CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
Traditions are usually passed from family’s generation to another in an oral way. The majority of them will dissolve with time, mainly because new ways of life. But the most important are kept as almost a rule in or modern times.
Irish customs and traditions are full of variety. They have a lot of feasts and historical legends that come from probably hundreds of years old and that they still maintain and celebrate to our days.
I will name some of the customs and traditions that were or are still present in Southern Ireland.
An old tradition that has been lost in Ireland is the “Irish Blessings”. It is not as popular as it used to be, although some people all over the world are still trying to keep it alive. Some blessing have hundreds of years old, some may have be created last week in another country. A Blessing is always about welcoming, warmth and turning negative situations in positive, as an answer to the history of misery of Ireland. An Irish blessing as example:
May the friendships you make be those which endure and all of your Grey clouds be small ones for sure. And trusting in Him to Whom we all pray, may a song fill your heart every step of the way.
Another tradition is the “Irish Wedding” which is a very typical ceremony till today. Bride and groom use beautiful clothes for this special occasion. The bride uses the typical white dress known worldwide that symbolizes purity. The groom would wear the kilt made from tartan, a woollen cloth with patterns and intersected lines, same as the Scottish, representing a Celtic identity. The wedding ceremony has a lot of superstitions that need to be carried out at least the couple suffer the consequences. Before Christianity, they celebrated a Celtic ceremony of unity where the couple decide if they wanted to be together “till death do us apart” or renew their union each year. With Christianity, it was celebrated in a Church with a Priest. Traditionally, it is the father of the bride who pays for the wedding, today is common to share expenses between the families. The bride dress colour has significance, for example: "Marry in brown live out of town", "Marry in yellow ashamed of your fellow", "Marry in pearl you'll live in a whirl", and the usual "Marry in white everything's right". In Irish weddings, we can see a tradition that has been transmitted to all Christian weddings: "Something old, something new. Something borrowed. Something blue. And an old Irish penny in her shoe." The part of the penny is not used today, but the rest is still a must. Something that is considered very unlucky as if the bride puts her own veil on, that is why a relative need to do it. In terms of the wedding ring, what it is used is a "Claddhag ring", that has to hand holding a crowned heart. These rings were used to be passed from mother to daughter, today that is lost and can be bought directly. Another tradition still used s that the first person to congratulate the bride must be a man from the groom's family, a woman would be considered very unlucky. A very important tradition in a wedding is cutting the cake, all the guests gather around it to see the new couple cut the first slice. It usually has two floors and soaked in Irish whiskey.
A big tradition in Ireland is the day of St Patrick that is celebrated in March 17th in many countries. This religious day remembers St Patrick and his missionary to teach Christianity. St Patrick is considered the Patron Saint of Ireland. There are old traditions and new ones, like being Irish for a day. A known tradition of this day is wearing something green, which is done in the U.S. This, to show their Irish heritage and culture, but it is a tradition that is not used in Ireland. Irish do wear shamrocks as a pin in their clothes. This day, Christian people would go to Church, make roast beef and see the parades done for this event. The parades started in the U.S in 1766 and, only in 1995 it was done by the Irish to boost tourism, it is a five day festival that includes art shows, plays, concerts, fun fairs and the main parade.
A very important celebration after St Patrick’s Day is Easter Sunday that remembers the resurrection of Jesus. This celebration starts 40 days before Easter Sunday, called “day of Lent”. From this day on, people would stop eating meet and doing something they love, like cigarettes, alcohol and the like. During this period, people would eat fish cooked in a soup. It is a time of reflection and time-spending with their families. A typical tradition that is being held for hundreds of years, is the “spring cleaning”, that is for preparing the house for a blessing by a priest. This should be a day of rest and no work should be done. On Friday, people would confess and ask for forgiveness, have a haircut, nails done and buy new clothes to wear on Sunday. Something is forbidden is to eat eggs in the period of 40 days until Eastern Sunday. They used to be painted, but know that has been replaced for chocolate eggs, especially for kids. On Saturday, people would usually attend to Church for an Eastern Vigil at 10pm, at 11pm all the light would be turn out and a new flame would be in the altar with the Paschal candle. On Sunday, they would wear their new clothes and attend to Church, after that they have a feast, with potatoes, vegetables, meat, stuffing and bread. Finally, the Eastern Eggs are given to the children if they have behaved in the 40-day period.
Halloween is worldwide known, but its roots belong to Ireland. It is celebrated on 31st October, but is not celebrated only one day anymore, as the holidays of All Saints Day and All Souls Day is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, respectively. Before Christianity, this celebration was called Samhain, in Celtic means the Darkhalf of the year. The Ancient Celtic New Year starts in the nightfall on October 31st, this is when the barriers with the other world are no more, and dead can walk the Earth. According to the legend, this day the Pagans made human and animal sacrifices. With Christianity, the custom of “trick and treat” started, when poor people and children sang songs and asked for food, usually bread that contains fruits. The custom of wearing costumes started from an old Celtic tradition, people use to dress as evil spirits so they could calm them so the real spirits wouldn’t be tempted to take them with them. Today, Halloween is about fun and pranks, feasts, wearing costumes and trick and treat. Houses are heavily decorated, and they also do a Halloween tree, with creepy things stuck to it. Kids go from house to house for trick or treat, receiving sweets, fruits or nuts.
Irish people as mainly Roman Catholic celebrates Christmas in many ways. People decorate their homes with lights, tinsels and shiny decorations. The Christmas tree is done in the first day of the holy advent calendar. It would have an angel in the top and presents underneath it as most of other people around the globe do and celebrate. Irish Churches build cribs to show the birth of Jesus and the arrival of the three Kings, placed usually in front of the Church. In every front window a candle is light up to symbolize Virgin Mary and Joseph. People usually go to Church and light a holy candle that was blessed by a bishop. The best moment for the children is in the morning, when they can open their presents. The Big Christmas Dinner has a turkey slow-cooked, vegetables, ham, chicken, potatoes and stuffing.
As a conclusion we can say that Irish customs and traditions are highly based in its Christian influences and also from more ancient traditions, like Celtic or pagans. Most of their traditions have become worldwide famous. People around the world imitate these celebrations maybe without knowing its origins. Today, these celebrations are confused with being from somewhere else. But now we know where they came from and how they started and where transformed with time and influences from other cultures.
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