Christmas

January 6th is “Nollaig Na Mban” – Women’s Christmas

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Celebrating Nollaig na Mban on the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry a winding down from the festive season.

Nollaig na Mban or Women’s Christmas takes place on 6 January, the twelfth and final day of Christmas and the feast of the Epiphany in the Christian calendar. Traditionally this is the day when the women of Ireland have their chance to celebrate.

An early 19th century thatched cottage in the village of Castlegregory on the north side of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry has been home to five generations of the O’Shea family. The cottage, restored by Michael O’Shea and his wife the musician Máire Begley, is the venue for Nollaig na Mban on the Dingle Penninsula. There is music, dancing and singer Mary Lawless sings an energetic version of the song ‘Eileen O’Grady’.

Singer Mary Lawless

Today men have found their place in Nollaig na Mban but it was not always the case. Betty Fitzgerald remembers a time when men and children were banished from the house for Nollaig na Mban. This allowed the women to gather and,

Máire Begley recalls men making sarcastic and derogatory comments about Nollaig na Mban such as,

Máire Begley has vivid childhood memories of Nollaig na Mban but nowadays she tries to find new meaning in the occasion.

A ‘Nationwide’ report broadcast on 8 January 1997. The presenter is Flor MacCarthy. The reporter is Tom McGuire.

Source: Nollaig Na Mban

Oíche Nollaig na mBan: Poem and translation

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Women’s Christmas

There was power in the storm that escaped last night,

last night on Women’s Christmas,

from the desolate madhouse behind the moon

and screamed through the sky at us, lunatic,

making neighbours’ gates screech like geese

and the hoarse river roar like a bull,

quenching my candle like a blow to the mouth

that sparks a quick flash of rage.

I’d like if that storm would come again,

a night I’d be feeling weak

coming home from the dance of life

and the light of sin dwindling,

that every moment be full of the screaming sky,

that the world be a storm of screams,

and I wouldn’t hear the silence coming over me,

the car’s engine come to a stop.

Oíche Nollaig na mBan

Bhí fuinneamh sa stoirm a éalaigh aréir,

Aréir oíche Nollaig na mBan,

As gealt-teach iargúlta tá laistiar den ré

Is do scréach tríd an spéir chughainn ’na gealt,

Gur ghíosc geataí comharsan mar ghogallach gé,

Gur bhúir abhainn shlaghdánach mar tharbh,

Gur múchadh mo choinneal mar bhuille ar mo bhéal

A las ’na splanc obann an fhearg.

Ba mhaith liom go dtiocfadh an stoirm sin féin

An oíche go mbeadsa go lag

Ag filleadh abhaile ó rince an tsaoil

Is solas an pheaca ag dul as,

Go líonfaí gach neomat le liúrigh ón spéir,

Go ndéanfaí den domhan scuaine scread,

Is ná cloisfinn an ciúnas ag gluaiseacht fám dhéin,

Ná inneall an ghluaisteáin ag stad.

– from Selected Poems: Seán Ó Ríordáin, edited by Frank Sewell, to be published this year by Yale University Press and Cló Iar-Chonnacht

Source: Oíche Nollaig na mBan: Poem and translation

Day Of The Wren

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The day after Christmas, St Stephen’s Day also known as Wren Day is celebrated with different customs in various parts of Ireland.

The day after Christmas, St Stephen’s Day also known as Wren Day is celebrated with different customs in various parts of Ireland.

Wren Day is a unique celebration with different customs and traditions throughout the country.

Customs peculiar to this day have undergone some changes but in many places and more especially in the country boreens deep amid the mountains and around the streets of towns and villages, when you meet the wren boys, it is but proof that the roots of an ancient and cherished custom are not easily pulled.

In north Dublin they have the Mummers who are an entirely different band of players and actors who appear on St Stephen’s Day. The tradition of the Wren Boys goes back further than that of the mummers.

Tradition has it that for the 26th of December a wren bird is caught and perched on a branch of holly. The minute the ceremony is over, the wren is set free. The wren boys dress in straw costumes with masks and parade the wren from house to house in towns and villages collecting money for charity. Once the ceremony is over, the wren is freed back into the wild.

In the area around Corcu Duibne and Uibh Ráthach, wren boys were known as The Rhymers due to the musical nature of the ceremonies.

‘Wren’s Day’ was recorded on 26 December 1964. Presented in the Cork studios by Uinsinn Mac Gruairc.

From the RTÉ Archives Acetate Disc Collection which has been digitised with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) Archiving Scheme.

Children in Ireland celebrate St Stephen's Day or 'Wren's Day' on 26th December by processing from house to house with a branch of holly, circa 1955. (Photo by George Pickow/Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Children in Ireland celebrate St Stephen’s Day or ‘Wren’s Day’ on 26th December by processing from house to house with a branch of holly, circa 1955.
Photo by George Pickow/Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

LISTEN TO AUDIO PRESENTATION at: Day Of The Wren

The Wren Boy Procession and the Irish tradition of St Stephen’s Day

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Ireland marks Christmas in much the same way as many other nations around the world, but we have quite a few traditions and customs that are pretty specific to this island.

Ireland marks Christmas in much the same way as many other nations around the world, but we have quite a few traditions and customs that are pretty specific to this island.
Christmas in Ireland lasts from Christmas Eve until the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January and it’s on 24 December that one of the traditions marks the beginning of the festive season.
For example, after sunset on Christmas Eve a tall candle is placed on the sill of the largest window in the home and lit as a sign of welcome for St Mary and St Joseph.
The feast of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is marked on 26 December and in Ireland is often referred to as Lá Fhéile Stiofáin or Lá an Dreoilín or Wren Day. Traditionally, this is also a popular day for visiting family members and going to the theatre to see a pantomime
The name alludes to several legends including ones found in Irish mythology that link the life of Jesus to the wren bird. In a fading tradition in all but a few parts of Ireland, people dress up in old clothes and straw garments and travel from door to door carrying fake wrens during which those taking part sing, dance and play music.
Dependent on which region of Ireland you are in those taking part are called either “wrenboys” or mummers. Mummers carry on the tradition at the village of New Inn, Co Galway and Dingle, Co Kerry. In the North, the tradition is still often observed in Co Fermanagh.
The tradition has its roots in ancient Ireland when a real wren was killed and carried around in a holly bush tied to a long pole – these days fake birds are used.
The wren is one of the smallest birds in Ireland, but it has a very loud song and is sometimes called the “king of all birds.”
This is because of the legend of a little wren who rode on the top of an eagle’s head and boasted he had “flown higher than an eagle.”
Wrens were hunted for many years throughout Europe in medieval times with Ireland no exception to that.
In most parts of the island, the tradition died out in the early 20th century and the rhyme often used during the procession was “The wren, the wren, the king of all birds. On St. Stephen’s Day was caught in the furze. Although he was little his honor was great. Jump up me, lads, and give us a treat.”
In past times, the captured wren was tied to the wrenboy leader’s staff or a net would be put on a pitchfork. It would be sometimes cruelly kept alive, as the popular mummers’ parade song states “A penny or tuppence would do it no harm.”
The song, of which there are many variations, asked for donations from the townspeople. One variation sung in Edmondstown, County Dublin ran as such: “If you haven’t a penny a halfpenny will do. If you haven’t a halfpenny, God bless you!”
Often the boys gave a feather from the bird to patrons for good luck. The money was used to host a dance or “Wren Ball” for the town on a night in January.

Source: The Wren Boy Procession and the Irish tradition of St Stephen’s Day – Derry Now