Former Saul man launches his own range of Irish T-shirts

Former Saul man launches his own range of Irish T-shirts

18 March 2015

IF James Hampton had anything to do with it there were a few less people celebrating St Patrick’s Day yesterday with ‘Kiss Me I’m Irish’ T-shirts.

Leprechaun hats and jokes about the drunken Irish may be standard fayre at home and abroad, but since he left Downpatrick for the US 20 years ago James has become more concerned about the image of his home country.

So much so that the designer has set up his own range of clothing, which he hopes puts the home of St Patrick in a better light.

Hailing from Saul, just outside Downpatrick, where St Patrick reputedly landed, James said he was “disgusted with the branding and marketing of our Patron Saint”.

“Every year Irish culture is trivialised and disparaged in a sea of green comedic hats and ‘kiss me quick’ T-shirts,” he said.

“I’ve lived in the US for over 20 years and each year the shelves are packed with demeaning stereotyped garbage.

“The large retailers cash in and disparage the legacy of our Patron Saint with designs such as ‘pubs the official sun block of Ireland’, ‘where’s my lucky charms’ and classics such as ‘lets get ready to stumble’.

“It disgusts me and it seems to be getting worse — it verges on racism.”

James admitted his anger was probably more intense because of being from Downpatrick.

“I take it personally as my family hails from Saul, where St Patrick landed in 432,” he said.

“My mother’s house is in the shadow of Slieve Patrick where a large statue of St Patrick watches over the land.

“It was my great grandfather who donated the land for Slieve Patrick in 1932, so it really means a lot.”

Founder of the New York based History Gear company, James’s designs are often based on the events of American history. But he has now also launched the ‘Irish Collection’ — a series inspired by the Irish and Irish Americans who helped shape and define the history of the US and beyond.

Among the range is a T-shirt dedicated to Billy the Kid, often known as ‘Kid Antrim’, a 19th century gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War. He was born in New York around 1860 to Irish immigrants.

Another is dedicated to John Barry from Wexford, an officer in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War and later in the US Navy. He is widely credited as ‘The Father of the American Navy’.

“We had a few sales in the North 

last week and my traffic was up over 100 per cent for that area,” said James. “With the cost of shipping, most orders are in the US. I’ve plans to expand into other history goods, such as historical prints, maps, coasters and small branded craft goods which should be more cost effective for shipping world-wide.

“Living in Saul gave me a great appreciation of history. It’s an area so rich in history you almost take it for granted. That’s part of the mission of historygear.com — keeping the conversation alive, one design at a time. I had my first order for Australia last week — a young man in Brisbane ordered a ‘Gallipoli’. This is what it’s all about. 

“Just on Thursday I was attending a trade show in Atlantic City, New Jersey. An American asked what the ‘Choctaw 47” meant on my shirt. I gladly explained how it’s paying homage to the mighty Choctaw Nation who donated 170 dollars to Irish Famine relief in 1847.

“One collection I have on the site is called ‘Kids Only’. It’s brightly coloured shirts with cool history snippets on the front.

“When one child asks another who Hubble or Rosa Parks were it makes it all worthwhile. 

“I’ve only being going a few months but the Kids Only Collection seems to resonate with parents. 

“By the end of March I hope to expand the collection to include old style toys from the American colonial days such as the Bilbo Catcher, Whirligig’s and Whip Tops. I’m working with a small workshop in Vermont who hand craft each toy.”

Making the decision to leave the country he loves was clearly a difficult but necessary one for James in terms of developing his career.

“I left home in 1994 for opportunity,” he said. “After university where I studied Design, I quickly realised that the job market for designers was pretty slim to say the least. 

“In 1994 I won my Green Card in the lottery draw so that sealed it. Since arriving in New York I’ve being lucky enough to work for some of the biggest media companies in the world. I was an Art Director at Universal, NBC and Time Warner, working on multi-million dollar ad campaigns. 

“After years in the rat-race and with the arrival of children I left big media behind and now work from a small office at the side of the house.”

See more of James’s work at http://www.historygear.com/