Merry Christmas!

Christmas held a special place in my father’s (Peadar Bairéad) heart, and it was undoubtedly a magical festival for him. It evoked memories of his childhood in Erris of the Wonders with his family and neighbours, in the place he loved the most in the world, celebrating the faith that was so important and so strong and so central to him and to them at that time. Despite their living from hand to mouth, and perhaps because of that, the local community was very tight together and they were all very generous.

Christmas put all the children under a magic spell, and it was from that magic that Peadar’s vision of Christmas arose. Even as he grew up and grew older, he did not lose that bright vision he had as a child.

Here, in his own words, is a brief account of Christmas Morning when Peadar was a boy in the 1920s, over in Erris of the Wonders in County Mayo.

Christmas Morning

We could forget about the Christmas Stockings for a while. We would have fun with them after Mass... But 'First things First'... as they say.

But everyone was getting ready for Mass by now. There was no talk of breakfast, as we were all going to Mass fasting. Wasn't the light of the paraffin lamp beautiful that blessed morning?

 It was time to go to Church now, for the townspeople were already on foot, and they were going to church in small silent groups, and it was time for us to do the same. I don't remember rain or snow ever on Christmas morning; frost, certainly; and a starry sky full of bright, shining stars. There was a sacredness and a secret divinity to the cold and the stars. The presence of God was felt in them.

The women of the town met us. They were happy, content, returning home from early Mass, to start cooking. We would have goose for Christmas, at that time. Turkey was not customary in those days. No foreign culture had impacted us, at that time. The custom of turkey is a transatlantic custom, which had not yet been adopted in Erris.

And in the case of that church, in the Geata Mór, there were only seats for shopkeepers, teachers, and other well-to-do people of the parish, but the common people remained on their feet! But it didn't matter. It was the House of God, and it always welcomed everyone, however rich or poor. There was no light in that church except the light of the candles, those candles that gave us a soft, yellow, golden light, a light that was soft, kind, and warm, a light that had the magic of contentment. The end of Mass, and the dawn, coming together. Well, that's how I remember it.

We would spend the rest of the day idling, just as Peig Sayers would say long ago. We would feast, and have fun until nightfall, and be sure, too, that a couple of us would have his own wing of goose, after we had said goodbye to the big Christmas goose, because, alas, a goose has only two wings! 

And wouldn't there be a long, tiring day ahead of us with the Wren, the next day?

Wasn't it nice to be alive, but heavenly to be young, those days long ago, in West Erris, and many happy returns!

Christmas of (our) Youth

At Christmas, with the stars dancing,

As they danced in Bethlehem long ago,

Thoughts return to me in their myriads,

Like angels singing for the season.

 

The big blue candle burning

In the bright kitchen window,

To entice the Virgin's family

Through the frost and snow of the season.

 

My Mom busy making cakes and pastries,

Kneading and baking effortlessly,

And us playing and chatting,

In that little thatched house long ago.

 

The big roaring fire enticed me,

With warmth and loud crackling,

Soothing me, calming me, encouraging me,

With its bright, untroubled visions.

 

Would Saint Nicholas come to visit us,

At night when the Christmas star is above,

Or would the Baby and his Mom come,

When the family would lie down to sleep?

 

Memories of childhood return to me,

Tonight itself, and my age lost from me,

And the child in my heart praises

The child who lay in the manger.

 

Merry Christmas, and a happy and prosperous New Year, to all our readers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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