What the facts about Christmas in Ireland?

Answer 1

There is no way to give you all the facts about Christmas in Ireland in one small post.

Basically, Christmas is the main feast here during the year followed by Easter. But Christmas, and the build up to it, are huge.

Christmas time stretches from early December to January 6th.

Christms timeis party season and people like to dress up for those do's. Most work places will have a Christmas party, for example.

Most families put up their tree early in December. The kids are involved in decorating it with baubles, tinsill and other decorations some of them handmade at home as a craft thing to do with children. The tree stays until the end of Christmas. Other decorations are garlands and nativity scenes.

There are some very particular local traditions depending on he area you live, for example I have heard about placing rushes in the window to symbolize the straw the Holy family slept on that night on their flight from Egypt.

There will be Christmas baking in most houses with and without involving the kids. Kids usually love to make things like Gingerbread men and decorate them. There will also be Christmas cake, a rich fruit cake that might have Guinness in it, and Christmas Pudding, even richer and darker.

Coming up to Christmas, every school, (every Catholic school that is 96 percent of schools) will have a School Play which is a Nativity play, often with song and dance which also doubles as aa talent show for the school. But is a very exclusive event where all students get a part. or parents, this is a big night, too.

Presents are often wrapped on Christmas Eve, the 24th.

There is midnight mass on the 24th, often with music. The whole community contributes to make this a very special event.

Presents are exchanged on the morning of the 25th of December, this is also when Santa Claus comes to visit the kids. Most kids will have been talking about Santa for the last month and are extremely excited at this stage. Mine got up at 6 a.m. to see the presents left under the tree.

The traditional Christmas dinner is roast turkey with roast potatoes and veg and brussel sprouts. Not everyone has that though these days. Christmas dinners an be huge with the whole family invited to them.

On the 26th there will be visits from or to other family.

The public holiday is on the 25th and 26th, after that it's back to work until New Years Day which i also a public holiday.