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Irish Christmas Traditions, Toasts and
Blessings from The
Irish Jewelry Company
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Greetings!
Want
to wish your friends and family Merry Christmas in Irish this
season? Well that's easy simply tell them "Nollaig Shona Dhuit"
pronounced NO-Lihg HO-nuh ghwich and literally translated means
Happy Christmas. Today in Ireland, the most commonly used greeting
during the holiday season is "Happy Christmas." Our Celtic Blessing
and Claddagh Wreath
Christmas cards will also do the trick.
Are
you looking for a warm and heartfelt Irish blessing for Christmas?
Our Irish Blessing Bread
Warmers and Irish Christmas
Blessing Plate are perfect. Try this Irish Christmas
Blessing....
"The
light of the Christmas star to you, The warmth of home and hearth
to you, The cheer and good will of friends to you, The hope of a
childlike heart to you, The joy of a thousand angels to you, The
love of the Son and God's peace to you."
In
Ireland fall is the time of the year to make the house ready for
the upcoming holiday celebrations. The heirloom stockings,are hung
like our Bagpiper and Irish Christmas
Stockings. An Irish home is cleaned top to bottom. Special
holiday Irish Linens,
like our Tartan Kilt Apron
are brought out of storage. Once all is clean it is ready for
festive Christmas decorating and a cozy turf fire! Cuddle up to our
exclusive Irish Country
Candles with our popular scents like Turf Fire and Celtic Winter.
And for those more romantic winter evenings try our Celtic Love Spell
Candle.
Did
you know that "Holly and Holly Wreaths" were
Irish traditions too? Yep, that's right. No Irish home would be
complete without the holly. Holly grows wild in Ireland and is used
to decorate the entire house. The Celtics believed holly
represented life and rebirth much like the Tree of Life. The evergreen
leaves symbolized life during a time when all else was bare and the
red berries represented the coming of Spring. With the coming of
Christianity to Ireland the berries took on a new meaning, new life
in Christ. One charming folklore says holly is put out as a kind
gesture to tiny fairies who might
use it as a hiding place. Holly wreaths as a door decoration can be
traced to North American Irish immigrating to the US during the
Great Potato Famine.
The
ancient Celts believed that mistletoe had healing powers. Its
powers were so great that its presence encourage a brief truce
among enemies. Hence the Victorian era custom of kissing under the
mistletoe. So turn up theIrish Christmas Music, start
playing your Bodhr�ns, hang
the mistle toe and let the kissing begin!
Do
you put a candle in the window at Christmas time as part of your
decoration? Well, guess what that's an Irish Christmas tradition
too! Candles in the
window date back to ancient time's laws of hospitality towards
stronger. To have a light in your window on Christmas Eve to
welcome the stranger meant that you were welcoming the Holy Family
too. To have no light meant that you shared the guilt of the
Innkeeper at Bethlehem who said, "No Room"!
In
Ireland they have traditional holiday foods. The Irish Christmas
cooking usually starts early with the making of plum pudding, fruit
cakes, breads, and spiced beef. A traditional Irish Christmas meal
might consist of roasted goose, potatoes, cranberry sauce,
vegetables, sausages, Irish Plum
Puddings, and yummy Irish fruit
cakes. Our Fecking Book of Irish
Recipes has all the traditional Irish recipes like Irish Soda
Bread and Bread Pudding for the holidays with a bit od Irish humor
as well. Our yummy Irish chocolates
are the perfect holiday stocking
stuffers.
Don't
forget you can always start your own Irish Christmas traditions ...
like putting out your Irish Santa Claus
and our hanging a St. Brigid's
Cross in the door way for triming your tree with Irish
ornaments like our Angel of Ireland
Angel.
Most
of all don't forget to cozy up to a warm turf fire with authentic Irish Peat and toast your
family and friends on Christmas with a lovely Irish Tea after
dinner. Impress your family and firends with a "Wee Bit -O- Irish"
this holiday season. Try this Irish Christmas Toasts In Gealic,
"Nollaig faoi sh�an is faoi shonas duit." It means "A prosperous
and happy Christmas to you."
As
they say in Ireland on Christmas "May peace and plenty be the first
to lift the latch on your door, and happiness be guided to your
home by the candle of Christmas."
Shop Irish
Now>
A very
Scottish Christmas....
In Scotland, Christmas had traditionally been celebrated very
quietly, because the Church of Scotland. The Scottish people have
their big celebrations on New Year's Day, called Hogmanay.
A long time ago there is a superstition that it is bad luck for
the fire to go out on Christmas Eve, since it is at this time that
the elves are abroad and only a raging fire will keep them from
coming down the chimney. So on Christmas day, people sometimes make
big bonfires and dance around them to the playing of bagpipes.
Bannock cakes made of oatmeal are traditionally eaten at
Christmas.
In Scotland Santa Claus
didn't visit on Christmas Day traditional. He would be come after
Hogmanay Night on the first day of the New Year.
Now a days it would seem that Scotland is making up for lost time
and its four Christmasless centuries by putting December 25 very
firmly back on the holiday agenda. It's the perfect time to make
your own Scottish family Christmas traditions. Break out the tartan apron, linens and trim
the tree with Scottish
ornaments.
With all of the festivities, Christmas is a time of parties and
get-togethers. Blessings and toasts are often offered to the health
of those present, to honor the living and in memory of one who had
died. Give this Scottish blessing
a try during Christmas and toast to the
New Year: "May God shower joy upon us, my dear family, Christmas
brings us all good things. God give us grace to see the New Year;
and if we do not increase in numbers may we at all events not
decrease."
Christmas
in Wales...
As
in many countries throughout the world, Christmas and its
celebrations are a favorite time of the year in Wales, and there
are many traditions connected with it like decorating homes with
fresh mistletoe and holly. Mistletoe to protect the home from evil
and holly as a symbol of eternal life.
The
Welsh are great lovers of music and so every year at
Christmas, carol singing is the most enjoyed activity. In the
churches, they are sung to the harp. They
are sung in people's homes around the Christmas tree and at the
doors and windows of the houses.Caroling is called eisteddfodde and
is often accompanied by the
harp.
Taffy
making is one of the most important of the Welsh Christmas. This
involves the making of the special kind of chewy toffee from brown
sugar and butter. The Christmas goose is also
essential.
Today
the Welsh people maintain most of the traditional customs
associated with Ireland and England such as giving
lovespoons, hanging holly and mistletoe, making pudding,
singing carols, Christmas stockings, oranges, crackers and lots of
snow. Start your own Welsh traditions with our Welsh Christmas
ornaments and Welsh tea
towels.
Shop for Scottish and
Welsh gifts now>
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shop online
now>
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