Figure 1.--This Irish boy belts out a patriotic Sinn Fein song at a Dublin rally in 1921. He wears a suit similar to what an English boy would have worn.

We have little information about clothing trends in the inter-war period. While the World War ended in 1918, the IRA led by Michael Collins led a violent struggle for Independence and the English responded in kibnd with the Black and Tans. Britain finally granted indeoendence to the Irish Free State. Despite the animosity toward Engkand, Irish boys continued to dress in almost ientical fashions that English boys wore. Fran McCord's autobiographical book, Angela's Ashes, has some excellent descriptions in the book on clothes worn in the 1940s by poor Irish boys. I would think that the descriptions would apply to any poor household in those days. HBC has not yet, however, been able to review the book.