This Month in Irish History

Nol­laig: Christ­mas in Ireland

Christ­mas in Ire­land has become much more com­mer­cial­ized within the past ten years. How­ever, in sim­pler times, Christ­mas was a time for fam­i­lies to gather and cel­e­brate the com­ing of the Christ Child.

On Novem­ber 8, 1960, the cit­i­zens of the United States of Amer­ica elected John Fitzger­ald Kennedy America’s 35th and first Irish Catholic Pres­i­dent. The U.S. had plenty of Pres­i­dents of Irish extrac­tion, (Andrew Jack­son, James Polk and Ulysses S. Grant, to name a few). How­ever, only one Catholic had pre­vi­ously been nom­i­nated for Pres­i­dent: Gov­er­nor Alfred E. Smith of New York in 1928. Gov­er­nor Smith won the Demo­c­ra­tic nom­i­na­tion but went down to defeat in the gen­eral elec­tion due to fear mon­ger­ing by such enlight­ened groups as the Ku Klux Klan, who claimed that if a Roman Catholic were elected Pres­i­dent, the Vat­i­can would take over the country.

Christ­mas was aand still is a very impor­tant time for fam­i­lies reunit­ing. In a nation of emi­grants, many peo­ple longed to return to Ire­land to spend Christ­mas with their fam­i­lies. Even now, Christ­mas is an excit­ing time in the vil­lages, towns and cities of Ire­land as friends and fam­ily mem­bers return from such far flung places as Aus­tralia, Amer­ica and Eng­land. As they say, “The craic is mighty around the Christmas.”

Irish chil­dren would go to bed on Christ­mas Eve with dreams of “Santy Claus.” After going to Mass on Christ­mas day, Christ­mas din­ner would more likely be goose than turkey. Peo­ple in Ire­land wish each other “Happy Christ­mas” instead of Merry Christmas.

But the fes­tiv­i­ties would not end on Decem­ber 25th. Decem­ber 26th, St. Stephen’s Day would also be a hol­i­day in Ire­land. It is a day for sport­ing com­pe­ti­tions, like the King­dom Cup Cours­ing matches in Castleis­land. County Kerry, where the best cours­ing grey­hounds in Ire­land would come to com­pete for the King­dom Cup.

The Wren Boys was another sta­ple of St. Stepehen’s Day. Chil­dren would go out into the orchards and captue a wren. They would then take the wren and attach it to a stick and bang­ing on pots and pans go around the neigh­bors ask­ing for money to bury the Wren:

“The Wren, The Wren,
The King of all birds,
On St. Stephen’s Day,
He got caught in the Furze,
So it’s up with the Ket­tle and down with the pan,
Won’t you give us a penny to bury the Wren?

Occa­sion­ally the neigh­bors would invite them in for refresh­ments and music. In fact, Gaelic Park in Oak For­est has hosted its own “Wren Boys” for sev­eral years. May you all have a very Happy Christ­mas.
Bean­nach­tai na Nol­laig (Happy Christmas)