones rather than repaired when the holes became substantial.

Hope that helps.