Nollaig na mBan: Women’s Christmas in Ireland

The twelfth and final day of Christmas, January 6th, is known as ‘Nollaig na mBan’ (also referred to as Women’s Christmas, or Little Christmas).

This is a day which gives thanks to mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts and wives. Traditionally, women were the backbone of Irish families (‘cnámh droma an teaghlaigh’) and kept everything in order. Between cooking, cleaning and looking after their children, women still managed to make Christmas special for their families. In those days, it was normal for Irish women to have a big family of children. Women were also involved in their local community (‘an pobal áitiúil’), working at the markets during the Christmas season and helping out whatever way they could.

In times past (‘Sa seanam’), women in Ireland would gather with neighbours, friends or relatives to drink tea and eat the last of the Christmas cake. Some would treat themselves to a few alcoholic beverages (‘cúpla deoch’). This tradition was particularly common in rural Irish towns where women would sometimes meet each other in the pub for a few drinks while the man of the house stayed at home and took over the housework (‘obair tí’).

As religion was an important part of Irish society in the 20th century, it was common for women to attend mass in the evening time and light three candles which represented the Three Wise Men (‘an Triúr Saoithe’). The reasoning behind this was that it was believed that this was the day where the Three Wise Men appeared at baby Jesus’ crib for the first time.

Another Nollaig na mBan tradition in Ireland was the lighting of candles (‘coinnle a lasadh’). On the night before Nollaig na mBan (‘Oíche Nollag na mBan’), women would light 12 candles in the windows of their homes.

In Ireland, Nollaig na mBan is the day where all of the Christmas decorations (‘maisiúcháin Nollag’) are typically taken down. If decorations are taken down before or after January 6th, it is considered bad luck. This is a tradition which is still practiced by many people in Ireland today.

In the past, when Christmas decorations were far and few between, many households only had a piece of holly to hang up. On January 6th, a common Nollaig na mBan tradition was to burn the holly on the fire when all of the decorations were taken down.

Although the role of women in society has changed, Nollaig na mBan is still considered as a time when women celebrate friendship and sisterhood. Nach iontach an rud é – isn’t that great!