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Irish Christmas
by Unknown
Irish Christmas in Olden Times

CHRISTMAS IN IRELAND

IN OLDEN TIMES

THE NIGHT OF DECEMBER 24-25  was called Oiche Nodlag (the 
Night of Christmas). The following night was known as 
Oiche Lac Nodlag (the Night of Christmas Day). January 6 
was referred to as Nodlaig Bheag (Small, or Little 
Christmas). The festival of Christmas generally was known 
as An Nodlaig, and the period from December 24-January 6 
was called The Twelve Days of Christmas. Little Christmas 
was also referred to as Nodlaig na mBan (the Women's 
Christmas).

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS
Houses were generally whitewashed and cleaned, and often 
painted and repaired, during, the week before Christmas. 
This was followed on the day before Christmas by the 
putting up within the house of sprigs of holly, especially 
if it had red berries; laurel and bay were also used if 
available in the local woods. All this was done in honour 
of the Saviour. Fresh rushes were strewn on the principal 
floors in olden times. A rude cross of holly was often 
fixed in the window. The stable and cattle-sheds were also 
similarly decorated; all these decorations were removed 
soon after Small Christmas.

CHRISTMAS FOOD AND DRINK
Nearly every household saved some money "to bring home the 
Christmas," which consisted of dainties from the local town, 
such as currant loaves, fruit, sweets and biscuits, whiskey, 
wine and porter (the latter in a large jar). The shopkeepers 
in the towns gave presents to their customers at Christmas: 
tea, sugar, raisins, fruit, jam, a currant loaf, a bottle of 
whiskey, or some such gift, according to the importance of 
the customer. Country visitors brought their town relatives 
gifts such as a goose, turkey, a bag of potatoes, a flitch of 
bacon, etc. Country people also sold in the town geese and 
turkeys, etc., and brought home the "Christmas" with the 
money thus acquired. A good deal of drink was consumed in 
the towns on these occasions. Christmas Eve was in olden 
times a fast day, but at a later period became a day of 
abstinence only.
The wealthier farmers made presents of milk, butter, meat, 
etc., to poorer neighbours and to their workmen. A late 
fish dinner of mild cured hake or ling, with milk and butter 
sauce, was commonly eaten on Christmas Eve. In late autumn 
many of the farmers got casks of fish packed in salt and brine 
from the fishermen on the coast. Punch was commonly made and 
drunk on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. Tea was also 
drunk at Christmas --- it was a great rarity in olden times.
     On St. Stephen’s Day (December 26) people in many 
districts abstained from meat, in fulfillment (they said) of 
a promise made in olden times to do so if they were preserved 
from a plague which was then prevalent.

CHRISTMAS RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
In olden times, as now, the religious aspect of the festival 
was the most important of all. It was a custom for some time 
before Christmas to say as many Paters (Our Fathers) and Aves 
as possible; the younger folk kept a record of these prayers, 
sometimes ranging as high as five thousand. The family rosary, 
which was recited each night during the year, was a special 
occasion on Christmas Night, when members of the family who 
might be away during the year were generally present. Most 
of the people, especially those who were to receive Holy 
Communion (which was the majority), attended the first Mass, 
about dawn, and a second Mass, if such were said. The older 
people and those who could not attend first Mass attended 
the later one. Midnight Mass was not general in country 
districts. An Irish proverb says: Ajfreann no Geine, Aifreann 
agus fiche, i.e., The Mass of the Birth of Christ is worth 
twenty-one Masses: This was to show how much the Christmas 
Mass was loved and appreciated.

CHRISTMAS CANDLES
On the eve of Christmas (December 24), shortly after dark, the 
man of the house set in the principal window a large candle 
(or one in each window, if available), which had been bought in 
the town; the candle was fixed in a sconce made from a 
scooped-out turnip or a vessel filled with bran or flour, and 
in many cases the main candle was lighted by the youngest 
member of the family. The candle was decorated with holly 
sprigs. In some cases there was a candle each for the father, 
the mother, and for each of the grandparents who lived in the 
house. The little children had candles (smaller) for themselves. 
Some households let the candles burn all night, others quenched 
them when going to bed. Many of these Christmas candles were 
coloured, generally red; they were about two feet long, and an 
inch-and-a-half thick. A piece of the Christmas candle was later 
used to singe the udder of a cow when she had her first calf 
during the year. In many parts of the country a lighted candle 
in each window of the house on Christmas Eve added much to the 
view of the landscape, and it was a common custom to go out of 
doors about ten o’clock to look at (and even try to count) the 
hundreds of candles in windows all over the landscape.

THE FIRE AT CHRISTMAS
Long before Christmas, the young people selected a large log 
of wood, very often of bog-deal, for the centre of the 
Christmas fire. This would last for several days, and 
was called bloc na Nodlag (the Christmas block).