Ideas for an old-fashioned Irish Christmas

[AVeryIrishChristmas]

We are hosting MIL for Christmas this year.
She has dementia and is very confused/forgetful, but she loves talking about and remembering her childhood.

Unfortunately she can’t remember enough to tell me herself, but I’d love to include some little touches at Christmas that might remind her of her childhood celebrations.

She grew up in rural north-west Ireland in the 1940s.

Does anyone have any ideas of things like food, drink, music, decorations, games etc that might spark a recollection?

For.decoration - mum doesn't recall a Christmas tree until about the late 50s.

They decorated with holly sprigs above the windows and tucked in at the top of the pictures - one of the Sacred Heart and one of the Pope, which after rural electrification had a permanent little light glowing under it.

They also made simple paper decorations, and always had a Nativity/ crib and on Christmas Eve set a candle in each window to light the way for the holy family passing by.

Yes @mathanxiety I don't even remember a turkey in the 60’s.
My mother also came from a very small farm, a few cows, chickens, a pig or 2. Very little probably bought in. Made their own butter etc. Only water from the well. No electric. No gas even from a bottle at that stage. Some of these descriptions of a Christmas dinner must have been very well off.
And to make matters worse no drink no dancing (Presbyterian) 😬

OP, I think it's a lovely thing you're doing for your MIL. You're being so kind.

I can't think of anything other than paper chains and bringing in some holly.

I hope you give your MIL a lovely Christmas, bless you.

What a lovely idea OP you are great daughter in law.

Can I suggest the 'faith of our fathers 'album of old Irish hymns my dad loves it ( he's 89)

open.spotify.com/album/6vwC2oWlqXLmIjGil16vJc?si=cisw2ZzsRrqRSV1Smd91RQ

Mass
Crib
Stocking as in an pair of socks or tights with orange in it and a few coins like 50 p talc like Lily if the valley maybe bar of soap .
Tinsel on tree. And paper decorations. Christmas cards on a string across fire breast wall.
Val Doonican .....probably can get him on You Tube to show on tv
Val Doonican show was a big part in my mother's Christmas.
Agree with turf fire/turf candle
Christmas dinner would not have been like it is now . I would say a simple dinner of turkey and ham with stuffing and Brussels sprouts and carrots and potatoes. Huge knob of butter with the spuds.
Christmas pudding rather than fresh cream desserts.
It would most likely have been a glass of milk served with dinner or dilute juice.
Then perhaps a small sherry or snowball drink after dinner.

My parents a bit younger but agree with ham, turkey and bread sauce. We always have cranberry sauce too. We quite often have soda bread with butter and smoked salmon earlier in the day. When my mam makes the Christmas cake everyone has to ‘turn’ it, I.e. give it a stir. A single candle in the window to light the path home (this is what I was told, someone upthread mentioned letting Mary and Joseph in). Jameson and 7Up! Of course mass 😅

This is a lovely thread.
My grandad was from Ireland and my English Nana really embraced all things Irish and I have really fond memories of her being in charge of the fire when we went on holiday there.
I've just bought the peat burner as I think it will bring back some lovely memories for her as my grandad died last year.

There's a book called Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen, of Ballymaloe fame. She has lots of old recipes in there from her childhood in Ireland with stories about them. My very senior Irish mum has enoyed dipping into it and might give you ideas for food.

That being said, Ireland, like any country is diverse and what my 90 year old Mum remembers from her area may not match what your Mum remembers. There's a thread on Reddit called Ask Ireland where the people are very helpful and might give more specific replies if you tell them exactly what where your Mum is from.

I am irish. Traditions would be turkey, ham and spiced beef. Mass Xmas eve, usually mid night which can also be watched on TV. Decorations up including ceiling. Going to Carol singing service. Buy hollybough paper. For new year beating bread off the next door neighbours door to keep poverty away.

This reminds me of the city mouse and the country mouse nursery rhyme 😂😂😂
No offence intended and apologies if it comes across that way ☺️

There's an author called Alice Taylor who writes about growing up in Ireland and I think she has a book about an Irish Christmas. I read them years ago and my parents agreed with how accurate it all was. She's a great storyteller, so worth a read, or maybe read some aloud to your relative?

Bread sauce?! Certainly not in our Mayo household.

My dad was born in 1943. He said they sometimes had goose at Christmas? Though it's turkey now, and ham if there's a big group of us. No pigs in blankets, I didn't try these till I moved to England.

You need mash AND roasties, sausage stuffing, veg in our house was boiled only. Has anyone mentioned sherry trifle? Only ate these at Christmas.

Dad says the biggest treat for them at Christmas was having lemonade as kids, but has to be Irish red lemonade. Am sure red lemonade would be nostalgic for your MIL too.

Do you mean peat?

@vladimirVsvolodymr 😂 no offence taken 😁

Consider a hot bush? Hot whisky made from bushmills whiskey (north west) hot water a lemon slice studded with cloves. Or a hot port they do that here. We will have traditional turkey and ham with a layer of stuffing in between then all the trimmings. We will 💯 have a peat fire too

It's called stir up Sunday!

Daniel O'Donnell music from Donegal

There's a huge difference between the 1940s and the 1960s! It's very likely that her family was very poor and Christmas presents would have been few and far between.

I would focus on the music and old songs.

I wouldn't focus on hymns or mass if she is a lapsed Catholic. Every lapsed Catholic I know would hate that!

No starters
Boiled ham and a roast turkey with the stuffing inside
Sprouts, carrots and every type of spud imaginable. Gravy, mustard
Whiskey and red lemonade
Dessert instead of starters, for us that was a very alcoholy aged pudding, Christmas cake with marzipan, icing and ribbons or sherry trifle.
Much later in 70s/80s, Watching Rte and BBC in the evening as we were beside the border.

And turkey curry, sandwiches or stuffing sandwiches on Stephen's day.

Peat is turf, turf is peat

Big red Christmas candle in the window & holly decorations
Christmas or porter cake
Whiskey

Get her a Christmas Ireland's Own, an Old Moore's Almanac, a box of Black Magic, and get someone to smoke a Romeo Y Julieta in the background mixed with the smell of ham in a pressure cooker.

i think that’s accurate enough as far as it goes, but many people were poor. My mother’s (born 1946) Christmas childhoods were very plain and poor. No tree, obviously, holly and Ivy behind the pictures to decorate, some simple paper chains, the ‘treat’ food would be fruit and buts and dates, and the cake, clothes tended to come out of ‘American parcels’ and were kept for mass. Country people went to town on December 8th to do their shopping. The candle burning in the window (lit by the youngest in the house) might be the only thing that might prick her memory. ‘Santy ’ presents were likely to be humble, and midnight mass much more central. The treats were having visitors around, unusual food, and things being more sociable.

That would have been about a million times more sophisticated than my mother’s childhood Christmases! More like someone coughing up a lung on Woodbines and necking Powers! Agree with Ireland’s Own and the smell of damp ham.