Tours of Ireland asked our friends around Ireland for a few of their Irish Christmas Traditions. Most of them involved genius ideas by the Mammy of the household! Enjoy!
‘After writing our letters to Santa we would immediately throw them in the fire, run outside and watch the smoke signals being sent to The North Pole! Looking back I think Mammy was trying to save money on stamps!! Luckily for us Santa always came up with the goods on Christmas Day.’ – Rebecca, Galway.
‘We always spent Christmas Eve peeling and chopping a kilo of carrots to be left for Rudolf and the other reindeers. Any carrots left over on Christmas morning was used for the Christmas dinner!’ – Rachel, Dublin
‘Myself and my friends organise an annual ‘Twelve Pubs of Christmas’ in December. We have yet to arrive at the 12th pub as a group. There usually is about two hardy bucks left standing at that stage.’ – Cathal, Dublin
‘Like in most Irish homes we light a candle in the window during Christmas. The rule is that the youngest child in the house lights the candle but it can only be extinguished by a girl called Mary. Poor Mary Rodgers who lives 2 miles away would be summoned regularly to blow out the candle. Mary hasn’t been top of the most popular baby names in a long time!’ – Richard, Mayo
‘To prove that Santa had in fact visited our house, came down the chimney and delivered our presents we would leave a bottle of Guinness, Christmas cake and a basin of soapy water for him to wash himself. On Christmas morning we would stare in awe at the empty bottle, the crumbs on the plate and of course the blackened water in the basin. We would be beside ourselves with excitement and what goodies awaited us in the good room.’ – Ruán, Galway
‘Mammy never let us see or open our presents until after Christmas Day mass. This was a slow form of torture as we watched other children at mass play with their lego, Barbies and Action Men.’ – Marion, Sligo
‘On the 6th of January Mum and her girlfriends would get together for Nollaig na mBan or Womens Christmas. This was the day for women to relax and have a day off after all their hard work during the holidays.’ – Aidan, Dublin
‘The tin of Cadbury’s Roses was a huge treat on Christmas Day. In our house we couldn’t resist the temptation of opening the tin before the 25th. We skilfully removed the sticky tape around the tin, stole as many sweets as we could fit in our pockets and carefully put fresh tape around the tin. This would happen several times before Christmas Day. We would be killed each year when Mum lifted the half empty box!!’ – Daithi, Cork
‘I never understood why the most delicious meal of the year was always ruined by the evil mini cabbages aka Brussels Sprouts. Even though nobody likes them they always appeared on your plate!’ – Sue, Wexford
‘I never understood why the most delicious meal of the year was always ruined by the evil mini cabbages aka Brussels Sprouts. Even though nobody likes them they always appeared on your plate!’ – Sue, Wexford
‘We are not a family known for our sporting prowess but yet every year we would take the plunge into the wild Atlantic on Christmas Day. Hundreds gather at Blackrock in Galway for the annual swim. We all run in with our milk white winter bodies, duck under the freezing water and run back Just as fast. I don’t know why we put ourselves through the pain each year but it definitely makes the Christmas dinner and Irish coffees taste better.’ – Dan, Galway.
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