In a little more than two weeks’ time, it’s Easter. The Christian holiday is celebrated in large parts of the world, and many traditions that have been established over the years can be observed in many countries. However, we would like to have a look at Irish Easter traditions and how they have changed until our modern times.
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Good Friday Traditions
Good Friday is one of the most important days during the Easter celebrations and in the Christian calendar overall. On this day, Christians remember Jesus’ death at the cross and the sacrifice he made for the people. They do so by spending the solemn day reflecting and fasting, especially refraining from eating meat. Many Irish families also attend church services. In some regions, religious people also make crosses from rushes or reeds to commemorate the crucifixion.
Easter Saturday to Monday
According to the Bible, Jesus rose up again on the third day after his death, which is now celebrated as Easter Sunday. And on the fourth day, he appeared to two of his followers. This is now Easter Monday.
On those Easter holidays, several traditions are performed and some even by people who aren’t religious at all. They’ve just known and celebrated them since they were children – and now carry them further.
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Easter Egg hunt
As in many other countries celebrating Easter, the people in Ireland also like to do egg hunts. Especially children partake in the hunts, where they have to look for dyed, hard-boiled eggs, chocolates, or other treats. Why are they hunting for eggs? The egg has been seen as a symbol for the rebirth of the earth and therefore of spring, even before Christianity. The connection to the resurrection of Jesus came later. And then, to make our modern Easter egg hunt perfect, the association of the Easter bunny with the Easter eggs came in the 17th century, most likely from Germany.
Egg rolling
What to do with all the hard-boiled eggs you found during your Easter Egg hunt? Well, for once, you could roll them down a hill in a race, as people do in some, often more rural parts of Ireland. While the rolling of eggs originally symbolized the rolling away of the stone from Jesus’ tomb, the tradition is rather just a fun game today.
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Easter Feast with the family
Easter is a celebration usually spent with family. People come together, enjoy and pass on their traditions like the Easter egg hunt or partake in services and enjoy meals together: From the Easter brunch where you can enjoy the eggs you’ve collected to afternoon tea and the Easter Feast in the evening. Irish Easter dishes often include lamb, leek soup, barmback (a sweet bread with raisins), hotcross buns, or fish, which also has a strong biblical connection. However, many Christians might have had enough of fish when Easter starts, at least if they partook in Lent: The period of fasting for 40 days often means fasting meat – and the Irish changed to fish as an alternative.
Those are some of the Irish Easter traditions still celebrated today. Which ones have you known about or celebrated yourself?
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