Christmas in Ireland is the annual festival which marks the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus and its related observances, but also incorporates some pre-Christian customs. These customs range from the traditional food and drink consumed, decorations and rituals, as well as more modern phenomena such as the Christmas day swim and annual television and radio events. The modern Irish Christmas has become more similar to that of the British and American festive period, with emphasis on gift buying and parties.
Historically, for Irish Catholics, the festive period began on 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, with many putting up their decorations and Christmas trees on that day, and runs through until 6 January, or Little Christmas. In modern times, The Late Late Toy Show, on the last Friday of November is viewed as the beginning of the Christmas festive period.
The greeting for "Happy Christmas" in Irish is [singular] () or Nollaig Shona Daoibh [plural] (). The literal translation of this is "Happy Christmas to you".
Irish traditions at Christmas
Ireland is a predominantly Christian country and Christmas plays an important role in religious aspects of Irish life, taking the place of the pre-Christian festival on the winter solstice. The earliest account of the Christian celebration of Christmas in Ireland are from 1171, when the excommunicated King Henry II spent Christmas in Dublin. The next account of a Dublin Christmas is from 1458 and focuses on religious dramas known as Miracle Plays.
There have been traditionally large attendances at religious services for Christmas Day and Christmas Eve, with Midnight Mass a popular choice for Roman Catholics. There was also an early morning Christmas Day mass, that was believed to confer indulgences worth 20 masses. Even those who did not habitually attend mass, were generally expected to do on Christmas. It is also a time for remembering the dead in Ireland with prayers being offered for deceased at Mass. It is traditional to decorate graves at Christmas with a wreath made of holly, ivy, yew, or other evergreens. It was believed that if anyone died in the period between Christmas Day and Little Christmas on 6 January, they would enter heaven immediately. Christmas day was traditionally referred to as "Big Christmas" or Nollaig Mhór to differentiate it from Little Christmas. It was traditional in parts of Ulster for men to partake in an event called a "join", where they clubbed together to pay for food and drink, celebrating at any time in the 10 days of Christmas.
Decorations
In the period of the mid 19th to mid 20th century, it was common for Irish households to clean and prepare the house for the Christmas period. This would include a cleaning and whitewashing the home, with decorating taking place after this. All parts of the house were cleaned, from the furniture and utensils, to sweeping the chimney. The use of evergreen foliage such as holly was seen to represent Christ and his everlasting life, but also has pagan roots. Travelling people would sell paper decorations and "mottoes" door-to-door and at town markets from the late 19th century on. In Munster, it was traditional to fashion a decoration out of holly sprigs on to a simple wooden cross. In rural homes, the byre or cow-shed, stables and other buildings for animals would be decorated to honour the role of animals in the nativity story. In parts of Ireland, it was believed that at midnight on Christmas Eve, animals such as cows and donkeys could be heard to speak devotions in human speech. To hear a cockerel crow at midnight on Christmas Even was considered a good omen. Irish rural homes would also procure a large log, similar to a Yule log, called bloc na Nollaig.
Mistletoe was not part of traditional Irish Christmas decoration as it is not commonly found in Ireland, but has become a feature in modern times. Some areas, such as County Armagh did have the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe. Along with Great Britain, Ireland saw the introduction of Christmas trees during the reign of Queen Victoria, with their prevalence increasing from the 1840s. Before this, a large branch or the top of a tree was used instead. Christmas trees officially go up on 8 December because according to Christian tradition the immaculate conception was on this date. Trees in towns and cities are erected in central locations every year along with lights.