Irish
Traditions
In Ireland tradition is
a major
part of the culture. Holidays are celebrated yearly and the
children have
active roles in these celebrations.
January 1st: New
Year's Day
March 17th: St. Patrick's Day
Tuesday before Ash Wednesday: Shrove Tuesday
Friday before Easter: Good Friday
Monday after Easter: Easter Monday
First Monday in May: May Day Holiday
First Monday in June: June Holiday
First Monday in August: August Holiday
Last Monday in October: October Holiday
December 25th: Christmas Day
December 26th: St. Stephen's Day
The first step in
preparing for Christmas is to clean
the house. Then the decorating and baking begin! Decorating in Ireland
incorporates other national traditions such as the German Christmas
tree. Long
before that was common, however, Irish homes were decorated throughout
with
holly and mistletoe. Holly was valued as a way to keep the earth
beautiful
after deciduous trees had lost their leaves and color. In time the
green plant
became a Christmas tradition and the red berries came to symbolize
Christ's
blood.
Once the house is
decorated, it is time to bake! The
Christmas cooking would start early with the making of the plum
pudding, breads
and spiced beef. A traditional Irish Christmas meal might consist of
roasted
goose, potatoes, cranberry sauce, vegetables, sausages, and puddings.
Spiced
beef is often eaten sliced cold with fresh bread in the days after the
main
feast.
On Christmas Eve,
children put out sacks for Santa
to fill later that night with presents. It is tradition to leave
out
mince pies and a bottle of Guinness as a snack for Santa. Then on
Christmas
morning the celebration begins!
It used to be custom in
Ireland
to eat as many eggs as you could at the Easter Sunday breakfast.
Afterwards,
children asked each other “How many eggs did you eat.” You’d be very
proud if
you could say you ate the most!
Children decorated eggs just as they do today. There were dozens
because eggs
weren’t eaten during Lent; the hens didn’t know that and kept laying
them!
During Holy Week - the
week
before Easter Sunday - children collected eggs from relatives and
neighbours.
These eggs were for a special children’s feast called the clúdog
or clúideog.
Boys and girls would find a quiet spot in a field, make a little fire
and cook
their eggs. These would be eaten with griddle cakes, butter, bread and
sweets.
At the end of the feast, the eggshells were saved for the May Bush -
but that’s
another story!
Shrove Tuesday, the day
before Ash Wednesday, gets
its name from the word "shrive" meaning to confess sins and receive
absolution. It is called this because it is a custom to go to
confession before
the penetential 40-day period of Lent begins, on Ash Wednesday.
Before Vatican II, the
Lenten
Fast and Abstinence rules were very strict and banned the consumption
of many
different things on top of meat such as butter, cream, eggs, and
fat. On
Shrove Tuesday it is tradition to eat all of those things.
Normally the
meals are large, and full of good food. It has also become
tradition to
make Irish pancakes, in order to use up all of the left over eggs,
dairy
products, and fat.
Recipe for Irish Pancakes
Shrove Tuesday is
considered a
lucky day to marry because the Church used to ban marriages during
Lent.
This has continued even though they are now allowed. Shrove
Tuesday is
considered a day of fun, an abundance of good food, and rowdy sports
and
mischief.
References
Friend, Pat. 2005.
"Irish and Celtic Holidays."
Retrieved April 22, 2006. (http://allaboutirish.com/)
Of-Ireland.info. 1999.
"Irish Ways." Retreived
April, 22, 2006. (http://www.of-ireland.info/).
Romily, Deborah. 2006. "The Irish Traditions." Retrieved April,
20,2006. (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~irelandlist/trad.html).