When did Boxing Day become St Stephen's day in Ireland?

LordSutch

Was listening to an account of life in Ireland pre the Great War on the radio the other day, and in particular life as it was in Dublin back then. With the Boxing day sales, the Boxing day Panto in the Gaiety, the Boxing day races, Switzers & Brown Thomas competing on Boxing Day, etc, all from Dublin media of the time.

So I wonder when was the term Boxing Day dropped here? or was it a gradual fade out . . .

Boxing Day, one of several origins for the name, including;
A box to collect money for the poor was placed in Churches on Christmas day then opened the next day & distributed to the poor.

Lenin Skynard

I'd guess around the time when the brits were kicked out and the church took over. And it's actually "Stephenseses Day"

NuckingFacker

too many people took it literaly after ten pints.

The Backwards Man

You should move to Donegal, still Boxing Day here.

rwg

The day after christmas

Sunnyisland

It was always St Stephens day for me and I am fifty one.

Mint Aero

It didn't, bye now.

Nodin

LordSutch wrote: »

Was listening to an account of life in Ireland pre the Great War on the radio the other day, and in particular life as it was in Dublin back then. With the Boxing day sales, the Boxing day Panto in the Gaiety, the Boxing day races, Switzers & Brown Thomas competing on Boxing Day, etc, all from Dublin media of the time.

So I wonder when was the term Boxing Day dropped here? or was it a gradual fade out . . .

Boxing Day, one of several origins for the name, including;
A box to collect money for the poor was placed in Churches on Christmas day then opened the next day & distributed to the poor.

Must have been after your lot lost the war of independence. Sure these things happen.

Wibbs

Catholic Christian thing Versus Reformation Christian thing LS. When the latter was in charge the old saints holidays were mostly removed and it was replaced by Boxing Day and when the former took over it reverted to Stephens' Day. Pre Reformation the British would have celebrated it. IIRC it's not so big a deal in nations that remained Catholic. It's there buried a bit, but basically just that day after Chrimbo.

baldbear

I thought it was always St Stephen's day here. The wrenboys still go out in parts if the country.

mikeym

Ask an old person.

wretcheddomain

I prefer calling it the Post-Christmas Day - perfectly neutral.

LordSutch

baldbear wrote: »

I thought it was always St Stephen's day here.

Well they did only mention Dublin in the discussion, so I guess it was just a Dublin thing back then, mind you, another poster has said that they still call it Boxing Day in Donegal, so I don't know.

Nodin

wretcheddomain wrote: »

I prefer calling it the Post-Christmas Day - perfectly neutral.

'...blarrrrgh

*cough, cough, cough

...good jaysus....'

is also common.

why is it called boxing day if its mostly football on in the uk

DEFTLEFTHAND

Day of the Wren is how I refer to it.

LordSutch

That's a Galway tradition, right?

woodoo

Deleted User wrote: »

why is it called boxing day if its mostly football on in the uk

Sky sports day

DEFTLEFTHAND

LordSutch wrote: »

That's a Galway tradition, right?

The Wren boys?

biko

It was never Boxing day in Ireland.

St Stephen's Day has been a holiday in Ireland for hundreds of years as Lá Fhéile Stiofáin or Lá an Dreoilín. It became a public holiday following the Bank Holidays Act 1871.
In some countries in Europe it's known as Second-Day Christmas.

aligator_am

LordSutch wrote: »

Was listening to an account of life in Ireland pre the Great War on the radio the other day, and in particular life as it was in Dublin back then. With the Boxing day sales, the Boxing day Panto in the Gaiety, the Boxing day races, Switzers & Brown Thomas competing on Boxing Day, etc, all from Dublin media of the time.

So I wonder when was the term Boxing Day dropped here? or was it a gradual fade out . . .

Boxing Day, one of several origins for the name, including;
A box to collect money for the poor was placed in Churches on Christmas day then opened the next day & distributed to the poor.

I'd assume it was when the British left and the church took over, when the seat of power in this country relocated to Maynooth.

Carawaystick

Daft as it may seem, to non-jackeens, Dublin pubs often, not only don't have the busiest day of the year on Stephens'es day, but are often closed all day. These people may call it boxing day in some kind of ironic way...

LordSutch

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

The Wren boys?

A Galway tradition, right?

moxin

Carawaystick wrote: »

Daft as it may seem, to non-jackeens, Dublin pubs often, not only don't have the busiest day of the year on Stephens'es day, but are often closed all day. These people may call it boxing day in some kind of ironic way...

Oi, it has always been St Stephens Day here in Dublin. We even have a park named after the saint

Sunhill

It is the day of the races in Tangmalangaloo
http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/obrienj/poetry/tangmalangaloo.html

steddyeddy

LordSutch wrote: »

Was listening to an account of life in Ireland pre the Great War on the radio the other day, and in particular life as it was in Dublin back then. With the Boxing day sales, the Boxing day Panto in the Gaiety, the Boxing day races, Switzers & Brown Thomas competing on Boxing Day, etc, all from Dublin media of the time.

So I wonder when was the term Boxing Day dropped here? or was it a gradual fade out . . .

Boxing Day, one of several origins for the name, including;
A box to collect money for the poor was placed in Churches on Christmas day then opened the next day & distributed to the poor.

You see Sutch you wouldn't know this because you stay out of unionist/republican threads but Ireland used to be part of the long dead British empire . We fought and won our freedom and like several post colonial colonies we got rid of the colonial terms and customs. Plus Boxing day is a sh1t name!

LordSutch

biko wrote: »

It was never Boxing day in Ireland.

St Stephen's Day has been a holiday in Ireland for hundreds of years as Lá Fhéile Stiofáin or Lá an Dreoilín. It became a public holiday following the Bank Holidays Act 1871.

Thanks for that, so then, I presume the term Boxing Day was only used as a slang term by the Dublin media of the time.

biko

Tbh, I think a lot of people around Dublin just use it because they've seen it in US and UK films/TV. They also say football for soccer and elevator for lift.
Dublin would be a city more influenced from the empire next door whereas the west coast wasn't impacted as much.
Old Irish traditions and word usage are stronger in for instance Kerry, Galway, Cork and so on.

On this note, but from Scotland

DEFTLEFTHAND

LordSutch wrote: »

A Galway tradition, right?

Still common practice where I live in Tipperary, they come into bars and shake down the clientele for change on the 26th. It's for charity or so they say.

Morag

and still done in Kerry


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wren_Day

It is theorised that the Wren celebration has descended from Celtic mythology.[2] Ultimately, the origin may be a Samhain or midwinter sacrifice and/or celebration, as Celtic mythology considered the Wren a symbol of the past year (the European wren is known for its habit of singing even in mid-winter, and sometimes explicitly called "Winter Wren"); Celtic names of the Wren (draouennig, drean, dreathan, dryw etc.) also suggest an association with druidic rituals. The tradition may also have been influenced by Scandinavian settlers during the Viking invasions of the 8th-10th Centuries. Various associated legends exist, such as a Wren being responsible for betraying Irish soldiers who fought the Viking invaders by beating its wings on their shields, in the late first and early second millennia, and for betraying the Christian martyr Saint Stephen, after whom the day is named. This mythological association with treachery is a possible reason why the bird was hunted by Wrenboys on St. Stephen's Day, and/or why a pagan sacrificial tradition was continued in Christian times. Despite the abandonment of the wren killing practice, devoted Wrenboys continue to ensure that the Gaelic tradition of celebrating the Wren continues although it is no longer widespread.[3]

Similar traditions of hunting the Wren have been claimed to have been reported to have been performed on the Isle of Man on New Year's Day and in Pembrokeshire, Wales on Twelfth Day (6 January)[4] and, on the first Sunday of December in parts of Southern France, including Carcassonne. [5] The custom has been revived in Suffolk, by Pete Jennings and the Old Glory Molly Dancers and has been performed in the village of Middleton, every Boxing Day evening since 1994.[6]

In Galicia, Spain, "Caceria del rey Charlo" ("Chase of king Charles") was performed. The inhabitants of Vilanova de Lourenza would chase down a wren and, after tying it to a pole, would parade it and show it to the abbot of the local monastery, who would proceed then to offer them food and drink and appoint two leaders of local town council out of the four candidates proposed by the neighbours. This tradition has been recorded since the XVIth century.[7] The sources are somewhat misleading about the date, since they claim it was "New Year`s Day" but it might mean "The day after Christmas", which was regarded back then to signal the end of the year[8]

Mint Sauce

The Backwards Man wrote: »

You should move to Donegal, still Boxing Day here.

What part of Donegal? I've often been corrected, and told it was St Stephens day when I ever called it Boxing day. Was reminded I was no longer in Britain, but in Ireland.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Mint Sauce wrote: »

What part of Donegal? I've often been corrected, and told it was St Stephens day when I ever called it Boxing day. Was reminded I was no longer in Britain, but in Ireland.[/QUOTE

Donegal is kind of a written off place down here, poor roads no railway pretty bleak place. Apart from Rory Gallagher being born in Ballyshannon they've got nothing much going on for them, many thick irish people actually think it's part of NI. You know the way we laugh at Americans on youtube for not being able to point out California on a map? Many Irish can't name our 26 counties in full.

M.T. Cranium

Good King Wenceslas looked out

on the feast of Stephen,

when the snow lay round about,

deep and crisp and even.

brightly shone the moon that night

though the frost was cruel,

when a poor man came in sight,

gathering winter fuel.


Hither page and stand by me,

in St Agnes fountain,

I get all these words mixed up,

underneath the mountain,

Bring me mead and bring me ale,

Bring me fresh salami,

If that guy knocks on our door,

tell him that we're bar-are-mee.

Quazzie

Surely it's only the Jackeens/West Brits that call it Boxing day.

oldyouth

Always known as Fathers Day in this house. All my male friends head to the pub at noon and scoop pints and bet on the horses. Sounds sexist, but my wife understands that I do all the equal family & household stuff every other day of the year.

fryup

Deleted User wrote: »

why is it called boxing day if its mostly football on in the uk

iirc the country landlords used to visit the tenants on that day and give them gifts in boxed parcels...hence the name derived from that..boxing day

Frank Lee Midere

It's st Stephens day in Britain too - Boxing Day not being official - just colloquial.

Sunnyisland

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Mint Sauce wrote: »

What part of Donegal? I've often been corrected, and told it was St Stephens day when I ever called it Boxing day. Was reminded I was no longer in Britain, but in Ireland.[/QUOTE

Donegal is kind of a written off place down here, poor roads no railway pretty bleak place. Apart from Rory Gallagher being born in Ballyshannon they've got nothing much going on for them, many thick irish people actually think it's part of NI. You know the way we laugh at Americans on youtube for not being able to point out California on a map? Many Irish can't name our 26 counties in full.

and it's the most northen part of Ireland that's in the south :P

Hotblack Desiato

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Donegal is kind of a written off place down here, poor roads no railway pretty bleak place. Apart from Rory Gallagher being born in Ballyshannon they've got nothing much going on for them, many thick irish people actually think it's part of NI.

They're probably confused by all the yellow number plates.

Gosub

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Mint Sauce wrote: »

What part of Donegal? I've often been corrected, and told it was St Stephens day when I ever called it Boxing day. Was reminded I was no longer in Britain, but in Ireland.[/QUOTE

Donegal is kind of a written off place down here, poor roads no railway pretty bleak place. Apart from Rory Gallagher being born in Ballyshannon they've got nothing much going on for them, many thick irish people actually think it's part of NI. You know the way we laugh at Americans on youtube for not being able to point out California on a map? Many Irish can't name our 32 counties in full.

Fixed that for ya

camel jockey

Next year?

The Backwards Man

Mint Sauce wrote: »

What part of Donegal? I've often been corrected, and told it was St Stephens day when I ever called it Boxing day. Was reminded I was no longer in Britain, but in Ireland.

Pretty much anywhere north of Ballybofey anyway, not sure about the south of the county.

Exhibit A

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=533788770074826&set=a.492243940895976.1073741827.242989945821378&type=1&theater

Exhibit B

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=778715292155064&set=a.347312675295330.105733.100000498021489&type=1&theater

Exhibit C

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=743664332328769&set=a.386443731384166.103445.274006979294509&type=1&theater

Exhibit D

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152086610317346&set=a.133187292345.107955.133155607345&type=1&theater

Exhibit E

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=709487569063368&set=a.169802286365235.40436.116232101722254&type=1&theater

and so on.

In my own house, we couldn't get RTE until 1985, so we were brought up on Trevor McDonald and Moira Stewart. I guess a lot of houses were the same.

Sir Gallagher

biko wrote: »

Tbh, I think a lot of people around Dublin just use it because they've seen it in US and UK films/TV. They also say football for soccer and elevator for lift.
Dublin would be a city more influenced from the empire next door whereas the west coast wasn't impacted as much.
Old Irish traditions and word usage are stronger in for instance Kerry, Galway, Cork and so on.

On this note, but from Scotland

I don't know anybody in Dublin who calls it boxing day so get over yourself.

Miss Lockhart

I've never ever heard anyone call it Boxing Day in Dublin.

wp_rathead

"The Wren The Wren
The King of All Birds"

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

LordSutch

Miss Lockhart wrote: »

I've never ever heard anyone call it Boxing Day in Dublin.

You may be right, but the original question surrounds if and when Boxing day was used here (Pre WWI).
> http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=88149047&postcount=1

Miss Lockhart

LordSutch wrote: »

You may be right, but the original question surrounds if and when Boxing day was used here (Pre WWI).
> http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=88149047&postcount=1

Yes, I wasn't referring to your post, but more recent ones.

LordSutch

The term 'High Street' is used a lot here these days, and I guess its possible that in one hundered years time it too might be demonised as "A British tradition" that we would never have uttered here, and of course officially we never did . . .

Maybe this is the case with the use of Boxing Day?

Sir Gallagher

Can't say i've heard anybody using 'high street' in day to day language here either.

Miss Lockhart

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

Can't say i've heard anybody using 'high street' in day to day language here either.

Only ever heard it on the tv.