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Christmas Shopping in Ireland

Posted in Share the Joy, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 12/12/2013| 4 Comments »

Irish Christmas ShoppingScreen Shot 2013-12-09 at 7.06.45 PMYou love it. You hate it. You’ve got to do it. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am talking about Christmas shopping!

If you’re one of the lucky ones, you’ll be jetting off to New York for a bit of glam at Barneys, Bloomies, Macys and, perhaps, Bergdorfs. But if you’re like the rest of us staying closer to home, there is still lots of wonder and fun to be had.

To help you with everything from carrying your packages to Christmas deals, to shopping for loved ones living abroad and finding gifts for those “hard to please” family and friends, I’ve scoured my favourite haunts and come up with some ideas for you {and me}.

So, whether you’re out and about or at home surfing the net, the following seven resources will help make your Irish Christmas shopping less of a chore and more a labour of love. Enjoy!

Tip One…Finish a long day of Christmas shopping at Brown Thomas so you can avail of a new service BT has on offer…a Bell-Boy. According to their website, Frederic will happily carry your holiday packages to your car or hotel so you don’t have to. Book him here.

Brown Thomas Bell-boy

Frederic Johnson, the Brown Thomas Bell-Boy

Tip Two…Looking for a good shopping deal every day? Check out Marks & Spencer’s 12 Days of Magic and Sparkle here.

Tip Three…Need presents for loved ones now living abroad? Dunnes Stores has something for every budget and delivers internationally. The shipping charges are surprisingly reasonable. Learn more here.

Tip Four…Shop, tour, eat, and, when you’re done, take the kiddies to meet Santa at Avoca Handweaver’s Powerscourt. Book here.

Avoca Treats

Avoca Treats

Tip Five…Skip the hassles of in-person shopping and send a Donnybrook Fair hamper to your nearest and dearest. You’ll find them here. If a hamper doesn’t fit the bill, how about treating someone on your list to a fun cooking class here?

Tip Six… If time allows, pop into Fallon & Bryne in Dublin city centre where you’re sure to find a gift for a boss, relation, or friend who loves eating and cooking. While you’re there, have lunch or a relax over a drink at the bar…so nice. Too hassled to get out? Peruse their delicious on-line catalogue here.

Tip Seven… Visit Makers & Brothers for one of a kind gifts for that hard-to-buy-for-person in your life. Before you go, though, check-out this lovely short film about their Tiny Department Store here.

http://vimeo.com/80457088

Note: All photos for this post were taken from the websites of the companies  and services mentioned above. Thank you.

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An Irish Christmas

Posted in Share the Joy, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 07/12/2013| 12 Comments »

English: Wicklow Street, Dublin, Ireland. A Ch...

Wicklow Street, Dublin, Ireland. A Christmas greeting in Irish Gaelic (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Christmas countdown begins tonight in our Irish home and we are all a flutter with bringing home the Christmas (dressing the house and making treats). 

Our many boxes of decorations are sitting unopened in the hallway as I type this post, the tree is in the house waiting to be dressed, and the crèche is still in its boxes {as are my mom’s Department 56 holiday villages} but not for long! Tomorrow is December 8th which means Christmas in Ireland is officially underway.

Without a doubt this is one of the loveliest times of the year. Starting 8th December, with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and going through to 6th January with the Epiphany, there are lights to see, pantos to attend, singing choirs and street musicians to listen to, festive windows to visit, pubs to stuff into {mind your packages}, and traditions to keep.

Speaking of which, traditionally people living in the “country” come up to Cork, Dublin and Galway to start their shopping on 8th December but that’s not where the fun ends. There’s mid-night mass, a swim at the 40 Foot Christmas morning, the horse races on St. Stephen’s Day, and Nollaig na mBan on 6th January. I particularly like the last event as it’s the day when women meet up with one another or put their feet up and the men of the house do the housework, cooking and take down the Christmas decorations. {Laughter}…that’s never happened in our house!

So there you have it…Irish Christmas 2013 is just beginning. Hope you feel all the joy of the season and have a very Happy Christmas!

Read more: 

More about an Irish Christmas then and now at: http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/XmasthenNow.html

Christmas in Ireland Traditions at: http://christmas.guide-to-nireland.com

A typical Irish Christmas at: http://www.dochara.com/the-irish/irish-christmas/a-typical-irish-christmas/

Top Irish Christmas Traditions at: http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/The-top-ten–Irish-Christmas-traditions-that-make-the-season—SEE-PHOTOS-112236619.html

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Irish Thanksgiving Blessing

Posted in Share the Joy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 30/11/2013| Leave a Comment »

Celtic Cross at Gettysburg

Celtic Cross at Gettysburg (Photo credit: jimcrotty.com)

On Thanksgiving Day the following were among the most popular search engine terms that led people to In an Irish Home:

1. Irish Thanksgiving Prayer

2. Irish Thanksgiving Blessing

3. Irish Grace for Thanksgiving

4. Irish Blessing for Thanksgiving Dinner

5. Irish Blessing at Thanksgiving

Folks, I want to be very honest with you…Thanksgiving is not an Irish celebration. There is no special prayer, blessing or grace for Thanksgiving because the holiday does not exist in Ireland.

If you are looking for a form of Grace or a Prayer for mealtime that is typically Irish, I can tell you that I have only ever heard two in all my 20+ years of living in Ireland and they are:

Bless us, O Lord,

and these thy gifts

which we are about to receive

from thy bounty

through
 Christ our Lord. Amen.

~~~

Bless us O God as we sit together.

Bless the food we eat today.

Bless the hands that made the food,

Bless us O God. Amen.

I know this may not be what you want to read but I want you, Dear Readers, to know what really goes on behind the hall door of an Irish home. If, by chance, you know of any other grace or prayer that is said in Ireland, please do tell. I am always happy to pass good things on.

If you are looking for one of the many beautiful Irish toasts and blessings, some of which may be appropriate at mealtime, you can find many Irish blessings and prayers at inanirishhome.com at In an Irish Home.

But, if what you’re looking for is a traditional prayer before mealtime, one that is recited in homes all across the country, what you read above is what you’re after. As always, I wish you all the best.

Additional Notes, Related Articles & Credit:

* Prayers recited in our Irish home for lent may be found Irish prayers for lent.

** I learned to pray the Rosary properly with the help of my amazing mother-in-law, Mary Rose. How to pray the Rosary is what she taught me: in life it has served me well.

*** A poem that is often recited at Irish funerals includes the one known as Miss Me – But Let Me Go poem.

 

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Darina Allen Joins Blogosphere

Posted in Share the Joy, Trips/Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 30/04/2013| 1 Comment »

Darina Allen by Koster Photography.jpgI don’t know how I missed it!

Every now and again for the past year, I’ve been googling “Darina Allen” looking for a blog. Surely Ireland’s most celebrated cookery writer and founder of the Ballymaloe Cookery School would have one. Then, last month, I noticed a comment about Darina Allen and her relatively new blog whilst looking at the Irish Food Bloggers Association website.

It seems Darina started blogging on 14th June last year. In her own words, “it was a rough start initially” but in the last eight months she’s really taken off…literally. Darina’s blog reads more like a journal of food travels than recipes. To date she’s taken us to such places as Cambodia, New York, Sri Lanka, Mexico and, of course, all around Ireland in search of discovering food trends.

For those who don’t know her, Darina is to Ireland what Alice Waters is to America. She is credited with starting up the first Irish farmers market a decade ago. There are now over 150 of them across Ireland. Three years ago, she and Waters put forward an idea that lead to the Slow Movement’s Annual Grandmother’s Day, with the hope that grandmother’s Forgotten Skillscould help end child obesity by teaching their grandchildren to plant and cook dishes made with fresh local ingredients. She is author of 16 books, including Forgotten Skills of Ireland, Ballymaloe Cookery Course and, an old standby, Simply Delicious.

I had the good fortune of meeting Darina while attending the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shangarry, County Cork many years ago. She’s a quick wit, a wonderful teacher, and a food activist in Ireland and beyond. Ballymaloe is one of the only cooking schools in the world located on an entirely organic farm. In fact, it was my time spent at Ballymaloe which led to me developing organic kitchen gardens at our home in Ireland and in America.

If you visit Ireland and have an interest in cooking, consider a trip to Ballymaloe…there is a 12 week certificate course, over 60 shorter courses, and many afternoon classes to enjoy. And, if you’re just a fan and want to know what Darina’s getting up to, check out her blog.

And, if by chance you’re visiting the Cork area this weekend, Darina is hosting the first ever Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine at the Grain Store, Ballymaloe House and Ballymaloe Cookery School.

BallymaloeLitFestFoodWine250[1]There will be an incredible line-up of over 40 speakers including: Alice Waters, Madhur Jaffery, Claudia Roden, Bill Yosses (The American White House Pastry Chef) Stephanie Alexander (from Australia), Claus Meyer, Camilla Plus, Rowley Leigh, and David Thompson. Jancis Robinson MW and her husband Nick Lander are coming over from the U.K., as are Joanna Blythman, and some of the new young voices in food: Thomasina Miers, Stevie Parle, Alys Flowler, and Claire Ptak. And, that’s just the beginning. This international cast will be matched by a strong Irish presence. You’ll have to look at the Litfest.ie website to get the whole picture. It’s quite a tempting line-up!

Happy reading and cooking.

Related articles

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One Billion Rising in Ireland

Posted in Share the Joy, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 14/02/2013| 1 Comment »

I know today is Valentine’s Day and everyone wants to think about Champagne and chocolates and fat little cupids hurling arrows of love across the sky. But today, behind the red hearts and the roses, there is an even greater opportunity to send your love across the world. Dance.

Yes, Dance.

Today, 14th February, women and men, girls and boys will come together in Ireland and around the world to dance for a cause.  It’s a campaign of LOVE and it’s called ONE BILLION RISING. If you are a woman, know a woman, are raising a woman, love a woman…you should know about it.

Have you heard of it?

The ONE BILLION RISING global day of action is a campaign created by award-winning American playwright and gender activist Eve Ensler and V-Day, the international movement she founded to stop violence against women and girls.

Today, it is hoped that as many as one billion people will ‘rise’. That they will walk out of their homes, their work places and their schools in an act of protest against the fact that one in three women – a total of one billion women – will be beaten or raped over the course of her life.

Eve is calling on people everywhere, on this day of love, to express their outrage, demand change, strike, dance, and rise in defiance of the injustices women suffer.

Ireland is answering the call.

The following are known Risings across Ireland:

  • Dublin: The Living Room, Clarendon Street, 1.00pm
  • Dublin: The Spire, O’Connell Street, 1.30pm
  • Dublin: Dáil Éireann, 2.15pm
  • Dublin: Trinity College Front Square, 3pm
  • Dublin:Connolly Station, 4pm
  • Dublin: Top of Grafton Street, 6pm
  • Donegal: In front of An Grianan Theatre 1.30pm, Main Street, Letterkenny
  • Mayo: Mayo Rising, 10.30pm, Lannagh Road, Castlebar
  • Sligo: Sligo: Sligo Rising, 6pm, Forthill, Sligo
  • Donegal: Get Donegal Dancing, 1.30pm, Main Street, Letterkenny
  • Sligo, Belta Country Market, lunchtime
  • Tipperary: Cloughjordan Rising, 8pm, Parochial Hall, Step Road, Cloughjordan
  • Galway: Galway is Rising, 1pm, Eyre Square
  • West Cork: West Cork Strike, Dance, Rise, 1.30pm, Wolfe Tone Square, Bantry
  • Maynooth: Start a Rising, 2pm, NUI Maynooth
  • Ennis: 5pm, Ennis Courthouse, Zumba parade down to the Queens
  • Kerry: Into the Light, 8pm, the Square, Listowel, Co Kerry
  • Tralee: 7 – 8pm, contact details of organisers here
  • Cork: 6.30pm, St Aloysius, Sharman Crawford St, Cork
  • Cork: 5pm, Ballydehob social club, Co Cork

Go out today and show your LOVE by DANCING! For a full list of events in Ireland, visit: http://www.onebillionrising.org/page/event/search_results?orderby=day&state&country=IE&limit=100&radius_unit=mi

And, for more Irish details, visit: http://www.facebook.com/VDayOneBillionRisingIreland and

http://www.thejournal.ie/one-billion-rising-ireland-dance-792602-Feb2013/

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Birthdays and Giving the Gift of Happiness!

Posted in Share the Joy, tagged , , , , on 19/10/2012| 3 Comments »

October is a great month! The weather is cooling down but it’s not so cold that you have to wear a coat. Candy is everywhere…along with the chance to dress up and be someone you’re not. Soup is back on the stove and on restaurant menus as a main course. And, it’s birthday season – at least for me.

So many people I know and love have a birthday in October…including me! Perhaps it’s the season of birthdays, and the chance to celebrate, that makes me offer you the video clip link below so you too can remember why every year, no-every day, is an opportunity for happiness. You know the old saying…everyday is gift!

Click on the link. Watch the video. Be happy. If you’re a guy, send it to your favourite gal and make her happy. Send it out to all the women in your life. There’s nothing like giving or receiving the gift of happiness.

Go on…you know you want to!

http://www.upworthy.com/finally-pictures-of-gorgeous-women-that-make-you-feel-better-about-yourself-inst?g=2

 

P.S. Thanks Niamh for passing this video along to me!

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