Even Historians like Christmas - but what are Irish Traditions.

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Great post CDfm!

One tradition that springs to mind is that of placing a candle in the window. Another is leaving the door on the latch on Christmas Eve.

I don't know if the same traditions are in other countries!

Fratton Fred wrote: »

The Christmas tree is a German tradition and was introduced into the UK by Prince Albert who had them around Windsor castle and Balmoral at Christmas time.

After his death, queen Vic kept up the practice and it took off from there.

How we inherited Christmas from

THE VIKING YULE

The celebration of Yule in Scandinavia predates the Christian holiday by thousands of years

Winter Solstice, the time of the year when the days get longer and the sun begins to return was truly a cause for celebration among our ancestors in Scandinavia. Their Midwinter Feast lasted at least twelve days. So there are the twelve days of Christmas.

Most Christmas traditions are rooted deep in ancient Yule rituals, many coming from the Vikings. Historic evidence indicates that Jesus was not born on December 25, but in the Spring. Why is then Christmas celebrated on December 25? A common theory is that the Christian church designated this date as the day of Christ's birth to coincide with the Nordic Midvinter Solstice celebrations, as well as with a Roman midwinder fest called Saturnalia, in order to "facilitate" the conversion of "heathens" to Christianity.

At Midwinter, or Solstice, the Vikings honored their Asa Gods with religious rituals and feasting. They sacrificed a wild boar to Frey, the God of fertility and farming, to assure a good growing season in the coming year. The meat was then cooked and eaten at the feast. This is the origin of today's Christmas ham in Scandinavia.

During the festivities they burned a giant Sunwheel, which was put on fire and rolled down a hill to entice the Sun to return. According to one theory, this is the origin of the Christmas wreath.

Another Viking tradition was the Yulelog, a large oak log decorated with sprigs of fir, holly or yew. They carved runes on it, asking the Gods to protect them from misfortune. A piece of the log was saved to protect the home during the coming year and light next year's fire. Today, most know the Yulelog as a cake or cheese log rolled in nuts.

Even the Christmas tree goes back to pre-Christian times. The Vikings decorated evergreen trees with pieces of food and clothes, small statues of the Gods, carved runes, etc., to entice the tree spirits to come back in the spring.
Ancient myths surround the Mistletoe. The Vikings believed it could resurrect the dead, a belief based on a legend about the resurrection of Balder, God of Light and Goodness, who was killed by a mistletoe arrow but resurrected when tears of his mother Frigga turned the red mistletoe berries white.
The Yule Goat, (Swedish julbock, Finnish joulupukki, Norwegian julebukk) is one of the oldest Scandinavian Christmas symbols. Its origin is the legend about the Thundergod Thor who rode in the sky in a wagon pulled by two goats. An old custom was for young people to dress up in goat skins and go from house to house and sing and perform simple plays. They were rewarded with food and drink. The Yule Goat at one time also brought Yule gifts. This character was later replaced with "jultomten" (Santa Claus).
Our pre-Christian ancestors would dress up someone to represent Old Man Winter, who was welcomed into homes to join the festivities. Dressed in a hooded fur coat, Father Christmas traveled either by foot or on a giant white horse. Some think that this horse may have been Odin's horse Sleipnir and that Father Christmas was originally Odin, who was often depicted with a long beard. When the Vikings conquered Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries, he was introduced there and became the English Father Christmas.
Today, Viking Yule is celebrated in reconstructed Viking Villages such as Foteviken in Skåne and Jörvik in England, where visitors in December can make Christmas decorations with the Vikings, listen to Viking legends and hang their wishes in Odin's Yule Tree. Viking Yule is also celebrated by Asatruers, who revive the old Nordic religion, called Asatru.

Of course, our Scandinavian forefathers were not alone in celebrating the Winter Solstice. All over the world, and throughout history, people have celebrated the sun's return after the winter with a wide diversity of rituals and traditions. And still are

http://skandland.com/vikxmas.htm

Manach wrote: »

Good thread here.
Just to re-iterate some of the other posters, in Cork there is the tradition of the Wren Boys, Lighting the Christmas Candle, and spice beef (though the latter I've never had a taste for).

To our ancestors, Irish Christmas recipes didn't come in beautiful books filled with pretty pictures. They didn't need to. The winter festival was a time to celebrate in time-honoured fashion, using cooking methods that had been handed down through the generations. Geese, ducks, great sides of beef, sheep and pork were turned on the roasting spit in the halls of chieftains in early Christian and medieval times.
In later centuries, the spit had become the kitchen oven and, by the late 18th century, vegetables and fruits began to feature more heavily on the table during the Irish Christmas.
Recipes using beef suet, mixed dried fruit and whiskey in cakes and puddings - not dissimilar to those still used every year - started to acquire a seasonal status.
Preparations began weeks in advance for these cakes and puddings, as did the slaughter of cattle and pigs. The latter were shared out with others. While the majority poor simply shared with their immediate family and neighbours, the traditional division among the gentry in the early 19th century was as follows:

• The head, tongue and feet: the blacksmith
• the small ribs attached to the hindquarters: the tailor;
• the kidneys: the doctor
• the udder: the harper
• the liver: carpenter
• the marrowbone: the odd-job man
• the heart: the cowherd
• a choice piece each: the midwife and the stableman
• black puddings and sausages: the ploughman.

To the gentry of Ireland, Christmas food meant enormous feasts of meats, fishes, vegetables, rich creamy sauces and all manner of sweet delicacies washed down with copious quantities of alcoholic refreshments.
But to the majority of our ancestors, Irish Christmas recipes produced rather more hearty fare. While they were less rich than the foods enjoyed by those further up the social ladder, they were nonetheless exceptionally luxurious to the palate of a population that lived at subsistence level (or worse) for much of the year.

Spiced beef for St Stephen's Day

Irish spiced beef is traditionally served on St Stephen's Day (26th December). This is the case in most of Ireland but in co. Cork, spiced beef is not just one of the most popular Irish Chrismas recipes, it is also a dish served all year round. Although our ancestors would have prepared their own dish, and many families still do, you can find well-prepared beef joints, liberally covered in spices, in butchers throughout Ireland in the two weeks before Christmas.

Ingredients: for 20-25 servings

6lb (2.7kg) middle rib of beef, boned and rolled
1lb (450g) salt
3 carrots, roughly chopped
1 turnip, roughly chopped
1 onion, cut into rings pieces
1 onion, finely minced
4 oz (110g) moist brown sugar
6 tsp mixed spice
0.5oz (13g) saltpetre
1 bay leaf
allspice, black pepper, cloves, mace, mixed herbs, nutmeg, thyme
fresh finely chopped parsley.

Method:

To boil the beef, make a bed of carrots, turnips and ringed onions at the bottom of a pan. Place the beef on top, add the bay leaf, and cover with cold water. Boil for 30 minutes per 1lb/450g, plus an extra 30 minutes. Remove from pot and place between two plates. Put a heavy object on top of the plate and leave for 12-15 hours and then tie the beef with string.

Mix the herbs and spices with salt, sugar and minced onion. Cover the meat in this mixture, rubbing it in well for several minutes. Place into an earthenware crock and cover. Turn the meat once a day, every day for a fortnight and rub in the spice mixture each time.

Father read the Cork 'Holly Bough' and records newly bought by Mother were played on the gramophone. Nobody went visiting on that day and no visitors came. It was a day for the family.

week before Christmas, Father killed three turkeys and a goose. He nailed pieces of wood together and made two strong boxes into which he placed the turkeys 'feathers and all'. The lids were nailed down, labels nailed on and the addresses of our cousins in Dublin written. Father then took them to the station to post. In return we got a huge brack about the size of a motor car wheel which was made to order by the famous Johnston Mooney and O'Brien bakers.