Dear friends of Beara, The great thing about our Beara mailing list is the archive that stretches back to August 1998. It yields up all sorts of treasure, including this precious tidbit that Sue Booth-Forbes sent us 12 years ago, in December of 2000. As I look these over, I note that there's a candle (electric) in the window of my home office, just in front of the desk where I am right now, as well as similar candles in the other front windows of my house. There's also an evergreen wreath on my front door. Furthermore, we're in the custom of taking the decorations down on Little Christmas, aka 12th Night. We're not in the custom of celebrating Little Christmas as a women's festival in my community. Do any of you do that? (I'm also thinking this might be an echo of the old Roman festival of the Bona Dea held by Roman women in mid-winter.) Anyhow, enough of speculations and reminiscences. Here you have... IRISH CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ireland, like most countries, has a number of Christmas traditions that are all of its own. Many of these customs have their root in the time when the Gaelic culture and religion of the country were being suppressed and it is perhaps because of this that they have survived into modern times. THE CANDLE IN THE WINDOW The placing of a lighted candle in the window of a house on Christmas eve is still practised today. It has a number of purposes but primarily it was a symbol of welcome to Mary and Joseph as they traveled looking for shelter. The candle also indicated a safe place for priests to perform mass since during Penal Times this was not allowed. A further element of the tradition is that the candle should be lit by the youngest member of the household and only be extinguished by a girl bearing the name 'Mary'. THE LADEN TABLE After evening meal on Christmas eve the kitchen table was again set and on it were placed a loaf of bread filled with caraway seeds and raisins, a pitcher of milk and a large lit candle. The door to the house was left unlatched so that Mary and Joseph, or any wandering traveler, could avail of the welcome. THE WREN BOY PROCESSION During Penal Times there was once a plot in a village against the local soldiers. They were surrounded and were about to be ambushed when a group of wrens pecked on their drums and awakened the soldiers. The plot failed and the wren became known as 'The Devil's bird'. On St. Stephen's Day a procession takes place where a pole with a holly bush is carried from house to house and families dress up in old clothes and with blackened faces. In olden times an actual wren would be killed and placed on top of the pole. This custom has to a large degree disappeared but the tradition of visiting from house to house on St. Stephen's Day has survived and is very much part of Christmas. DECORATIONS The placing of a ring of Holly on doors originated in Ireland as Holly was one of the main plants that flourished at Christmas time and which gave the poor ample means with which to decorate their dwellings. All decorations are traditionally taken down on Little Christmas (January 6th.) and it is considered to be bad luck to take them down beforehand. LITTLE CHRISTMAS On January 6th, the women of Ireland gather to celebrate the successful completion of the holiday season and their contributions to making it happen. In homes, restaurants, theatres, pubs, and clubs around the country, it is 'women only' night. TRADITIONAL GAELIC SALUTATION The Gaelic greeting for 'Merry Christmas' is: 'Nollaig Shona Duit', which is pronounced as 'null-ig hunna dwit'. -- Bill

Thank you Bill, We old Irish-Americans are hungry for any information on old Irish customs, poems, letters, books, etc. Beautiful poem. MERRY CHRISTMAS to all. Bette -----Original Message----- From: Bill Gawne Sent: Friday, December 21, 2012 3:59 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [BEARA] Irish Christmas Traditions Dear friends of Beara, The great thing about our Beara mailing list is the archive that stretches back to August 1998. It yields up all sorts of treasure, including this precious tidbit that Sue Booth-Forbes sent us 12 years ago, in December of 2000. As I look these over, I note that there's a candle (electric) in the window of my home office, just in front of the desk where I am right now, as well as similar candles in the other front windows of my house. There's also an evergreen wreath on my front door. Furthermore, we're in the custom of taking the decorations down on Little Christmas, aka 12th Night. We're not in the custom of celebrating Little Christmas as a women's festival in my community. Do any of you do that? (I'm also thinking this might be an echo of the old Roman festival of the Bona Dea held by Roman women in mid-winter.) Anyhow, enough of speculations and reminiscences. Here you have... IRISH CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ireland, like most countries, has a number of Christmas traditions that are all of its own. Many of these customs have their root in the time when the Gaelic culture and religion of the country were being suppressed and it is perhaps because of this that they have survived into modern times. THE CANDLE IN THE WINDOW The placing of a lighted candle in the window of a house on Christmas eve is still practised today. It has a number of purposes but primarily it was a symbol of welcome to Mary and Joseph as they traveled looking for shelter. The candle also indicated a safe place for priests to perform mass since during Penal Times this was not allowed. A further element of the tradition is that the candle should be lit by the youngest member of the household and only be extinguished by a girl bearing the name 'Mary'. THE LADEN TABLE After evening meal on Christmas eve the kitchen table was again set and on it were placed a loaf of bread filled with caraway seeds and raisins, a pitcher of milk and a large lit candle. The door to the house was left unlatched so that Mary and Joseph, or any wandering traveler, could avail of the welcome. THE WREN BOY PROCESSION During Penal Times there was once a plot in a village against the local soldiers. They were surrounded and were about to be ambushed when a group of wrens pecked on their drums and awakened the soldiers. The plot failed and the wren became known as 'The Devil's bird'. On St. Stephen's Day a procession takes place where a pole with a holly bush is carried from house to house and families dress up in old clothes and with blackened faces. In olden times an actual wren would be killed and placed on top of the pole. This custom has to a large degree disappeared but the tradition of visiting from house to house on St. Stephen's Day has survived and is very much part of Christmas. DECORATIONS The placing of a ring of Holly on doors originated in Ireland as Holly was one of the main plants that flourished at Christmas time and which gave the poor ample means with which to decorate their dwellings. All decorations are traditionally taken down on Little Christmas (January 6th.) and it is considered to be bad luck to take them down beforehand. LITTLE CHRISTMAS On January 6th, the women of Ireland gather to celebrate the successful completion of the holiday season and their contributions to making it happen. In homes, restaurants, theatres, pubs, and clubs around the country, it is 'women only' night. TRADITIONAL GAELIC SALUTATION The Gaelic greeting for 'Merry Christmas' is: 'Nollaig Shona Duit', which is pronounced as 'null-ig hunna dwit'. -- Bill ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message