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Growing up in west Kerry, Christmas was (and nonetheless is) not formally over till after Nollaig na mBan (Women’s Christmas) on January 6 – candles are lit in home windows and decorations will not be taken down till the following day.
I’ve celebrated this since I used to be a baby. My grandmother liked Nollaig na mBan, when my Dad would gather her round lunchtime and convey her to go to along with her sister in Dún Chaoin, a village in west County Kerry. They would each costume of their Sunday greatest, my grandmother sporting the colorful beaded necklace she saved for particular events.
Like ladies throughout Ireland on January 6, the 2 sisters would have a catch up, eat some cake and possibly actually have a glass of punch earlier than deciding what different calls they wished to make to their associates that day. My dad was their chauffeur as a result of Nollaig na mBan was historically a “time without work” for ladies after organising and executing a busy Christmas vacation for his or her households.
For my grandmother’s era in West Kerry, it was a day to catch up and socialise with different native ladies who had labored arduous over Christmas. After currant cake and chats in numerous houses, my dad would drive them to one of many native pubs to fulfill different associates and the place there is likely to be some music. The women would proceed their catch-ups there over sherries and sizzling brandies – a stunning approach to end up their busy Christmas season.
Celebrating Nollaig na mBan round Ireland
The custom of Nollaig na mBan has been celebrated for generations in West Kerry. Elsewhere in counties Kerry and Cork, in addition to different Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) areas it was additionally widespread, however in lots of different communities round Ireland it was not a convention in any respect.
In these locations, January 6 is extra possible often called “Little Christmas” (as a result of would end the leftovers of bigger Christmas feasts) or the Feast of the Epiphany, the final of the 12 Days of Christmas. Oíche na dTrí Rithe (the Night of the Three Kings) marks the go to of the three sensible males to the infant Jesus. People place the three kings of their Christmas nativity cribs, and sometimes mild three candles of their home windows to mark the widespread lore across the kings turning water into wine on the January 6. As Irish folklorist Kevin Danaher wrote:
Oíche na dTrí Rithe,
Sea deintear fíon den uisce
(The Night of the Three Kings,
The water turns to wine)
It’s solely been lately that I’ve realised how fortunate I used to be to have grown up with such a robust custom of celebrating ladies on this present day. And from what was historically a time when ladies might go to one another for a chat over the food and drinks of their selection, the day has since turn out to be an opportunity to exit, assist and have a good time one another.
In 1970, Danaher wrote of Nollaig na mBan: “Christmas Day was marked by beef and whiskey, males’s fare, whereas on Little Christmas Day the dainties most well-liked by ladies – cake, tea and wine, had been extra in proof”.
While in the course of the Christmas season meals had been heavier, by January 6 folks had been typically ending off the bits and items of leftover meals. Certainly, “dainties” and currant desserts had been the norm for my grandmother’s gatherings. And the saying: “Nollaig na mBan, Nollaig gan mhaith” (Women’s Christmas, no good Christmas) was generally bandied round by males as a little bit of a jibe that alludes to the “lesser” meals usually eaten on the day.
When we learn concerning the origins of the custom at this time, many articles give attention to the concept that ladies took the time without work from their traditional housekeeping and chores. But throughout and since my granny’s time, many ladies nonetheless undertook the same old duties within the morning, placing apart time to relaxation and socialise from lunchtime onwards.
The creator’s grandmother in 1942, Com Dhíneol Thuaidh (Coumeenoole North), Kerry. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0621, Page 413 by Dúchas © National Folklore Collection, UCD is licensed underneath CC BY-NC 4.0.
Tomás Ó Muircheartaigh / Dúchas, National Folklore Commission, CC BY-NC-ND
Modern-day Nollaig na mBan traditions
In the previous ten years or so, Nollaig na mBan has risen in recognition throughout Ireland, with metropolis pubs and eating places from Belfast to Cork promoting particular menus and occasions. For the second yr, a Nollaig na mBan pageant is celebrating ladies in north County Dublin.
Increased consciousness of this custom has unfold by way of social media and different protection, undoubtedly serving to to stoke this enthusiasm. Online dialogue round Nollaig na mBan typically centres on celebrating historic figures or creatives, alongside photos ladies publish of themselves with their feminine relations and associates.
Women celebrating Nollaig na mBan at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin in 2020 title their ‘Herstory Heroines’.
Today in west Kerry, Nollaig na mBan is widely known with nice fervour and in some ways is similar to my granny’s time, though we have a tendency to collect in native lodges, eating places and pubs for our catch-ups. Grannies, mums, sisters and daughters typically maintain brunch and lunchtime meet-ups, whereas teams of associates and work colleagues may have a good time at evening.
January 6 continues to be a time to recollect and have a good time ladies in Ireland, however it’s turn out to be rather more just like the best way International Women’s Day (on March 8) is widely known: it’s a day to learn and share work by feminine writers, poets and musicians, a day to put on jewelry and garments by Ireland’s many feminine designers, whether or not it’s a Margaret O’Connor neckheadpiece or an Emma Manley leather-based skirt.
Nollaig na mBan is a day to recollect how far ladies in Ireland have come because the latew Nineteen Seventies earlier than which bans towards contraception and married ladies working restricted our freedom. But it additionally reminds us how far ladies have but to go in gaining true equality in enterprise and society.
agranville@ucc.ie beforehand obtained funding however not presently from Culture Ireland, Arts Council of Ireland, Ealaín na Gaeltachta, Kerry County Council. She is affiliated with the Board of the Arts Council of Ireland and works on the Folklore Department, University College Cork.