Christmas traditions…looking back [Part 1]

It is lovely to look back through the pages of the Irish Newspaper Archive and read of Christmas traditions of old, which as the Strabane Chronicle pointed out in 1969, differ in all parts of the country. In the first of two blog post, we look how people prepare for Christmas and in particular the lighting of the candles as depicted in the late 1960s:

The Christmas customs of modern Northern Ireland reflect the traditional Christian culture of the people. The customs stem from many sources and blend the traditions of the many races who have contributed to the making of Ireland.

On the eve of Christmas, on Dec. 24th, the head of the household, shortly after sunset, sets in the principal window in the kitchen, which was the living-room, too, in the farmhouses—a large candle. These candles weigh from half a pound to a pound, two feet tall, and may be of many colours green, red, blue, white, yellow. The candle is fixed traditionally on a sconce made from a scraped-out turnip or a vessel filled with bran or hour. Usually, it is lit by the youngest child in the house. The candles are left to light all night and the glimmering of candles from the scattered farms is one of the most charming sights of the Irish Christmas.

The making of Christmas candles is a skilled craft. One of Ireland's oldest factories is the candle factory of Messrs. John G. Rathborne in Dublin—the Rathbornes have been established since 1488. Their Christmas candles are large 1 lb. and 2 lb. ones in different colours. Each district, the firm has found, has its own taste in colour. In Limerick and Clare white candles are mostly used, while red and green are popular everywhere. In the Midlands pink candles are sought, and in some parts of Dublin only blue candles will be taken. In Killarney, nothing less than a six pound candle will suffice for the occasion.

Christmas has always been a favourite time for card-playing, and in rural districts there are complicated games in which whole neighbourhoods enter the challenge—the prize being a turkey or a goose.

In the churches cribs are erected—this is a very popular devotion and may have been brought to Ireland by the Franciscans who came to Ireland in the lifetime of St. Francis, who made the first crib in Greccio on Christmas Eve, 1223.

For more information on Christmas search the pages of the Irish Newspaper Archive (www.irishnewsarchive.com )