As Ireland is predominately Roman Catholic, attending services on the night of Christmas Eve instead of the morning of Christmas is common. It is usually held at midnight and everyone who attends is given a candle blessed by the Bishop of the church, to light. We had this when I would attend services growing up as well, only as we aren't Catholic, it wasn't blessed by the Bishop.
Unlike here in the US, children do not leave out stockings, but leave sacks to be filled with toys on Christmas morning. As a sign of hospitality, after dinner on Christmas eve, families will often set aside milk and bread (or mince pies and Guinness). Here, we leave milk and cookies for Santa and sometimes carrots and celery for his reindeer.
Noilaig Shona Dhuit (pronounced as null-ig hun-a dit) or Merry Christmas in Gaelic! Christmas day in Ireland focuses more on the religious versus the secular, but children do receive gifts. Christmas is a time for families and dinner is traditionally served in the afternoon. The main course is usually a goose, turkey or chicken and sides include stuffing, gravy, and potatoes. For many, this is the largest meal of the year whereas in the US, we have several including Thanksgiving and Easter. Dessert is usually a Christmas pudding with a rum sauce.Often after the lavish meal, the kitchen table was again set and on it was placed some bread and milk and the table was adorned by a lit candle. if Mary or Joseph, or a wandering traveler, happened by, then they could partake of the hospitality. This is what Christmas pudding is in Ireland:
One unusual custom in Ireland on Christmas day is the Christmas day swim where people wearing nothing more than a swimsuit and a Santa hat plunge into the Atlantic or the Irish sea where temperatures are a mere 50 degrees in the water and much colder outside of the water. Although judging by some of the photos I saw of this, people do sometimes dress up in costumes. I found this image which shows Alan Heffernan at the 40-foot which is south of Dublin.
The candle in the window or Coimmeal Mór na Nollag, usually placed by the youngest member of the family. The idea was to light the way of the holy family who were travelling. It was also lit to show strangers that there might be an offering of food in the house within. Sometimes, there were three candles lit because Jesus, Joseph and Mary were looking for a place to stay. this was to show that they were welcome in an Irish home, even if they could not find a place in Bethlehem. During the Penal Times (1695-1793/1829) in Ireland, Catholic priests were forbidden to perform Mass, so the candle acted as a covert signal that the occupier was a Catholic believer and that mass could be held on the premises.
