Christmastime in Dublin

It's Christmastime in Dublin and in conversations leading up the holidays we had several people tell us Christmas is really "big" in Ireland. What does that mean, we wondered? Could it possibly be "bigger" than it is in the U.S.? Are they referring to the shopping, or the decorations, or something else? 

So we went searching for the answer. Here is what we found.

• The "12 Pubs of Christmas."

There are something like 700 pubs in Dublin, and there's a particularly Irish tradition called "The 12 pubs of Christmas." You can probably guess where this is heading. The idea is to gather a dozen or so friends, dress up in garish Christmas sweaters ("jumpers"), and visit 12 different pubs over the course of an evening. The pubs are mapped out, and one person serves as the time keeper. The group enters a pub, everyone orders a drink, and 30 or so minutes later the time keeper signals and everyone gets up and walks to the next place. On a recent Saturday night, returning home from shopping, we walked by several of these groups. One of the groups was walking backwards up the street to their next stop. Not sure which number pub they were on, but I'm thinking it was still early.

• Christmas pudding. Sometimes called Plum Pudding, although it has no plums, it involves dried fruit and spices and suet and molasses and lots of alcohol, and is aged for at least a month. It reminds us of fruit cake, but people take it seriously, have their own family recipes, look forward to it, and actually eat it. 


• The Late, Late Toy Show. Every year in early December children stay up late to watch a show with a popular late night TV host showing all the latest toys. Children often make their Christmas lists based on what they see. The host also wears jumpers during the show that are knitted for him and sent in throughout the year by viewers. This is annually the highest rated television show in Ireland.


• The "40 foot." There is a rocky promontory on Dublin Bay and on Christmas day hundreds of Dubliners come out to this spot and jump into the water. If you do an internet search you can find photos and videos of people dressed in Santa outfits and silly hats leaping into the frigid bay. No one knows why it is called the 40 foot. We don't quite know what to think about this activity, but we have to say there is something quintessentially Irish about it.

• Grafton Street. 

This is the most famous shopping area in the city, always crowded and always filled with street entertainers. It feels much like a typical big city U.S. shopping area. One special Christmas tradition that has developed here over the past few years is a Christmas Eve busking session conducted by one of Dublin's favorite sons, Bono. He appears regularly, along with Irish musician friends like Glen Hansard, Sinead O'Connor and Damien Rice, to perform and lead a Christmas sing-along for the Grafton Street patrons. (Do an internet search for "Bono on Grafton street on Christmas Eve.") 

But as we think about it, the answer to the question of what is "big" about Christmas here is that it's big because it's the most loved holiday of the year. There is a lightness about it; a warm, good-natured, genuine happiness, as opposed to the stress-filled holiday we seem to have created in the States. It might be our imagination, but we don't think so. People seem genuinely happy, reveling in the season. We never hear people complain about to-do lists. Instead people seem to do what they genuinely enjoy doing to make the holiday meaningful. 

And thankfully, much about the season is very familiar. It has been a joy for Steve to participate in a seasonal choir at our church. The choir is populated by a group of people who have been singing together for decades, including a man who has served as the church organist for 50 years. Early in the rehearsals a retired fellow tenor showed Steve his copy of The Messiah, an old, somewhat tattered leather-bound book, and pointed out an inscription on the inside cover. Turns out the book had been handed down from his grandfather to his father and now to him, and all of them had sung in this church. 

Sandy is grateful for the little things, like finding all the Christmas cards for sale are sponsored by charities; no mass produced Hallmark or American Greetings in sight. And decorating our small apartment with a three-foot Christmas tree and a simple nativity set. She's still working on finding all the ingredients for her Christmas cookies (shockingly they don't seem to do Christmas cookies here), but she has found quite a nice recipe for mulled wine.

And all Irish teasing aside, it's good for us to remember that Jesus was known on this island a thousand years before He was made known in North America. As the angels proclaimed to the shepherds:

"Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord."

So to all our family and friends, wherever you are spending this precious holiday....
HAPPY CHRISTMAS from Ireland!!!