"Happy Christmas" Christmas in Ireland - Nollaig Shona Duit (singular) Nollaig Shona Daoibh plural - Amherst Town Library

Christmas in Ireland

  "Happy Christmas"
Nollaig Shona Duit (singular)
Nollaig Shona Daoibh [plural]

The Irish Christmas
 In Ireland, people today celebrate Christmas in much the
  same way as people in the UK and the USA, but they also
  have many of their own Christmas traditions and
  customs.
 Christmas for Catholic Irish people lasts from Christmas
  Eve to the feast of Epiphany on January 6th, which some
  Irish people call 'Little Christmas‘ or ‘Women’s Christmas”

Old Tradition
 There is an old tradition that people put a tall, thick
  candle on the sill of the largest window after sunset on
  Christmas Eve.
 The candle is left to burn all night and represents a
  welcoming light for Mary and Joseph.

Christmas dinner
 The traditional Irish Christmas meal consists of roast
  turkey, baked ham, roast potatoes, brussel sprouts,
  potato or bread stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce.
 Some also have round cake full of caraway seeds.
 In Cork and some surrounding areas, Spiced beef is
  traditionally eaten as part of the Christmas dinner.
 Dessert is very rich with a selection of Christmas pudding,
  (sometimes served with brandy being set alight and
  poured over it), Christmas cake, Yule log and mince
  pies with equally rich sauces such as brandy butter.

Christmas Pudding

St. Stephen's Day
 The day after Christmas Day, St. Stephen's Day (known
  as Boxing Day in the UK and some other countries), is also
  very important in Ireland.
 Like in the UK, football matches and horse racing
  meetings are traditionally held on St. Stephen's Day.
 One very old tradition is the Wren Boys Procession that
  takes place on St. Stephen's Day.

Legends
 An Irish legend recounts that St. Stephen – the first
  martyr for Christianity - was betrayed by a wren while
  hiding from his enemies, resulting in his death by stoning.
 Another story tells of a wren betraying Irish soldiers on
  St. Stephen's Day by alerting the Vikings of their presence
  before an ambush around 850 AD.

Wren Boys – (Lá an Dreoilín)
 Because of these legends, some Irish people held
  contempt for these small birds and felt they should be
  stoned to death the way that St. Stephen was. The wren
  was seen as having earned the cruel punishment.
 Young boys would hunt a wren and parade its body
  around the village to collect money in return for a wren's
  feather, then use the collections to throw a party for the
  neighborhood.
 Some processions still take place today, but no wren is
  hunted, killed or used in the event.

“Hunting the Wren”
 “Hunting the Wren” is an Irish tradition that is believed to
  pre-date Christian times.
 Local musicians and dancers would then dress in garish
  disguises and go house to house collecting money, food
  and drink for a party.
 Woe betide the house that did not donate to the cause –
  the wren could be buried outside their door which would
  bring 12 months of bad luck!

Wren Boys

Wren Boy Images

The Wren Boys
 “Hunting the Wren” is an ancient ritual – in its
  original form a wren was hunted, killed and
  hung on a holly bush.
 Wren's were hunted for many years throughout
  Europe in medieval times.
 In reality the tradition almost certainly refers
  back to pagan times, long predating Christianity,
  and is related to the position of the wren as the
  king of birds in Celtic Mythology.

The Wren
 The wren is one of the smallest birds in and Ireland but
  has a very loud song and is sometimes called the 'king of
  all birds'.
 This position was supposedly earned when in a contest
  the tiny wren flew higher than any other bird, a feat
  managed by the clever wren hitching a ride on an Eagle’s
  back, and then launching itself and flying high when the
  Eagle became tired and began to return to land.

Wren Boys Procession
 Nowadays no birds are killed, instead those engaged in
  the hunt, the so called ‘wren boys’, dress in straw suits or
  other costumes (not unlike Halloween costumes) and
  march through the streets, calling into pubs, house and
  even local hospitals while beating drums and playing
  whistles, singing and repeating the rhyme below while
  asking for “a penny for the wren”.
 The Wren Boys Procession mostly died out in the early
  20th century, although it still takes place in some areas in
  the south-east and southwest of Ireland.

Ireland appears to be the
only country where January
6 is celebrated as Women’s
Little Christmas.

'Nollaig na mBan'
 The Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th) was also
  celebrated in some towns in Ireland as 'Nollaig na mBan'
  or Women's Christmas.
 Traditionally the women got the day off and the men do
  the housework and cooking! The women met in each
  other's homes to sew and chat.
 Although it's mostly died out, some women still like to get
  together on the Sunday nearest Epiphany.
 It was very popular in Cork and Kerry.

Messiah on the streets of Dublin

A General History
  of Christmas

Christmas
 The word Christmas is a shortened form of “Christ’s
  mass”, or “Cristes Maesse” as it was first recorded in
  1038.
 The term “Christ” – or Crīst as it originally read – comes
  from the Greek word Khrīstos, a translation of the
  Hebrew word Messiah, which means “anointed”.

Celebrating Christmas
 Interestingly, early Christians actively rejected the
  celebration of Christ’s birth as they saw birthdays as a
  pagan ritual, followed in the Bible by figures like the
  Pharaoh.
 For the first three centuries of Christianity’s existence,
  Jesus Christ’s birth wasn’t celebrated at all.

Roman Empire Turns Christian
 In the first three centuries there were persecutions of
    Christians. The first 31 popes were martyred.
   306 A.D. Emperor Constantine began a process of
    “Christianization of the Empire”
   313 A.D. The Edict of Milan legalized Christianity.
   380 A.D. Theodosius 1 proclaimed Christianity as the sole
    religion of the Roman Empire.
   410 A.D. Rome fell to Alaric and the Visigoths. Romans leave
    Britain.
   476 A.D. The last Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus was
    defeated by the German Goth Odoacer. Thus began the “Dark
    Ages” in Europe.

When was Jesus Born?
 But was Jesus really born on December 25 in the first place?
  Probably not.
 The Bible doesn’t mention his exact birthday, and the Nativity
  story contains conflicting clues. For instance, the presence of
  shepherds and their sheep suggest a spring birth.
 The Christian holiday of Christmas, owes many of its traditions
  to the ancient Roman festival, Saturnalia, including the time of
  year Christmas is celebrated.
 The first official mention of December 25 as a holiday
  honoring Jesus’ birthday appears in an early Roman calendar
  from 336 A.D.

Jesus’ Birthday
 It was only in the year 340 AD that Pope Julius I fixed the
  date of Jesus’s birthday at 25 December.
 The DePascha Computus, an anonymous document
  believed to have been written in North Africa around 243
  CE, placed Jesus’ birth on March 28.
 Clement, a bishop of Alexandria (215 CE), thought Jesus
  was born on November 18.
 Based on historical records Fitzmyer, professor emeritus
  at The Catholic University of America, estimated that
  Jesus’ birth occurred on September 11, 3 BCE.

Major Christian Feast Days
 Easter and Pentecost (celebrated seven weeks after
  Easter to mark the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the
  Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ) were the
  main occasions in the Christian calendar for ecclesiastical
  feasts until midway through the fourth century.
 Then Christmas and Epiphany (on January 6, which
  commemorated the arrival of the Magi after Jesus’ birth)
  were added.
 This all corresponds with the adoption of Christianity by
  the Roman Empire in Emperor Constantine's time.

December 25
 Also, around the time of the winter solstice, Romans
  observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of
  Rome.
 In addition, members of the upper classes often
  celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the
  unconquerable sun, on December 25.
 For some Romans, Mithra’s birthday was the most sacred
  day of the year.

December 25
 But by the fourth century A.D., Western Christian
  churches settled on celebrating Christmas on December
  25, which allowed them to incorporate the holiday with
  Saturnalia and other popular pagan midwinter traditions -
  including giving gifts, singing, lighting candles, feasting
  and merrymaking.
 Pagans and Christians co-existed (not always happily)
  during this period, and this likely represented an effort to
  convince the remaining pagan Romans to accept
  Christianity as Rome’s official religion.

Christmas as a Celebration
 The transition from paganism to Christianity could not
  have been successfully achieved without celebrating the
  winter equinox.
 What better way than to so than to place the central
  figure of Christianity into the celebration of the equinox!
 The celebration of Christmas spread throughout the
  Western world over the next several centuries, but many
  Christians continued to view Epiphany and Easter as more
  important.

Christ’s Mass
 December 25 was established as the Nativity Feast Day
  and the official ‘Nativity Mass’ was the first Mass of
  the day, held at 9am.
 As time passed the celebration of Christmas became
  more popular – and so too did the liturgical
  practices* that went with it.
 Christmas Mass became a central fixture in the church
  calendar, which led to the day becoming known as
  Christ’s Mass by the 11th century.

The Yearly Tradition
 The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration
  around the world.
 Centuries before the time of Jesus, early Europeans
  celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter.
 Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when
  the worst of the winter was behind them, and they could
  look forward to longer days and extended hours of
  sunlight.

End of December
 The end of December was a perfect time for celebration
  in most areas of Europe.
 At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they
  would not have to be fed during the winter.
 For many, it was the only time of year when they had a
  supply of fresh meat.
 In addition, most wine and beer made during the year
  was finally fermented and ready for drinking.

Xmas
 There is a theory that the use of Xmas stems from an
  attempt by some to remove the religious tradition
  from Christmas by removing the word Christ, but it’s use
  dates all the way back to the 16th century.
 It turns out we’ve got the Greeks to thank for that.
 As we mentioned earlier, the word Khrīstos (the origin of
  the word Christ) appears as “Χριστός” when written in
  Greek.
 The abbreviation Xmas is based on the first letter – chi,
  which appears as X – followed by “mas”; a shortened
  version of Mass.

Legacy of Paganism
 The actual holiday we celebrate Christmas replaced a
  pagan holiday–praise God!
 And the Christmas trees and the lights are actually pagan.
 Many people don’t know that much of the things we put
  around the house to celebrate Christmas come from the
  pagans.
 Also, and this is just kind of interesting…but Santa takes
  the focus off of Jesus..and if you switch around the letters
  you have Satan.

Puritans
 The Puritans of colonial New England banned its observance
  because they viewed its traditions—the offering of gifts and
  decorating trees etc—as linked to paganism.
 Crucially the Puritan community found no scriptural
  justification for celebrating Christmas and associated such
  celebrations with paganism and idolatry.
 In the early days of the United States, celebrating Christmas
  was also considered a British custom and fell out of style
  following the American Revolution.
 It wasn’t until 1870 that Christmas became a federal holiday.

Anne Murray and Leahy Family – Christmas in Killarney

Roman Pagan Festival predating Christian Festival

Christmas roughly coincided with the pre-Christian festival of the
Roman Bacchanalia: Saturnalia (Getty)

Pre-Christian Festivals
 There were two major pre-Christian European festivals of
  note which roughly coincided with Christmas:
  -   the Roman Bacchanalia, or Saturnalia, and the
  -    Yule Feast of the Norse countries.

Saturnalia
 Saturnalia, held from 17th to the 25th December, is an
  ancient Roman pagan festival honoring the agricultural
  god Saturn.
 Saturnalia celebrations are the source of many of the
  traditions we now associate with Christmas.
 Saturnalia, the most popular holiday on the ancient
  Roman calendar, derived from older farming-related
  rituals of midwinter and the winter solstice, especially the
  practice of offering gifts or sacrifices to the gods during
  the winter sowing season.

HOW THE ROMANS CELEBRATED SATURNALIA
 During Saturnalia, work and business came to a halt.
  Schools and courts of law closed, and the normal social
  patterns were suspended.
 People decorated their homes with wreaths and other
  greenery and shed their traditional togas in favor of
  colorful clothes known as synthesis.
 Even slaves did not have to work during Saturnalia, but
  they were allowed to participate in the festivities; in some
  cases, they sat at the head of the table while their
  masters served them.

How The Romans Celebrated Saturnalia
 Instead of working, Romans spent Saturnalia gambling,
  singing, playing music, feasting, socializing and giving
  each other gifts.
 Wax taper candles called cerei were common gifts during
  Saturnalia, to signify light returning after the solstice.
 On the last day of Saturnalia celebrations, known as
  the Sigillaria, many Romans gave their friends and loved
  one's small terracotta figurines known as signillaria,
  which may have referred back to older celebrations
  involving human sacrifice.

Saturnalia
 Saturnalia was by far the jolliest Roman holiday; the
  Roman poet Catullus famously described it as “the best of
  times.”
 So riotous were the festivities that the Roman author
  Pliny reportedly built a soundproof room so that he could
  work during the raucous celebrations.

Temple of Saturn
 Constructed in the fourth century A.D. to replace an
  earlier temple, the Temple of Saturn in Rome served as
  the ceremonial center of later Saturnalia celebrations.
 On the first day of the festivities, a young pig would often
  be publicly sacrificed at the temple, which was located in
  the northwest corner of the Roman Forum.
 The cult statue of Saturn in the temple traditionally had
  woolen bonds tied around his feet, but during Saturnalia
  these bonds were loosened to symbolize the god’s
  liberation.

“Lord of Misrule.”
 In many Roman households, a mock king was chosen:
  the Saturnalicius princeps, or “leader of Saturnalia,”
  sometimes also called the “Lord of Misrule.”
 Usually, a lowlier member of the household, this figure was
  responsible for making mischief during the celebrations—
  insulting guests, wearing crazy clothing, chasing women and
  girls, etc.
 The idea was that he ruled over chaos, rather than the normal
  Roman order. The common holiday custom of hiding coins or
  other small objects in cakes is one of many dating back to
  Saturnalia, as this was a method of choosing the mock king.

Saturnalia
 The pagan celebration of Saturn, the Roman god of
  agriculture and time, began as a single day, but by the
  late Republic (133-31 B.C.) it had expanded to a weeklong
  festival beginning December 17.
 On the Julian calendar, which the Romans used at the
  time, the winter solstice fell on December 25.

Silent Night (Oíche Chiúin) by Enya

Celtic Christmas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb_w9HaDeQY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw38pGhPXIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtTj7ZMzK0w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l14aDp-4NKk

Celtic Christmas Origins
 The roots of today's Christmas traditions go back to the
  ancient Celtic festival of Alban Arthuan, held during the
  Winter Solstice on December 21.
 Alban Arthuan is one of the ancient Druidic fire festivals.
 Taking place on December 21st through 22nd (due to the
  method the Druids used to measure one day), Alban
  Arthuan coincides with the Winter Solstice.
 Translated, it means "The Light of Arthur," in reference to
  the Arthurian legend that states King Arthur was born on
  the Winter Solstice.

Yule
 Yule derives from an Old Norse word, jól, that was once
  the name of a 12-day pagan festival leading up to what
  we now call Christmas Day.
 This was borrowed into Old English as gol or geol as far
  back as the 8th century and was originally used both as
  another name for December (which was called ǽrra
  geóla, or “before Yule”) and January (which was æftera
  geóla, or “after Yule”).
 Yule is used as a synonym for Christmas.

Yuletide
 Alban Arthuan is also known as Yule, derived from the
  Anglo-Saxon "Yula," or "Wheel of the Year" and marked
  the celebration of both the shortest day of the year and
  the re-birth of the sun.
 Yule or Yuletide ("Yule time") was and is a festival
  observed by the historical Germanic peoples.
 It later underwent Christianized reformulation resulting in
  the term Christmastide.

Yule Log
 The custom of burning the Yule Log, the Yule-associated
  tradition that is most familiar to people today, was
  performed to honor the Great Mother Goddess.
 The log would be lit on the eve of the solstice, using the
  remains of the log from the previous year, and would be
  burned for twelve hours for good luck.

Yule Tree
 Decorating the Yule tree was also originally a Pagan
  custom; brightly colored decorations would be hung on
  the tree, usually a pine, to symbolize the various stellar
  objects which were of significance to the Pagans - the
  sun, moon, and stars - and also to represent the souls of
  those who had died in the previous year.
 The modern practice of gift giving evolved from the Pagan
  tradition of hanging gifts on the Yule tree as offerings to
  the various Pagan Gods and Goddesses.

Scotland
 Although Christmas is a major holiday in Ireland, it is not
  widely celebrated in Scotland.
 Some historians have suggested that the reason
  Christmas is downplayed in Scotland is because of the
  influence of the Presbyterian Church or Kirk, which
  viewed Christmas as a "Papist", or Catholic event.

Holly

Holly
 Holly is one of the symbols most commonly associated
  with Christmas and has been used in this holiday's
  celebration for close to two thousand years.
 Although the mention of holly today conjures images of
  wreaths, it actually had religious significance long before
  it's adoption by Christianity.
 In addition to being associated with the Sun God (Saturn)
  in ancient Rome, holly was important in Pagan/Druidic
  religion and customs.

Holly
 Under many Pagan religions, it was customary to place
  holly leaves and branches around their dwellings during
  winter.
 This was intended as a kindly and hospitable gesture; they
  believed that the tiny fairies which inhabited the forests
  could come into their homes and use the holly as shelter
  against the cold.
 This may actually have had some basis in fact, as holly
  growing in the wild is often used as shelter by small
  animals, primarily insects.

Holly
 To the Druids, it was holly's evergreen nature that made it
  special.
 They believed that it remained green to help keep the
  earth beautiful when the deciduous trees (such as the
  oak, which they also held sacred) shed their leaves.
 It was also their custom to wear it in their hair when they
  ventured into the forests to watch the priests collecting
  mistletoe.
 The holly berries were thought to represent the sacred
  menstrual blood of their Goddess.

Blood of Christ
 As Ireland and the British Isles began to convert to
  Christianity, the early Christians adopted the tradition of
  decorating their home with holly.
 At first, they displayed it to avoid persecution, but as
  Christianity began to gain dominance they started to
  incorporate it into their own religion.
 The significance of the berries changed so that they now
  symbolized the blood of Christ and holly gradually
  solidified its position as a Christmas tradition.

Mistletoe

Mistletoe
 The literal meaning of mistletoe is ‘dung-on-a-twig’, the
  inspiration of the Anglo-Saxons who realized that the
  plant is fertilized by the droppings of foraging birds
  (looking for berries rather than kisses).
 A truly unromantic beginning for a plant that came to be
  seen as the bearer of the male ‘essence’, with the power
  to bestow virility as well as no end of passion.
 The Celtic Origins of Mistletoe (Viscaceae) also known as
  Allheal or Golden Bough.

Golden Bough
 In Victorian times, kissing under the Mistletoe was a
  Christmas ritual that old-timers hoped would lead to
  romance and marriage among the younger generation.
 Today, the Mistletoe is familiar to us as a Christmas
  decoration that results in some innocent mischief! at the
  annual Christmas office party.
 But in ancient times, the Mistletoe was known by the
  Celts and the Vikings as a healing plant upon which
  superstition and myth had bestowed miraculous healing
  powers.

“Good Will and Peace”
 The mistletoe was a sacred plant in the Pagan religion of the
  Druids in Britain.
 It was believed to have all sorts of miraculous qualities: the
  power of healing diseases, making poisons harmless, giving
  fertility to humans and animals, protecting from witchcraft,
  banning evil spirits, bringing good luck and great blessings.
 In fact, it was considered so sacred that even enemies who
  happened to meet beneath a mistletoe in the forest would lay
  down their arms, exchange a friendly greeting, and keep a
  truce until the following day.
 From this old custom grew the practice of suspending
  mistletoe over a doorway or in a room as a token of good will
  and peace to all comers.

Viking Myth
 Viking beliefs of Mistletoe's powers were rooted in the myth of
  the resurrection of Balder, the god of the summer sun.
 As the story goes, Balder had a dream in which he dies. The
  dream alarmed his mother, Frigga, the Goddess of Love and
  Beauty, for if Balder died, so too would all life on earth.
 Frigga went to all the elements, air, fire, water and earth as
  well as all the animals and plants on earth and asked them to
  spare her son.
 Satisfied that she had secured the cooperation of all, Frigga
  assured Balder that he would live forever. But Balder had one
  enemy, Loki, God of Evil, and Loki found one plant that Frigga
  had overlooked - Mistletoe.

Viking Myth
 Mistletoe grows neither on the ground or under the ground -
  rather, it is an aerial parasite that has no roots of its own and
  attaches itself to the tree it grows on.
 Loki made a poisoned arrow tip with the Mistletoe and tricked
  Balder's blind brother, Hoder, into shooting the arrow and
  killing Balder.
 For three days, the earth grew dark and the skies poured rain.
  Each of the elements in turn, tried to bring Balder back to life,
  but none were successful save for Frigga, his loving mother.
 Legend says that the tears she shed during those terrible three
  days turned into the white berries on the Mistletoe plant.

Viking Myth - Condemned
 In her joy at Balder's resurrection, she reversed
  Mistletoe's poisonous reputation, kissed everyone
  who passed beneath the tree on which it grew and
  issued a decree that should one ever pass beneath
  the Mistletoe, they should have a token kiss and no
  harm would befall them.
 When Christianity took a foothold in the Celtic and
  Viking regions of northern Europe, the ancient ways
  were condemned as pagan practices and were
  abandoned by the newly converted.

Christianity and Mistletoe
 Mistletoe was one of the casualties, and for centuries it
  was forbidden to display the plant on Christian altars.
 Eventually, Mistletoe found its way back into acceptance
  as the Victorians revived the ancient ritual of kissing
  under the Mistletoe as a sign of love, romance and good
  luck.

Christmas Toast

Christmas Toast
 As far as alcohol goes, most of us will raise a toast this
  Christmas.
 In the 12th century, the quality of the wine and ale on
  offer was so unpredictable that it became common
  practice to dip spiced toast into alcoholic drinks to draw
  out or mask any bad flavours.
 This tradition carried on for centuries, until the quality of
  the drink improved and the idea of raising a toast to a
  special member of a party emerged, drawing on the idea
  that the guest was like a figurative piece of toast that
  improved the flavour of the drink.

An Irish Christmas Blessing
 The light of the Christmas star to you
 The warmth of a home and hearth to you
 The cheer and good will of friends to you
 The hope of a childlike heart to you
 The joy of a thousand angels to you
 The love of the Son and
 God’s peace to you

Online History Courses
        2022
 To register send an email to
seanmurphy630@gmail.com

Thursdays- January 6, 13, 20, 27
1. History of Contae Thír Chonaill/County Donegal
   6 - 7:30 pm

2. From the Great Hunger/Famine to the Rising in 1916
  7:30 - 9 pm

 Fee: $80 per course

 All presentations live on Zoom

When a Child is Born, Susan Boyle and Johnny Mathis

Tunes and Songs of Christmas
 Fairytale of New York – Pogues
 Christmas Carol, Donegal 2010.
 Irish Celtic Christmas music. 1 hour
 Celtic Christmas Tribute to Enya. 1hr 11 min
 Enya. White is the Winter Night.
 Enya. Blue Christmas
 A Child is Born. Susan Boyle & Johnny Mathis
 Irish Christmas Songs - Celtic Harp Music & Traditional
  Gaelic Christmas Music

Tunes and Songs of Christmas
 Enya. Silent Night as Gaeilge
 Wexford Carol. 4 minutes
 Christmas in Kilarney. Irish Rovers. 4 minutes.
 Anne Murray and Leahy. Christmas in Killarney.4 minutes
 Christmas in Killarney. Kids Dancing. 3 minutes.
 Gloria..... 4 minutes
 Flash Mob 4 minutes
 Finnegan's Hell. Drunken Irish Christmas

Handels Messiah
 Messiah Handel
 Messiah in Temple Bar
 Messiah. Live on the streets of Dublin.

Videos
 Origins of Christmas. 3 mins.
 Bet You Did Not Know. 3 mins
 The Hidden History of Christmas. 22 mins.

Christmas Music
 One hour of Christmas Celtic Music

Christmas Songs
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx1WvHReBno

Web Sites
   http://www.blackhillscelticevents.org/Events/CelticXmas.htm
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule
   http://www.blackhillscelticevents.org/Events/CelticHolly.htm
   https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/1963302/where-term-
    christmas-came-from-why-shorten-to-xmas/
   https://onedaringjew.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/what-is-the-
    origin-of-the-term-christmas/
   https://jakubmarian.com/etymology-of-the-words-christmas-and-
    xmas/
   https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/12/23/origins-of-
    christmas-words/
   http://mentalfloss.com/article/60832/origins-12-christmas-words

Web Sites
 https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/saturnalia
 https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-
  christmas
 https://www.jstor.org/stable/983181?mag=how-irish-
  holidays-blend-catholic-and-pagan-
  traditions&seq=45#metadata_info_tab_contents
 https://www.christianity.com/church/church-
  history/timeline/301-600/the-1st-recorded-celebration-
  of-christmas-11629658.html

SOURCES
 John Matthews, The Winter Solstice: The Sacred
  Traditions of Christmas(Godsfield Press, 1998).
 Saturnalia, Ancient History Encyclopedia.
 Did the Romans invent Christmas? BBC News.
 JOURNAL ARTICLE The Holiday Customs of Ireland pg
  421 - 427
  By James Mooney Proceedings of the American
  Philosophical Society Vol. 26, No. 130 (Jul. - Dec., 1889),
  pp. 377-427 (51 pages) Published by: American
  Philosophical Society