Letter: Epiphany - 'The Women's Christmas'

Jan 5th, 2024 (Updated Jan 6th, 2024)

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Tomorrow, Epiphany, is also called "Nollaig na mBan" (The Womens Christmas) in Ireland. Scotland has something similar. It was a day when 'the woman of the house' was relieved of her normal duties with the husband and older children taking them on. Women might gather in one house that evening to celebrate. The custom was not widely celebrated in my time (b 1947) but it had begun to revive again. The (1845-47) famine would have stopped it.

It was probably celebrated differently in every region, and less exuberantly in the poorer places. I remember my mother once saying jokingly when we were growing up, "that just to get a cup of tea handed to me is a treat in itself."

While I like the idea, relieving women of household duties for one day only is not something for men to be proud of!

Sean MacNialluis

**See also: Women's Christmas Retreat by Jan Richardson: https://sanctuaryofwomen.com/womenschristmas.html
This year's theme is "Curious about Joy."

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