Did you celebrate Easter as a kid?

jester77

The kids are after finishing their Easter egg hunt, they found plenty of chocolates and some small presents. In the days leading up they have been painting eggs and baking Easter bunnys. It's like a mini Xmas.

I made a few comments about this being a little over the top the last few years, but was told that this how it always was when she grew up. I'm living in Germany so maybe it is different here.

Or maybe not? I grew up in Ireland in the 70s and 80s. I would get asked if there was a particular type of Easter egg I would like, my mum would buy that one and we would get it after dinner on Easter Sunday. And that was it, just a regular Sunday with a chocolate egg.

How did you celebrate it growing up?

TheValeyard

Mass

Sunday Dinner

Chocolate egg


That was it. No idea when this Easter Bunny stuff crept into this country and having egg hunts.

Deja Boo

Growing up, my mum didn't celebrate holidays so we did nothing special.

Fighting Tao

No I did not celebrate it. I woke up, got dragged to an extra long and boring mass with a million collections to pay for the priests fancy car and house, and then finally home to eat the chocolate eggs.

Galwayguy35

By eating the nice big easter egg mam used to buy for us.

Comhrá

Pretty much as described. Grew up on a farm and there was always a bit of mystery when I was a kid, where my father would bring me out to show me where he found a load of Easter eggs in the hen's nest. They were the marsh mallow variety, covered in silver foil wrapping.

Easter Sunday, we would have a sort of mini Christmas Dinner and that was about it.

After the previous week of long monotonous Church Easter ceremonies which were pretty much compulsory, Easter Sunday was a pleasant occasion.

Mint Sauce

If by celebrating, you mean a couple of chocolate eggs after Mass, then I celebrated.

There was no Easter Bunny when I was a kid.

seamusk84

Grew up in the 80s and 90s.
Parents would hide the Easter eggs and some cream eggs around the gaf and then on Easter Sunday morning we would search for them.

Mass and then lamb for dinner.

Kids get too much chocolate and Easter eggs now it seems. I think it’s because the eggs are a lot cheaper than when I was a kid.

retalivity

Mass, parades, pub with the parents, dinner, eat the 3-4 chocolate eggs that parents, grannies, aunts etc got me.

This was also late 80s/early 90s in rural Ireland, no easter bunny or egg hunts or yankee crap like that.

iamwhoiam

When I was kid Lent was a big thing . We gave up sweets and chocolate for Lent
We were allowed a few on Patricks Day then give them up until Easter Sunday
So Easter was a big day then with plenty of cakes and chocolate .
Our egg would be a big treat because we really didn't get a lot of chocolate or sweets day to day . Our were Milk Tray with a little bag of Milk tray sweets inside the egg .

The lead up to Easter was a nightmare with Mass and Stations and general doom and gloom and lamenting .
So Sunday and the egg was a light relief

PsychoPete

I ate some chocolate eggs that was about it

_Brian

I remember we had a Cludog once, think I doesn’t happen anywhere now.

Was common enough when we were kids.

TomasMacR

Jesus, some of the misery here.

“If were lucky my dad would still have a small bit of tinfoil from the leftover Christmas dinner that the local priest would give us to share amongst the 16 of us, so he would get the tinfoil and wrap a boiled egg up and we’d pretend it was a chocolate egg. Then mum would paint our bare feet with black paint and weave laces up through our toes to make it look like we had shoes and we would set off on the 4 hour round trip walk for the 8 hour mass. Then dad would beat the absolute shįte out of us when we got home for the craic before he decided to turn in for the night for some quality Easter Sunday rape time with mummy”

somesoldiers

_Brian wrote: »

I remember we had a Cludog once, think I doesn’t happen anywhere now.

Was common enough when we were kids.

For anyone else that never heard of a Cludog

Conduct a “cludog," where children gather eggs and roast them on a special device or contraption on the farm. Shells are saved and placed around the bottom of a May bush.

Speedsie

Grew up the the 70s & 80s.
On Easter Saturday we would wrap hen's eggs in string, then boil them with onion peel and gorse blossom to colour the shells. Then we'd 'blow' some raw eggs to get the white & yolk out, and paint the shells, which would later be hung on branches with ribbons.

After church on Easter Sunday, there was an Easter Egg hunt in the church grounds. Every child got at least one, but max was three very small eggs.

After lunch (lamb of course) we had a simnel cake. One shop bought Easter egg for the whole family. I suppose it was medium.

House decorated with the painted eggs, and one lovely clock work musical egg carousel with six beautiful painted eggs.

This was in Kildare.

Lorelli!

I was told there was an actual bunny who came and brought you Easter Eggs. Only lasted a couple of years. Use to get about 7 or 8 eggs left downstairs and new clothes. We'd have a nice dinner aswell. No mass though.

branie2

Yes I did.

Sir Osis of Liver.

When I was a kid American Rabbits didn't lay chocolate eggs for us.

Back then it was forced to mass followed by a Yorkie egg and Ben Hur.

banie01

Cinema on Easter Monday with a bag full of smashed up chocolate eggs!

Pherekydes

I grew up in the 60s and 70s. Holy week was a week long orgy of churchgoing. Confession, stations of the cross, more confessions, the "passion". The Passion was actually a celebration of the torture and murder (state-sponsored, so that's ok) of a guy who seems to have been innocent.

Then, to cap it off, there was the longest, boringest mass ever. There was bound to be a few faintings, and I nodded off during mass a few times. Good old dad used to pinch me awake.

Home after for Easter eggs! The highlight! The Real Meaning of Easter!

Don't remember dinner. Probably ate none. Probably got a chocolate headache.

kenmc

Early 80s. Never had the Easter egg hunt. Easter bunny would leave one egg each, Yorkie I think, in the sitting room. That was it. Would've got another couple from grandfolk, uncles, aunts, neighbours maybe.
No-one was ever able to explain why a rabbit had anything to do with chocolate nor eggs. Still a total mystery to me. Really wish Easter would just fcuk off, though the 4 day weekend is welcome, we can keep that.
Really shows what a non day it is when we're all off to Lansdowne road this afternoon like we could any other weekend day of the year... Business as normal

jimd2

Murray TheDemonic TalkingSkull wrote: »

Mass

Sunday Dinner

Chocolate egg


That was it. No idea when this Easter Bunny stuff crept into this country and having egg hunts.

That's a bit like us growing up in the 70's. There was still a novelty around getting easter eggs and, of course, dressing up in your finest for Easter Sunday Mass.

jimd2

Deja Boo wrote: »

Growing up, my mum didn't celebrate holidays so we did nothing special.

That sounds a little sad.

Vicarious Function

We were very much aware of the religious background and traditions of Easter, when I was growing up.

Starting from Shrove Tuesday (pancakes), Ash Wednesday (ashes on the forehead during Mass) Lent (six weeks from there leading up to Easter Sunday, giving up something like sweets, for Lent by way of Penance. Fasting 2 or three days a week during Lent, which according to the Church meant "one full meal and two 'collations'", (small meals). No meat on Fridays and some Wednesdays. Fish instead.

The week before Easter started with Palm Sunday, commemorating the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, when He was welcomed by people throwing down palm branches on the ground before him. We received small branches of palm to take home with us from the Church. Spy Wednesday - remembering Judas betrays Jesus. Long Gospel readings in Church describing the Passion, Death and Ressurection of Jesus, leading p to Easter Sunday. Holy Thursday - The Last Supper. Good Friday the Crucifixion. The hymn "Dies Irae", a sad lament. Holy Saturday - sometimes Midnight Mass - still a fairly sombre day. Easter Sunday - a sense of Jubilation and release from all that went before. Jubilant choir in Church.

At home,we had one large Chocolate Easter Egg which was shared by the family. If we were lucky we had some small ones too. Some years, we dyed raw hen-eggs in their shells, these having been laid by our hens on Good Friday. These then would be boiled for breakfast on Easter Sunday.

We had new clothes for Easter and dressed our best for the day. Roast
leg of lamb with mint sauce and the usual veggies for lunch. Maybe visited relatives, such as Grand-parents or had them visit us.

Easter was like a second Christmas, but without Santa and the presents.

Much of that is gone now and Easter has become more commercialised instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlr90NLDp-0

Gregorian Chant - "Dies Irae" - Youtube.

Vicarious Function

Deja Boo wrote: »

Growing up, my mum didn't celebrate holidays so we did nothing special.

jimd2 wrote: »

That sounds a little sad.

Sounds like it was sad if you did or you didn't - celebrate Easter, that is.

cj maxx

Mass
Veneration of the cross
Mass
Mass & Easter eggs
Being an kid I didn’t “work” Easter as an alter boy, they got the big boys in for that gig !

Tokyo

Did nobody else get an easter egg with a mug?

Mass mass and more mass. In fact I remember on Holy Thursday many years ago all I wanted to do was watch Captain Planet. But. Mass.
We went to the very late mass on a Saturday night. It was the one where they had the "long gospel". It was there that I perfected my ability to daydream.
Easter Sunday was the same as any other Sunday with the exception of the eggs. There may have been visitors. If the visitors had children then I hid my eggs.

Ahhhh sweet nostalgia.

branie2

mike_ie wrote: »

Did nobody else get an easter egg with a mug?

I believe that I did

Oh! I remember one ear I got ten eggs! In school that week the teacher was asking if we had a nice Easter and if we liked our eggs. I said I got ten of them and was shamed. "Oh that's far too much"! Said the teacher. '"I'd be sick" said one of the kids. God I was so embarrassed. I lied from then on.

Erik Shun

My father is an atheist, thank god
So no mass for me...
and for lent, he'd tell me that any of my pocket money I saved, he would match...and on Easter Saturday I could buy as much cadburys chocolate as I wanted ( never bought eggs as there was always much more value in choc bars).....
I do remember one year that Terry's had choc bars either on special offer, or mispriced and I ate like a king for 2 weeks that Easter

Mrs OBumble

kenmc wrote: »

EReally wish Easter would just fcuk off, though the 4 day weekend is welcome, we can keep that.

It's happening. At least one bus company published an "April Bank Holiday" timetable this year.

Autosport

In my younger days we started on Shrove Tuesday and I went to alot of mass and religious ceremonies until Easter Monday. No egg hunts, no easter bunnies but we did get to pick out our chocolate egg and that was eaten on Easter Sunday. Lent was a nightmare as our local
Shop used to put different bars and sweets on offer but we were off them for lent

How Soon Is Now

Used to enjoy the whole Easter egg hunt thing as a kid just as much as eating the actual eggs!

Always remember the pope and his mass on telly that morning as well.

I remember the one year me da got an absolute **** loada small 101 Dalmatians eggs from work for some reason. We where finding them hidden around the house for at least a day or two haha!

branie2

I went to Lourdes on Easter Sunday on two occasions.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Speedsie wrote: »

Grew up the the 70s & 80s.
On Easter Saturday we would wrap hen's eggs in string, then boil them with onion peel and gorse blossom to colour the shells. Then we'd 'blow' some raw eggs to get the white & yolk out, and paint the shells, which would later be hung on branches with ribbons.

After church on Easter Sunday, there was an Easter Egg hunt in the church grounds. Every child got at least one, but max was three very small eggs.

After lunch (lamb of course) we had a simnel cake. One shop bought Easter egg for the whole family. I suppose it was medium.

House decorated with the painted eggs, and one lovely clock work musical egg carousel with six beautiful painted eggs.

This was in Kildare.

Was this a Protestant Church?

Speedsie

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Was this a Protestant Church?

Church of Ireland, so sort of!

jimd2

Vicarious Function wrote: »

Sounds like it was sad if you did or you didn't - celebrate Easter, that is.

It sounds like they didn't celebrate any holidays at all.

ToddyDoody

I can only remember the chocolate, being the dirty pagan that I am.
We did go to mass but I can't remember if the 3 purple candles, 1 pink and 1 white was for Christmas or Easter.
I think we 'ate out' some Easters.

The father used raid the chocolate in the coming days, which was a bit of a kick in the balls.

riffmongous

We did the easter egg hunt thing, it was great fun checking everywhere for them, probably better than eating the eggs like someone said above. The thrill of the hunt I suppose.

To the sour shiites who think it's a load of crap, well, I'm sorry you missed out on the fun and excitement

I met an elderly neighbour on the street one of the last times I was home and I reminded her that about 30 years before she invited me and my friend into her house at Easter and told us she had seen the Easter Bunny leave bunnies in the nest in the tree in her back garden.

We went out full of excitement and climbed up to find our first ever chocolate Easter Bunnies. It was such a magical experience to discover it, and she couldn't believe I remembered it so long later. How could a child forget it! Feck rationality, science and all the rest sidelining such memorable magic in a child's imagination in our "advanced" world. We need to be passing on more of our oral tradition regarding fairies, fairy forts, fairy trees, rag trees, an saol eile, Oíche Shamhna and all the rest.

Hoboo

jester77 wrote: »

The kids are after finishing their Easter egg hunt, they found plenty of chocolates and some small presents. In the days leading up they have been painting eggs and baking Easter bunnys. It's like a mini Xmas.

I made a few comments about this being a little over the top the last few years, but was told that this how it always was when she grew up. I'm living in Germany so maybe it is different here.

Or maybe not? I grew up in Ireland in the 70s and 80s. I would get asked if there was a particular type of Easter egg I would like, my mum would buy that one and we would get it after dinner on Easter Sunday. And that was it, just a regular Sunday with a chocolate egg.

How did you celebrate it growing up?

Guessing born 77 by your username. So pretty much the same age. Had Easter egg hunts at home and then at the grandparents with my siblings and cousins. Found an egg one year in a bush in November when getting my football out.

tuxy

Was anyone else encouraged to give up chocolate for lent but the parents would hold on to any chocolate people gave you.
Then on good Friday we were given the full container and would eat to the point of almost throwing up, just about recovering in time to eat one easter egg on Sunday.

Rubberchikken

midnight mass. mass on sunday. easter sunday dinner. easter egg. school holidays. whats not to like!

OldMrBrennan83

We got Easter eggs and that was it.

Not sure when all this "Happy Easter" and other Americanised ****e started.

tuxy

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

We got Easter eggs and that was it.

More than one? Madness! :eek:

OldMrBrennan83

tuxy wrote: »

More than one? Madness! :eek:

One each. We.

Conall Cernach

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

One each. We.

We used to get one each too. My brother pulled a fast one one year by eating half of my egg and then turning it round in the packaging so that it looked whole.

iamwhoiam

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I met an elderly neighbour on the street one of the last times I was home and I reminded her that about 30 years before she invited me and my friend into her house at Easter and told us she had seen the Easter Bunny leave bunnies in the nest in the tree in her back garden.

We went out full of excitement and climbed up to find our first ever chocolate Easter Bunnies. It was such a magical experience to discover it, and she couldn't believe I remembered it so long later. How could a child forget it! Feck rationality, science and all the rest sidelining such memorable magic in a child's imagination in our "advanced" world. We need to be passing on more of our oral tradition regarding fairies, fairy forts, fairy trees, rag trees, an saol eile, Oíche Shamhna and all the rest.

Absolutely keep the magic for the kids. Grandchild called in today and was mesmorised that Granda had spotted a white tail in the garden and found a piece of bunny fur on an azalea bush . The bunny had hidden two kinder eggs under that bush would you believe !

Hedgelayer

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Absolutely keep the magic for the kids. Grandchild called in today and was mesmorised that Granda had spotted a white tail in the garden and found a piece of bunny fur on a bush . The bunny had hidden two kinder eggs under that bush would you believe !

I know someone who can fit 3 kinder eggs in her bush, they call her the gadget she's a the human version of a swiss army knife...

The GADGET

Erik Shun

Hedgelayer wrote: »

I know someone who can fit 3 kinder eggs in her bush, they call her the gadget she's a the human version of a swiss army knife...

The GADGET

Give my love to your mam, tell her I'll Inspector Gadget