Irish Christmas Traditions — Nollaig, Candle and Wren

The days of it

8 December — The season opens
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Decorations and the tree traditionally went up on this day.
24 December — Christmas Eve
The candle in the window, the unlocked door, and Midnight Mass. In parts of Ireland the animals were said to speak in human voices at midnight, and a cock crowing then was a good omen.
25 December — Nollaig Mhór
Big Christmas. Mass, the crib completed, and now the sea swim.
26 December — St Stephen's Day
The Wren Boys go from door to door for the wren party. Fasting on the day, in honour of the saint's martyrdom, was traditional. Wren Day →
6 January — Nollaig na mBan
Little Christmas, or Women's Christmas: the end of the season, when the decorations come down and the wise men reach the crib. Nollaig na mBan →

The customs

The candle in the window
A lighted candle in the window on Christmas Eve, still done, though often an electric one now. In some houses the youngest child or the mother of the house lit it; in some places three were lit for the Holy Family. Letting it go out by accident was a bad omen. Before rural electrification, the candles changed how the countryside looked at night.
The unlocked door
In many parts of Ireland, County Armagh among them, the door was left unlocked on Christmas Eve.
Holly, ivy and the grave
Evergreens stood for Christ, the crown of thorns and everlasting life, and have older roots than that. In Munster a decoration was made of holly sprigs on a simple wooden cross, and graves are still dressed at Christmas with wreaths of holly, ivy or yew.
Bloc na Nollag
Rural houses got in a large log for the fire, the Irish equivalent of the Yule log.
The crib
The crib stands with the tree in most Irish houses. The infant is traditionally not put in until Christmas morning, and the three wise men are not placed until Little Christmas.
Down by the sixth
Leaving the decorations up after 6 January was thought to be bad luck, and the holly that had been used was burnt.
The Christmas swim
A late 20th-century custom and now a fixture: a swim in the sea on Christmas morning, usually for charity. The Forty Foot at Sandycove in Dublin and Blackrock in Salthill, Galway are the best-known places for it.
Coming home
Adult children came home for Christmas, usually on Christmas Eve, and since the 1980s the number of emigrants returning to the island for the season has grown.

Quick answers

Why do the Irish put a candle in the window at Christmas?

It is an old Irish custom for Christmas Eve, still kept. In some houses the youngest child or the mother of the house lights it, and in some places three are lit for the Holy Family. If it went out by accident, that was taken as a bad omen.

When does Christmas start and end in Ireland?

Traditionally it ran from 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, when decorations went up, to 6 January, Little Christmas or Nollaig na mBan. Leaving the decorations up past the sixth was thought unlucky.

What is Little Christmas?

6 January, Nollaig Bheag, also called Nollaig na mBan, Women's Christmas. It closes the season: the decorations come down and the three wise men are finally placed in the crib. Christmas Day itself was called Nollaig Mhór, Big Christmas, to tell them apart.

What happens on St Stephen's Day in Ireland?

26 December is Wren Day. The Wren Boys go from house to house collecting for the wren party, strongest in Kerry and around Dingle. Fasting on the day in honour of the saint's martyrdom was traditional, and mummers' plays are performed in both jurisdictions.

How do you say Happy Christmas in Irish?

Nollaig Shona duit to one person, Nollaig Shona daoibh to more than one.

Sources

A custom kept in your house that is not here? Tell us.

Wren Day, 26 December · Nollaig na mBan, 6 January · The Irish year · St Brigid's Day

Christmas in Ireland