Tastes & Traditions for an Irish Easter

Largely a Roman Catholic holiday in Ireland, Easter is the second largest festival- after Christmas- on the church calendar.

Easter in Ireland

Beginning Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, the ‘Easter Season’ lasts 40 days, until Easter Sunday. The period of Lent is a time for self-reflection and families traditionally spend time together.

Lent is also a time of sacrifice, with many people giving up their favorite things, like chocolate, coffee, or sweets.

Easter Sunday draws crowds to Mass which is often followed by a large family dinner. Spring lamb will likely be on the menu, as will simnel cakes and hot cross buns – both imported traditions from England.

My Irish language teacher Eoin remembers opening chocolate Easter eggs after Mass, no search required.

Speak Irish

Happy Easter! (to one person) Beannachtaí na Cásca ort
(pronounced Byan-okht-ee nah Kaw-skah ort)

Happy Easter! (to more than one person) Beannachtaí na Cásca oraibh
(Pronounced Byan-okht-ee nah Kaw-skah or-ee)

No Egg Hiding Bunnies

My friend Susan, a US expat, says the biggest thing she’s noticed is that the Easter Bunny really isn’t a big part of the holiday. Neither, she says, is coloring eggs.

But that is slowly changing says Felicity Hayes-McCoy, author of The House on an Irish Hillside, “The eggs, the bunny, and so on, have pre-Christian roots and, from the Early Middle Ages, the church here was in the business of eradicating those and the Pagan spring festivals they belonged to… hence they’ve only returned via commercialization from the UK and US.”

Though you won’t often find it in private homes, the Easter Hunt may be found in some communities as fundraisers for local GAA leagues or historic sites.

A Time for Home and Family

Garden centers begin to do brisk business around Easter as people look at flowers to brighten their lawns as well as tools for ‘spring cleaning’. It’s also a great way to keep the kids busy, since schools in Ireland close for two weeks during Lent and through Easter.

Miriam Barry, proprietor of The Old Bank in Bruff, says families will often use the ‘spring break’ for a quick getaway with the kids – preferably someplace sunny, though many will travel across Ireland to visit grandparents and cousins.

Foods for Your Traditional Irish Easter Menu

An Irish Easter feast often includes roast lamb or large ham, new potatoes, and spring vegetables like carrots and asparagus.

Hot Cross Buns, once reserved solely for Good Friday, are filled with symbolism. It is said that a 12th century monk baked the buns and marked them with a cross in honor of Good Friday. By 1592 Queen Elizabeth 1 decreed that the buns could only be eaten on Good Friday, Christmas, or for burials.

Superstitions about the buns also grew with their popularity. It is said that a bun hung in your kitchen on Good Friday will remain fresh throughout the year. Due to the cross on top the buns are said to protect a kitchen from evil spirits and fires, or offer protection from shipwreck, if you are a sailor.

If you want to create a friendship that lasts a lifetime this little rhyme and a hot cross bun is said to do the trick – Half for you, half for me, between us two good luck shall be.

Try this Hot Cross Buns recipe

The Simnel Cake is a fruitcake decorated with 11 marzipan ‘eggs’ to represent the Apostles (minus Judas). Traditionally eaten on the fourth Sunday in Lent, known as Simnel Sunday or Refreshment Sunday, when the fasting of Lent was relaxed.

Simnel cakes were traditionally reserved for the foutrh Sunday in Let but are now eaten through the 40 day period, and even on Easter Sunday.

Try this Simnel Cake recipe

References if You Wish to Know More

Hear the Irish for Happy Easter spoken here

Old Irish Customs that Survive in Modern Ireland podcast with author Felicity Hayes-McCoy (podcast)

Irish recipes for Easter from Food Ireland

January 21, 2019January 21, 2019

Spring and the Tradition of St. Brigid’s Cross

Spring comes early to Ireland. As I walked through the parklands in mid-January daffodils had pushed through the soil, their bright blooms still hidden but preparing for debut.

The Gaelic festival of Imbolc (i-MOLG) marks the beginning of spring. Set half way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, celebrations are usually held February 1.

Speak Irish The word for spring in Irish is earrach (arrock)

Originally a Celtic festival, it became Christianized as the festival of St. Brigid, a patron saint of Ireland who is thought to be based on the Brigid the Celtic goddess.

Though Bidgid has quite a few miracles attributed to her, not the least of which was the expansion of her cloak to cover the land to build her convent, her name is most associated with the St. Brigid’s Cross.

The Story of St. Brigid’s Cross

There was an old pagan Chieftain who lay delirious on his deathbed in Kildare (some tales say this was her father) and his servants summoned Brigid to his beside in the hope that the saintly woman might calm his restless spirit.

Brigid is said to have sat by his bed, consoling and soothing him and it is here that she picked up rushes from the floor and began weaving them into the distinctive cross pattern.

Whilst she weaved, she explained the meaning of the cross to the sick Chieftain and it is thought her calming words brought peace to his soul. He was so captivated by her words that the old Chieftain requested he be baptized as a Christian just before his passing.

Since that day, and for the centuries that followed, it has been customary on the eve of her Feast Day for the Irish people to weave a St. Brigid’s Cross of rushes and place it inside the house over the door.

Traditions of St. Brigid’s Cross

Woven on the eve of the festival, January 31, St. Brigid’s crosses are traditionally hung by the door and in the rafters to protect a home from fire and evil.

Some traditions state that a new cross is to be woven each year, with the old one burned to keep fire from the house, but many homes will have several crosses preserved in the ceiling or roof.

How to Weave a St. Brigid’s Cross

While fresh rushes, pulled, not cut, are used to create a traditional St. Brigid’s Cross, plastic straws can be used.

I’ve taken these directions from Scoil Bhride (St. Brigid’s School) in Portlaois, Ireland.

You Will Need

16 Reeds (or Straws)
4 small rubber bands
Scissors

What to Do

Hold one of the reeds vertically. Fold a second reed in half as in the diagram.
Place the first vertical reed in the centre of the folded second reed.
Hold the centre overlap tightly between thumb and forefinger.
Turn the two rushes held together 90 degrees anti-clockwise so that the open ends of the second reed are pointing vertically upwards.
Fold a third reed in half and over both parts of the second reed to lie horizontally from left to right against the first straw. Hold tight.
Holding the centre tightly, turn the three reeds 90 degrees anti-clockwise so that the open ends of the third reed are pointing upwards.
Fold a new reed in half over and across all the rushes pointing upwards.
Repeat the process of rotating all the rushes 90 degrees anti-clockwise, adding a new folded reed each time until all rushes have been used up to make the cross.
Secure the arms of the cross with elastic bands. Trim the ends to make them all the same length. The St Bridget’s Cross is now ready to hang.

References if you wish to know more

Learn the story of St. Brigid

Celtic Festivals– and introduction

Old Irish Customs that Survive in Modern Ireland podcast with author Felicity Hayes-McCoy (podcast)

December 8, 2018December 8, 2018

Irish Christmas Traditions to Celebrate at Home

Christmas is magical no matter where you live, but these Irish traditions make the holiday a wee bit more special.

Say Merry Christmas in Irish : Nollaig Shona Duit — **Speak Irish** Merry Christmas in Irish is Nollaig *(nol-ag)* Shona *(hona)* Duit *(gwit)*

Christmas Traditions from Ireland

Light a Candle in the Window on Christmas Eve
A thick, tall candle in the window symbolizes a sign of welcome for Mary & Joseph – though families will now mention that it is helpful for Santa, too. (For safety use an electric candle for this.)

Place a Holly Wreath on Your Front Door
Holly flourishes in Ireland around the holidays and, with its bright colored berries, provided cheery decorations for even the poorest families. Though the Christmas tree is now center-stage, it is rare to find an Irish house without holly.

Decorate on schedule. Decorations were traditionally put up on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and taken down on January 6, Feast of the Epiphany. It was considered bad luck to take decorations down before this date.

A special celebration for the ladies. The “Little Christmas” on January 6 (Feast of the Epiphany) is set aside for the women after all the work of the traditional 12 days of Christmas. Men take over family and home duties for the day.

Not just a fruit cake. A traditional Irish Christmas Cake is a rich cake of fruits and nuts soaked in whiskey. This cake takes 6-8 weeks to make as it is continually ‘fed’ whiskey weekly.

Want to make your own Christmas cake? Here’s a great recipe.

Would you rather buy your Irish Christmas cake? Order one here.

Read James Joyce’s Story, “The Dead”
A short story from Joyce’s Collection “Dubliners“, the tale is rather like and Irish version of “The Christmas Carol” in which a group of Dubliners gather together post-Christmas with reflections of past, present, and future.

References if you wish to know more

Christmas at the House on an Irish Hillside by Felicity Hayes-McCoy is a charming tale of life at the end of the Dingle Peninsula during Christmas time. (Kindle book; Amazon link)

Have a Christmas Hamper shipped to you! The Season Selection and the Irish Christmas Hamper both offer huge baskets of tasty Irish treats specifically for the holiday season. (via The Irish Store)