Ireland | THE HEADLESS PHOTO BLOG

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING AT THE END OF A RAINBOW

The pedestrian bridge, with the rainbow lights, is the The Millennium Bridge spanning the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland, joining Eustace Street in Temple Bar to the north quays.

I eat at the Eatokyo Restaurant and one of the staff asked why we say Happy Christmas rather than Merry Christmas and why we do not refer to the day after Christmas as Boxing Day.

Christmas in Ireland is the annual festival which marks the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus and its related observances, but also incorporates some pre-Christian customs. These customs range from the traditional food and drink consumed, decorations and rituals, as well as more modern phenomena such as the Christmas day swim and annual television and radio events. The modern Irish Christmas has become more similar to that of the British and American festive period, with emphasis on gift buying and parties.

Historically, for Irish Catholics, the festive period began on 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, with many putting up their decorations and Christmas trees on that day, and runs through until 6 January, or Little Christmas. In modern times, The Late Late Toy Show, on the last Friday of November is viewed as the beginning of the Christmas festive period.

The greeting for “Happy Christmas” in Irish is Nollaig Shona Duit [singular] or Nollaig Shona Daoibh. The literal translation of this is “Happy Christmas to you”.

In parts of Europe, such as several regions of Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, and Ireland, 26 December is Saint Stephen’s Day, which is considered the second day of Christmas.

It is claimed that it was originally “Merry Christmas,” as in the old carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”. However, in the 17th century, Christmas was neither merry nor happy as it was illegal. Puritans in England banned the holiday as licentious, a non-biblical holdover from pagan times. Some historians attribute commentators have attributed the British preference for “happy Christmas” to the use of the expression by the royal family in annual Christmas broadcasts. King George V began the practice in his 1932 Christmas radio message, written by Rudyard Kiplin. I assume that Happy Christmas is used in Ireland as it is a translation of Nollaig Shona Duit,

HAPPY CHRISTMAS OR MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL

17 DECEMBER 2022

I visit Roebuck Road twice a week and I return home by getting the 17 bus to the Luas Tram stop in Dundrum but to day I decided to walk to Dundrum via Bird Avenue but I noticed a signpost pointing to the Windy Arbour Luas Tram Stop so I decided to explore the Windy Arbour area.

I must admit that I almost got lost as I ended up in a maze of back lanes and when I asked someone how to get to the Luas Tram Stop he suggested that walking was the best way.

Windy Arbour is a small suburban village in the Dundrum area of Dublin, Ireland. Situated between Dundrum and Milltown, along the banks of the Slang River (also Dundrum or Slann River).

The name of the area was originally Irish Na Glasáin, “the green land”; this was Anglicised as ‘Glassons’. The name Windy Harbour or Sandy Arbour was later applied, referring to a landing-point on the River Slang. A starch mill was formerly located there. “Arbour” once had the meaning “grass plot, lawn, garden”; it is possible that the name was intended as a direct translation of glasáin.

Perhaps the most famous person to live in Windy Arbour was Irish patriot Robert Emmet, who grew up in The Casino, a manor house that is now known as Emmet House, where the Secretariat of Secondary schools in Ireland is currently housed. It is located next to the Catholic church on Bird Avenue and was formerly known as Carton House.

The Central Mental Hospital is located beside the village and was built c.1850. The hospital provides treatment in high, low, and medium-security conditions. Patients are referred by the courts, the prisons and local hospitals for both assessment and residential treatment.

Windy Arbour has a number of shops, a supermarket, post office, pharmacy and a bakery. It is also home to several takeaways and restaurants. There is a primary school in Columbanus Estate known as Our Lady’s National School, Clonskeagh. The area is served by Windy Arbour Luas stop and by the number 17, 44 and 61 bus routes.