Christmas is coming

A little later than planned, my Christmas newsletter arrives in your inbox.

I’ve been looking at Christmas traditions in Ireland, both old and new. One of my favourite places to look at old stories is the Schools Collection hosted by Duchas. Did you know that animals have the power of speech on Christmas night? It was news to me but is mentioned in several stories in the collection!

Emigration has touched every family in Ireland over many generations. There was a tradition of receiving a letter from emigrant branches at Christmas - known as the American letter in some places. It would often contain remittances (money sent back to the family in Ireland) as well as news. In my own family, we used to receive letters from our American cousins (two of my grandmother’s siblings moved there) and we called it the “Christmas Epistle”. There are two collections of such letters online. Imirce (the Irish for migration) is hosted by the University of Galway and features the collection of noted academic, Kirby Miller. He collected them over many decades but particularly when researching his foundational text Emigrants and Exiles (well worth a read but quite academic in tone) and they range from the late 17th century to the mid-20th. The university is seeking additional letters for the collection, especially if written in Irish.

The Irish Emigrant Database is another collection of letters from North America to Ireland. It is more focused on Ulster. Both collections are searchable in multiple ways.

26th December is a bank holiday in Ireland. Unlike our neighbours, we don’t call it Boxing Day. It’s St Stephens Day (often said with a multiple like Stephenesseses day). One fascinating tradition mainly from the west of Ireland is the Wren Boys. Historically, men and boys hunted a wren on St Stephen’s Day – whoever killed it would get good luck for a year. Then they would parade around dressed up in straw with the dead wren in a box – they’d around the neighbourhood collecting drinks, food and money by singing songs and telling jokes. You still see this in the west of Ireland although they skip the killing a bird part nowadays.

Nollaig na mBan is celebrated on 6th January (it’s also known as Twelfth Night, and the Epihany). It translates as Women’s Christmas. It’s a day when, acknowledging that women do most of the work in the home, they take it off and the men take over. Women put their feet up or make social calls. If you have someone in your life who fits this bill, why not take over for the day?

It’s also considered unlucky to take down Christmas decorations before this date although in modern Ireland, many people do take them down after New Year’s day.

If you’re looking for a new podcast while enjoying your seasonal break, I highly recommend both seasons of The Gift, which is available through BBC Sounds or other podcast apps. It’s all about people who took a home DNA test and discovered something unexpected.

Lastly, I do offer gift vouchers for research and consultations. If you’re interested, drop me a link through my contact form and we can discuss. I think it’s better to work with someone rather than as a surprise, because people always know more than they realise about their family history.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas & a Happy 2025. I’ll be back in the new year with another newsletter, after a much needed break!