Easter was the great feast of the Irish year, coming at the end of a Lent once kept far more strictly than now. Around the church calendar grew a body of household custom: yew worn for palm, hair cut on Good Friday, eggs eaten by the dozen on Easter Sunday, and children up before dawn to watch the sun dance. Below, the days in order, with what the 1930s schoolchildren wrote down about them.
Each item is labelled: Church for the liturgical calendar,
Custom for what people did, Belief for what
people believed or told (not claims of fact), and Law. The
1930s accounts are from the Schools' Collection; follow each link for the
child's own page.
Palm Sunday · Domhnach na Pailme
The start of Holy WeekChurch The Sunday before Easter, marking Christ's entry into Jerusalem, when blessed branches are given out in church. Holy Week — Wikipedia ↗
Yew for palmCustom A 16-year-old in Adare, Co. Limerick, wrote in the 1930s that people wore a piece of yew, blessed by the priest, took it home and kept it until the following Ash Wednesday, when it was brought back to be burned for the ashes. Dúchas: Áth Dara, Co. Limerick ↗
Spy Wednesday · Céadaoin an Bhrath
The nameChurch The Wednesday of Holy Week, called Spy Wednesday because it recalls the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. Easter — Wikipedia ↗
A legend of the spies (folk tale)Belief A farmer in Cloone, Co. Leitrim, told the story that Jesus passed a man sowing oats and asked him to tell the spies, if they came, that he had passed while the man was sowing. Overnight the oats grew tall; next day the spies were told the truth, that Jesus had gone by at the sowing, and gave up the chase. A religious tale, not history. Dúchas: Drumloughan, Co. Leitrim ↗
Hair, nails and seed (folk belief)Belief In Claremorris, Co. Mayo, people cut a bit of their hair on Good Friday as a sacrifice and sowed crops because a Good Friday sowing never failed, but it was very bad to cut your nails that day. In Fartamore, Co. Galway, everyone cut a little hair, and meat hanging in the house was taken down and never hung again. Dúchas: Claremorris, Co. Mayo ↗
· Dúchas: Fearth Mór, Co. Galway ↗
Pubs closed, until 2018Law Until 2018 it was illegal in the Republic to sell alcohol on Good Friday, with some exceptions, so pubs and off-licences generally closed. The ban ended that year, and pubs opened on Good Friday on 30 March 2018. In Northern Ireland a similar restriction applies until 5 pm. Good Friday is a bank holiday in the Republic, but not a public holiday. Good Friday — Wikipedia (Ireland section) ↗
· Irish Independent, 30 March 2018 ↗
Easter Sunday · Domhnach Cásca
The sun dances (folk belief)Belief The best-known Easter belief: that the sun dances as it rises on Easter morning, for joy at the Resurrection. Accounts from Donegal to Galway, Mayo and Dublin tell of people rising early to see it. It is a belief recorded in folklore, not something anyone has observed. Dúchas: Laurencetown, Co. Galway ↗
· Dúchas: Mín an Ghabhann, Co. Donegal ↗
Eggs, and lots of themCustom Eggs had been forbidden through Lent and hens were laying again, so Easter Sunday breakfast was eggs, three or four apiece in Claremorris. In Laurencetown it was said you ate as many eggs as you wished to have, and that the children were also given chocolate eggs. In Co. Kerry small eggs were boiled with furze blossom and grass to colour them before an Easter Sunday game in a field. Dúchas: Laurencetown, Co. Galway ↗
· Dúchas: An Drom Clochach, Co. Kerry ↗
The clúdógCustom Children went door to door before Easter collecting eggs (“guggies” in Leitrim) for an outdoor feast on Easter Sunday, cooked over a fire on a hilltop or a fairy fort. The word clúdóg covered the batch of eggs, the collecting and the feast itself. The food historian Regina Sexton notes that in the 1930s accounts it is strongest in Cavan and parts of Longford and Leitrim, and that Kevin Danaher thought it confined to the northern half of the country. By the 1930s it was already fading. RTÉ Brainstorm: Regina Sexton on the clúdóg ↗
The Easter houseCustom A Schools' Collection page filed under St Peter's, Phibsboro (its other pages describe Broomfield, Co. Monaghan) tells of children building an “Easter house” on a hill, preferably a rath: a ring of stones for seats, a brushwood fire in the middle, tea and boiled eggs, with an adult or two to watch the fire. The same kind of feast as the clúdóg. Dúchas: the Easter House ↗
New clothes and meat (translated from Irish)Custom A Killorglin account in Irish, given by a man of 86, says Easter Sunday was held in great respect, everyone took Communion, there was veal for dinner and a big pot of eggs, eaten from the shell for want of spoons, and new clothes were worn. It quotes two sayings: that it is a great shame to be without meat on Easter Sunday, and “food and drink for Christmas, new clothes for Easter”. Our summary and translation; follow the link for the original. Dúchas: Dubhghlas, Co. Kerry (in Irish) ↗
Easter Monday · Luan Cásca
A holiday since 1871Law Easter Monday was one of the four bank holidays the Bank Holidays Act 1871 created for Ireland, and it is a public holiday in the Republic today. Public holidays in Ireland — Wikipedia ↗
More eggsCustom In Boolavogue, Co. Wexford, a man of 68 said three or four eggs were eaten at every meal on Easter Monday. Dúchas: Boulavogue, Co. Wexford ↗
The RisingChurch The Easter Rising began on Easter Monday 1916, and Easter is when it is commemorated. A pupil in Kilchreest, Co. Galway, wrote down a local song beginning “Twas in 1916 on Easter Monday fair”, about the Galway Volunteers and “Captain Mellows”. Dúchas: Cill Críosta, Co. Galway ↗
· Easter traditions — Wikipedia (Ireland) ↗
What we have not been able to source
Easter Sunday egg-rolling is recorded in Northern Ireland as in Scotland and the north of England, but we have not found a Schools' Collection account of it in the 26 counties to link. Several popular claims, that the Irish Easter egg is a survival of a pagan spring rite, for instance, have no evidence behind them: the supposed goddess Ostara and her eggs cannot be traced before 19th-century speculation. Easter egg — Wikipedia ↗
How many Easter stories are in the Schools' Collection
Dúchas tags about 163 Schools' Collection pages with the topic Easter and about 52 with Good Friday. Those tags are applied by volunteers and are approximate; many pages that mention Easter are not tagged. Dúchas: search “Easter Sunday” ↗
Quick answersWere pubs closed on Good Friday in Ireland?
Yes, until 2018. It was illegal in the Republic to sell alcohol on Good Friday, with some exceptions, so pubs and off-licences generally closed. The ban ended in 2018 and pubs opened on Good Friday for the first time on 30 March that year. Northern Ireland has a similar restriction until 5 pm.
Is Good Friday a public holiday in Ireland?
No. It is a bank holiday, so banks and schools close and many businesses do too, but it is not one of the Republic's public holidays. Easter Monday is.
Does the sun dance on Easter Sunday?
It is a folk belief, not an observed fact. The 1930s Schools' Collection records it all over Ireland: people rose early on Easter morning to see the sun dance for joy at the Resurrection.
What is a clúdóg?
An Easter custom, strongest in Cavan, Longford and Leitrim: children collected eggs from the neighbours and held an outdoor feast on Easter Sunday, boiling or roasting the eggs over a fire. The word covers the eggs, the collecting and the feast.
Why is it called Spy Wednesday?
Because it recalls Judas, who betrayed Jesus, and the Gospel accounts of the plot against him. It is the Wednesday of Holy Week.
What did Irish people use instead of palm on Palm Sunday?
Often yew. A 1930s account from Adare, Co. Limerick, says people wore a sprig of blessed yew and kept it until the next Ash Wednesday, when it was burned for the ashes.