From 4,000 Hail Marys to Irish burial place of Santa - learn about Irish Christmas tradition

GET into the Christmas spirit and rediscover the beauty of some well-known (and not so well-known) Irish Christmas traditions through an interactive talk on Saturday, December 2, at the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar.

The National Museum of Ireland is delighted to welcome Salvador Ryan, Professor of Ecclesiastical History at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth, for this special event.

Prof. Ryan will trace the origins of Christmas traditions and explore their manifestations in history, art, music and literature.

The talk marks the publication this week of Prof. Ryan's new book - Christmas and the Irish: A Miscellany. This collection of 75 articles from a broad range of contributors reflects on what Christmas has meant to Irish people through the ages, at home and abroad.

Topics include festive feasting and fighting in the Middle Ages, a history of Irish Christmas food, crimes of Christmas past, Christmas in the Irish folk tradition, the claim that Santa's grave is in Co. Kilkenny, and the curious custom of reciting 4,000 Hail Marys in the lead-up to Christmas.

In this talk at Turlough Park, Prof. Ryan will look at how Christmas traditions run deep, and are often filled with precious memories. These customs have become so familiar that we take them for granted. But they had to start somewhere. Where did they come from? What is the origin of our most cherished Christmas traditions? Some are very ancient, but others are relatively recent.

Prof. Ryan will bring the audience on an interactive journey to uncover the roots of the most familiar aspects of the Christmas story - looking at ancient writings, artistic developments through the Middle Ages, Christmas carols, Christmas cards and Christmas plays. The presentation aims to enrich the participant's understanding of Christmas and its traditions, while having fun along the way (and perhaps singing a few carols as well!).

Admission to this talk is free but booking is required. Telephone the bookings office on (094) 9031751 or email educationtph@museum.ie. Visit https://www.museum.ie/en-ie/home for further details.

Salvador Ryan is Professor of Ecclesiastical history at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth, where he teaches on the history of Christianity. He has published widely on various aspects of social, religious and cultural history, and writes regularly for the Irish Independent and Irish Times. He is a frequent media contributor and particularly enjoys sharing his passion for history with general audiences, in an engaging, informative and light-hearted style.

His latest book, Christmas and the Irish: a Miscellany, is published by Wordwell Press.