A warm tale of Christmas in
Inishowen
21.12.07
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PEOPLE from abroad who
have made new homes in Inishowen have been meeting on a
weekly basis in Buncrana to discuss various issues
around parenting in Ireland today. The get-togethers
under the Parent Time Programme have been organised by
the Inishowen Partnership Company. The main aim was to
bring parents together and give them an opportunity to
meet people who share similar experiences of moving to a
new country and learning a new language. |
While many challenges of
parenting are obviously similar to those of Irish
parents, language is often an additional barrier for
many. Imagine what it would be like for many of us Irish
parents if our children came home from school talking in
another language and we had to communicate and
correspond in this new language to find out about our
child’s education and wellbeing. Also, having to live
and work in a new community, where the majority speak
this different language and adjust culturally – it's not
easy.
Gertrude Houton, who has been working with the group,
said they ended the sessions for this year talking about
Christmas.
"Hearing the stories from parents with Lithuanian,
Polish and Latvian backgrounds and comparing these with
Christmas in Ireland was very interesting. Similarities
we had in common were Santa, Christmas trees, Christmas
cards and fruit cake.”
Kasia Wotach from Poland explained: “The 8th of December
is called Little Christmas in Poland. On this date
children would receive a small present and Santa would
take away their letters.”
The group discovered that for many families leading up
to and on Christmas Eve, they would not eat meat, drink
alcohol or enjoy loud music or dancing. Fish, oil and
vegetables would be their main diet while wine made from
fruit juices would be drunk.
This special meal would be served for family members and
the table |
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would usually be set with
an extra place setting in the event a lonely neighbour
may arrive. They would usually prepare twelve different
dishes and/or lay the table for twelve to symbolise the
twelve apostles. Special bread (tasting similar to the
bread used for Holy Communion) would be baked and shared
by families. Some families would include a piece of this
bread in their Christmas cards to family and friends. |
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After the meal, children
would place a lighted candle in the window to welcome
Jesus into their home, some would attend vigil mass and,
or, read passages from the Bible. This night was known
as the miracle night, miracles could happen on this
night, animals may even talk! Santa would leave a gift
for each of the children that night - but not the loads
that seems to be the custom in Irish families at
present.
Meanwhile, on Christmas day, families would once again
celebrate but this time they would have meat, turkey or
duck, vegetables and dessert, ginger cake and homemade
biscuits.
“We concluded the session by choosing three good things
about living in Ireland at Christmas time," added
Gertrude.
"They were as follows: it's a special time for families, |
Kris kindle (the local
school had initiated this for the children) while the
third good thing was all the decorations and lights that
light up our homes and towns. We even stretched to a
fourth good thing about Christmas in Ireland - Irish
coffees!”
If you would like to get involved or have a neighbour
who may have moved here, let them know about the Parent
Time Programme - you can contact Denise or Kasia at the
Inishowen Partnership on 9362218. Happy Christmas
everyone. |
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