The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1901-12-21
Christmas in ireland. F Rossr5 E Ra5s5 i"

that one turns always in Ireland when
one wishes to seek for characteristic
customs. The tOWnspeOple have. to a
great extent, lost their native charac-
tcristics; perhaps it would be more ac-
curate to say that they were on the
point of losing them and were becom-
ing Anglicized, When the Irish Reviva
set in, for now, owing to the sweet
ness and light" diffused by that thrice
blessed revival, all sections of the com
mUnity are becoming gradually de-
Anglicized, and are regaining the old
en- nature, kindly Irish of the Irish. -
In the movement for an Irish ireland
the towns, led by the capital are
showing the way to the country, and in
the days that are coming native ways
and national thoughts shall make their
existence felt in the streets of the city
as well as on the rugged hillsides TIA
an la ag teacht." as the Gaelic
Leaguers often confidently assure each
other, but while awaiting the dawn
of the day we turn from the fitful life
of the foreign-toned city to the still
calm of the country, there to read in
the heart of nature eternal truths con-
corning her children.
The exiles thoughts turning home to
! Ireland, with the longing yearning felt
1
a grey eye which turns towards Erin, -
dwell on the changeless face of the
country ever new, ever lovely ever
grand. rather than on the grey, sad
life of the towns. AT this festival time
they love to picture Christmas on the
hills and in the glens of Ireland,
Christmas in the roadside church,
| Christmas by the Blessed Well Christ
| mas in farmStead and Smelling, Christ
mas along the children of the soil, on
the soil from which they sprung.
| In what way is Christmas in Ireland
celebrated distinctively as compared
with the manner in which it is cele-
| brated in other countries in Christen-
| dom? 1t must first be stated that there
are practically no social observances
of distinctively Irish nature held in
Ireland at Christmastide. The social
| observances in vogue are almost all
borrowed from the English. A slavish
spirit of imitation has, unfortunately
flourished in our midst for long. and
We are only now beginning to throw
off this pernicious influence, to think
for ourselves once more, and to orig
mate our own ideas and customs
Whatever may have been the case in
days gone by before any attempt had
been made to merge our individuality
in the English name and nation, and
whatever may be the case in days to
come, when we shall have succeeded
once more in asserting our own indi-
Viduality, it must be acknowledged
that in recent times all social OBJ
Servances at ChriStmastide in Ireland
were but the echo of similar observ-
ances in England and other English
speaking countries. We copied Christ
mas decorations from the British, and
were content to eat plum pudding and
mince pies and deck our houses with
holly and ivy instead of evolving
menus and decorative schemes of our
own.
We did not adopt all the Saxon cele-
brations of the season. Neither the
yule log nor the carol singers ever
became established institutions with
us. limitations are seldom carried on
in d Whole-hearted or thorough going
manner, and as the social side of
Christmas was not celebrated on native
lires, the result was that it was never
celebrated in very cordial and hearty
manner, at least by the grown ups"
OF course children all the world over
enjoy Christmas, and the children in
Ireland explore the contents of their
stockings, which they hung up the
night before to beli filled by Father
Christmas, as excitedly as the little
ones among our French friends ex-
anime their sabots for the same pur-
pose But while, among several con-
tinental peoples, such customs as the
Christmas tree are not regarded as the
sole prerogative of the juveniles, but
are kept up just as assiduously by the
elders, we in Ireland, who are in re-
atty, of a serious temperament, though
we often prefer to show the lighter
side of the world, give UP these frolics
ana frivolities when we leave the nurs-
cry. 1t has often been remarked that
Adjudication seems to bring in it's
train a wave of depression. When we
have succeeded in thoroughly de-Angli-
cizing ourselves perhaps we may be-
come more light hearted and while
retaining a capacity to think seriously
on serious subjects, we may be en-
abjed at the same time to enter keenly
into any enjoyments which come in
our way. Christmas festivities in
Guided. One of the first fruits of the
Irish revival, one of those straws which
show how the wind blows, has been the
introduction of Christmas cards with
greetings printed in the Irish language
into several Dublin shops. Last Christ
mas there was an enormous demand
for these cards, so genuinely racy of
the soil, and the supply was not equal
to the demand. This season steps are
being taken to cater better &c the
taste evinced by the Irish public in
this particular. Numerous designs, re-
ligious and secular, serious and comic,
are in preparation, with suitable mot
toes accompanying them. Nothing can
be more beautiful than the Irish greet
ing and the poetical manner in which
good wishes are conveyed from friend
to friend on all occasions in the Irish
language, so it can be imagined that
the Irish Christmas cards are more at
tractiVe and appealing than those of
other countries.
In one of the publications of the
Catholic Truth society a unique Gus
tom is described as having been in
vogue in an Irish western district in
days gone by, namely the social cele-
bration of Christmas on the eve of the
festival instead of on the day itself
The writer of the publication referred
to says: THE first great character
istic of Christmas in the Barony was
that the chief festivity took place on
Christmas eve, and not on the day it.
self. Fifty years ago the people, if
happy enough, were still very poor.
Their food was mainly the potato, with
varying accompaniments, according to
the means of the individual. Tea, now
so common all over the country, was
then a rare and highly-prized com
and in the consumption of it
the festivity of the Barony found its
fullest expression. Hence it came to
pass that it was the Christmas cheer,
and the equivalent of roast beef and
plum pudding over the water.
But it was late on Christmas eve
that the feast was spread. When
night fell every member or the family
gathered around the board 1t was
time of reunion that admitted n0-