BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Irish Culture Holy Week and Easter in Ireland

Mary Ellen, I would love to hear about what the customs are in Ireland during Holy Week and Easter....special foods, family traditions, etc. Do the people do the Easter basket, chocolate bunnies and jelly beans, etc? How about getting new Easter clothes? I'm interested in anything you've got to share!

Big chocolate Easter eggs filled with candies for every child.

Easter lilies were symbols of the Republican movement, i.e. The Easter Rebellion. They were frowned upon due to this. Now, I hope, they are back in fashion because they are lovely and should not be associated with any negative connotation. Family members place blessed palm from the graves of loved ones on Palm Sunday and potted flowers on Easter Sunday.

Mass, of course, Easter morning mass, and a nice breakfast after with Irish bacon, sausage, black and white pudding, eggs, and a mushroom or half a fried tomato with plenty of tea and brown or soda bread.

Dinner would be leg of lamb, small potatoes, peas, and mint jelly. Trifle is a very Easter dessert.

The pubs are closed on Good Friday. Oh the horror of it!

New Easter hats and outfits. <img src="/images/graemlins/easter.gif" alt="" />

The lead up to Easter is lent. Six weeks of fasting in the form of 'giving up' some favourate food. This is usually Alcohol for the men, favourate foods for the women and sweets for children including chocolate for all. We all had buckets full of toffies to devour on Easter Sunday along with the traditional gifts of chocolate Easter eggs from parents and relatives, which are of various quality, expense and size (chicken size or football)- some extravently decorated and some filled with the most delicious chololate sweets. The number received depended on how many relatives one had.
As a Catholic I recall that for two weeks prior to Easter Sunday there is church services every evening, including the Palm Sunday procession through one's Villiage or streets where every house had a display of some kind in their windows.
Easter Sunday dinner used to be bacon cabbage and callcannon with apple pie and custard for desert. Later came the Turkey & trimmings with whisky trifle and/or chocolate fudge cake & Irish coffie.