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