Fundoo Times
Christmas in Ireland is a very special holiday season. Here are some more interesting facts about celebration of Christmas in Ireland.

Christmas in Ireland

Christmas in Ireland is a very special holiday season. During the three-week holiday season, heaviest traffic can be found on Irish roads. Busy airports are a common scene during the holiday season, when Irish people living abroad return to their native place to celebrate Christmas. Irish people celebrate Christmas with their families with great enthusiasm. Christmas preparations in Ireland start several weeks prior to Christmas. Plum pudding and Christmas cakes are made in advance and Christmas gifts are exchanged with the family and friends during the holiday season. Here are some more interesting facts about celebration of Christmas in Ireland.

Christmas in Ireland is a very busy time, socially. As almost all the offices in the country close down during the festive season, the local hotels are booked to arrange office Christmas parties. Social clubs, pubs, restaurants, hotels, and shopping malls have maximum inflow of people during Christmas in Ireland. Christmas parties are arranged in such places almost every night throughout the month of December. During the holiday season, carol singers go around the streets of the towns and cities of Ireland to collect money for local charities. They collect money for local charities. In many places, carol services and concerts are held during the holiday season.

The atmosphere is relaxed, social, and festive during Christmas celebrations in Ireland. The last moment shopping is done on the Christmas Eve. Homes are decorated beautifully with natural material such as holly, ivy and pine cones and wooden and glass Christmas ornaments. A holly Christmas wreath is hung on the front door of every household in Ireland to welcome the Christmas visitors. The traditional Christmas tree is beautifully decorated with Christmas lights, and dazzling trinkets. A small crib depicting the Nativity scene is also set up in the Irish homes. Cribs are also set up in most of the shopping malls and churches.

Irish children hang up their Christmas stocking near the mantelpiece in the living room or close to the Christmas tree on the night of Christmas Eve. A traditional snack containing a couple of mince pies, few cookies, a slice of Christmas cake with a small glass of whiskey is left for Santa to sustain him on his journey. This also includes a carrot or apple for Rudolph. On Christmas Eve, Irish people place a candle on the window, which is considered as a symbol to welcome strangers to their homes and to remember those living away from home. On early Christmas morning, children find their stockings filled with gifts left by Santa. Gifts are exchanged in most families on Christmas morning. Irish people attend church services on Christmas morning, if they have missed the Midnight Mass held the previous night.

The Christmas feast is eaten in the late afternoon or evening. People invite their friends and close relatives to join them for the big meal. The menu for the mouth-watering Christmas dinner includes smoked salmon or prawns, soup or melon as the starters, roast turkey or goose and roast ham with bread stuffing, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, and bread sauce as the main course. The dessert for the feast often includes Christmas pudding with brandy butter or sherry sauce, a slice of Christmas cake and mince pies. Fruit pudding is another Christmas dessert served on Christmas day.