Christmas in Ireland By: Jason Hansen

The Country of Ireland The population is 4,673,458. There are 3 languages spoken there: Irish, English, and Gaelic.

Celebrations Their celebrations start on Christmas Eve and go till January 6 th, which they sometimes call “little Christmas”. The day after Christmas day is St. Stephens day, in which they hold football games and horse races. Another tradition that takes place on this day is the Wren Boys procession in which a wren is hunted and carried around in a holly bush and after that people walk around in costumes carrying a long pole with a holly bush tied to it singing a rhyme about a wren. The feast of the Epiphany (January 6 th ) is when the women get the day off and the men do all the house-work and cooking.

Merry Christmas in Their Languages In Irish and Gaelic they say “Nollaig” and in English they say “Christmas”.

Weather The average temperature is 44°F and the average snowfall is 4in.

Gift-giving Traditions They give each other mostly the same gifts as the English people. They open their gifts on Christmas morning. Santa Claus brings the children gifts.

Decorations They decorate Christmas trees with all sorts of decorations, they hang wreaths on their walls, and they put holly on their doors.

Other Traditions or Interesting Facts They place a candle on their windowsill as a symbol of welcome to Mary and Joseph as they searched for shelter. They always take their decorations down on January 6 th, as they think it is bad luck to take them down beforehand.

Traditional Christmas Foods Some of the foods are turkey, ham, brussel sprouts, potatoes, mince pies, plum pudding, and spiced beef.