1 year, 6 months ago
In theIrish culture what are some interesting traditions during the holidays?
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I grew up in Ireland, so I’d be happy to tell you about some modern winter holidays and traditions.
Today, Ireland is much like other European countries, and many of the traditions have intermingled. Leading up to Christmas, advent calendars, which I believe might be German in origins are very, very common. Beginning Dec. 1 and ending on Christmas Day, there’s a little door to open. Typically, behind each door is a sweet, usually chocolate, but there are calendars that just have little pictures. Some even play music when you open a door.
For Christmas, trees (typically real trees) are the norm. Unlike many American families, though, the trees are sometimes decorated a few days before Christmas or even on Christmas Eve, rather than weeks before. However, although stockings are also normal, in Ireland it’s traditional to open them on January 6th, rather than on Christmas Day. January 6th is known as Little Christmas or Women’s Christmas and is supposedly the day the wise men arrived with gifts for baby Jesus.
Although I’m sure it’s widespread for all of Ireland, in our town (which was located by the sea), there was an early morning Christmas Day swim. In America, I believe this is sometimes called a polar bear swim. Brave souls would trek out to the beach in the early morning hours and jump in the icy water.
The day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day (secular) and St. Stephen’s Day (religious). It’s a day of charity, where money is donated to the needy. In very traditional places, they may still tie a wren (a bird) to a pole, and then people donate money to keep it alive, but that certainly isn’t very common anymore.
When discussing traditional Irish holidays and festivals, it’s important to remember that Ireland is a very old country and the traditions have drastically changed over the course of its existence. Today, there are modern customs from other countries. Many of the traditions and festivals that we think as traditional are directly linked to Catholic holidays or customs. But, even before that, there were Irish holidays that go back to pagan times.
For a little more info on how other towns in Ireland might celebrate holidays and festivals, you can check out these sites:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irelandlist/trad.html
http://www.irishfestivals.net/
Today, Ireland is much like other European countries, and many of the traditions have intermingled. Leading up to Christmas, advent calendars, which I believe might be German in origins are very, very common. Beginning Dec. 1 and ending on Christmas Day, there’s a little door to open. Typically, behind each door is a sweet, usually chocolate, but there are calendars that just have little pictures. Some even play music when you open a door.
For Christmas, trees (typically real trees) are the norm. Unlike many American families, though, the trees are sometimes decorated a few days before Christmas or even on Christmas Eve, rather than weeks before. However, although stockings are also normal, in Ireland it’s traditional to open them on January 6th, rather than on Christmas Day. January 6th is known as Little Christmas or Women’s Christmas and is supposedly the day the wise men arrived with gifts for baby Jesus.
Although I’m sure it’s widespread for all of Ireland, in our town (which was located by the sea), there was an early morning Christmas Day swim. In America, I believe this is sometimes called a polar bear swim. Brave souls would trek out to the beach in the early morning hours and jump in the icy water.
The day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day (secular) and St. Stephen’s Day (religious). It’s a day of charity, where money is donated to the needy. In very traditional places, they may still tie a wren (a bird) to a pole, and then people donate money to keep it alive, but that certainly isn’t very common anymore.
When discussing traditional Irish holidays and festivals, it’s important to remember that Ireland is a very old country and the traditions have drastically changed over the course of its existence. Today, there are modern customs from other countries. Many of the traditions and festivals that we think as traditional are directly linked to Catholic holidays or customs. But, even before that, there were Irish holidays that go back to pagan times.
For a little more info on how other towns in Ireland might celebrate holidays and festivals, you can check out these sites:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irelandlist/trad.html
http://www.irishfestivals.net/
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