‘Jesus Will Lie in This Household Tonight’:
Christmas in Ireland

A season of customs, tradition, goodwill and Catholic faith abounds.

Candles and Nativity scenes are hallmarks of Christmas in Ireland.

A warm flame brightens the winter darkness — the light comes from a humble candle in the window of an Irish home.

It is typically placed in a front-facing window on Christmas Eve and lit as a sign of welcome, especially for Mary and Joseph seeking shelter — and represents the Light of the World.

Such Christmas candles are hallmarks of Christmas in Ireland, still fundamentally a Catholic season, with some customs obviously rooted in faith and still nurtured among kith and kin.

“The Christmas candle is one of the most poignant and enduring symbols of Irish Catholic Christmas traditions,” said Father Eugene Hasson, parish priest of Drumragh in County Tyrone, who also said this Irish Christmas custom has spread throughout the world.  

“This tradition carries layers of religious and cultural significance, making it a beloved practice in both devout and nominally Catholic homes.”

Father Hasson explained its origins: “The Christmas candle draws from deep Catholic symbolism. Its flame represents Christ as the Light of the World, illuminating the darkness and offering hope. For many, the act of lighting this candle on Christmas Eve is a prayerful moment, inviting the Holy Family into the heart of the home.”

The humble candle in the window in Ireland is considered a relic of the Penal Laws, when its presence subtly indicated a home where a fugitive priest was welcome.

“The candle also serves as a beacon of hospitality, echoing the Irish custom of always leaving a place at the table or hearth for a stranger in need,” the priest added.

Father Hasson recalled the reverence of lighting the candle in his childhood home in Dungiven, County Derry: “Growing up in Dungiven, the lighting of the Christmas candle was one of the most moving parts of Christmas Eve.”

“I can still picture the flickering flame in our window, casting its warm glow across the frosted panes — no double-glazing in those days — a quiet yet powerful reminder of something greater than ourselves,” he said. “My mother would always make it a reverent moment, asking us to remember those who had no home or warmth that night, echoing Mary and Joseph’s journey.”

“In hindsight, the Christmas candle represents the heart of Irish Catholicism: a faith expressed in gestures, rituals and acts of welcome,” he added. “Even now, in an Ireland that is often described as ‘post-Catholic,’ the Christmas candle endures — not just as a tradition but as a testament to the enduring power of faith and the innate human longing for connection with the divine. I am happy to continue to encourage this tradition.” 

Even poems evoke the tradition, setting the context for the candle in the window to welcome the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and the Newborn Saviour.

With candles of angels, the sky is now dappled.  

The frost on the wind from the hills has a bite.  

Kindle the fire and go to your slumber.  

Jesus will lie in this household tonight.  

                                                                  ~ from Christmas Eve, by Máire Mhac an tSaoi

Such customs run deep at Christmastime. “Our Catholic roots are strong in Ireland, particularly at Christmas,” said Aidan Gallagher, director of EWTN Ireland.

“Christmas is embedded in Ireland’s national calendar as a time for people to return from overseas to visit family, a time of hope; a season of faith; midnight Mass; confession; gifting of Mass bouquets; the Christmas Nativity scene; adoration of the Child of Prague and the ubiquitous presence of a light in a home window indicating a place of welcome, refuge and respite. It is also a time to visit graves, remember faithful departed family members. It is customary to make Advent wreaths to decorate the home and bring to the cemetery.”

Among the more unusual contemporary festive traditions in Ireland is the annual Christmas blessing of the planes, which will go ahead at Dublin Airport for the 77th time this Christmas Day. It is a remarkable tradition that began in 1947 with the blessing of an Aer Lingus aircraft, and since 1967, it has taken place on Christmas Day when the airport is closed. Originally, the aircraft were all named after saints; now, other airlines are included in this unique faith custom.

In Ireland, there are often quirky local Christmas traditions and customs that sit alongside more common observances. Niall Comer, a lecturer in Irish at Ulster University, pointed to many Christmas traditions collected in the folklore collection at the national library.

“Many of these recollections and accounts of Christmas show that it is, first and foremost, a religious time of the year. There are some interesting customs that emerge; for example, in some parts of the country, it was considered unwise to get married during Advent or Lent.”

“Advent was traditionally a time to prepare for Christmas and clean out the animal houses, likely linked to the significance of the stable in the biblical Nativity story,” he observed.

In Irish tradition and folklore, the wren is associated with Christmas, especially St. Stephen’s Day, Dec. 26. Comer explained, “Folklore tells us that when St. Stephen, who is known as the first Christian martyr, was hiding from his attackers, it was a wren that attracted his assailants by flapping her wings. On St. Stephen’s Day, local youths dressed as so-called ‘Wren Boys’ reenact a hunt for the wren in defense of St. Stephen.”

“The Christmas Festival ends with Nollaig na mBan, meaning ‘Christmas of the Women’ or ‘Little Christmas,’ on the feast of the Epiphany. The tradition was that after the exertions of the Christmas season, the Epiphany was a day when the women of an Irish household would relax and be looked after by the menfolk.”

The Nativity scene or “crib” is traditionally a fixture in many homes, arguably more important than a Christmas tree. It would not have been put up any earlier than Dec. 8. This writer recalls in our own family home the excitement of taking the crib from the attic loft and putting it in pride of place in the living room. 

Often, family members would make the crib themselves from broken wood and straw, painted carefully to resemble the ramshackle, bucolic but beautiful scene in Bethlehem. For our first Christmas after our wedding, our mothers together gave us a gift of the crib figures for our homemade crib, a Nativity scene we still re-create every Christmas in the 25 years since. The Baby Jesus was not placed in the crib until Christmas Day, with the Magi appearing on Jan. 6.

Leave all the doors wide open before her,  

The Virgin who’ll come with the child on her breast,  

Grant that you’ll stop here tonight, Holy Mary,  

That Jesus a while in this household may rest.

~ from Christmas Eve, by Máire Mhac an tSaoi

Patrick J. Passmore

From The National Catholic Register (EWTN)