One of the most unique of the many events the Irish American Partnership puts on each year to raise money and awareness of its goals is its celebration of Nollaig na mBan, or “Women’s Christmas,” an old Irish tradition honoring women’s leadership within the family and community, celebrated each year in January by giving women a day of rest and merriment after the Christmas … [Read more...] about Nollaig na mBan Celebrations
Christmas
Winterval in Waterford: European City of Christmas
By Irish America Staff
Winter 2024
Waterford, once called the hidden gem of Ireland, is now a tourist destination known for its extravagant festivities. Its annual harvest festival in September attracted upwards of 40,000 visitors. The Samhain festival in October saw the City’s streets awash with a fusion of spooky, spectral, and fascinating events under the watchful eye of An Dearg Dua, a 2,000-year-old … [Read more...] about Winterval in Waterford: European City of Christmas
Slàinte! A Universal Christmas
By Edythe Preet
November/December 1998, republished in Winter 2024
All around the world, the holiday season is a time to gather with family and friends, to share abundance, to feast, to reflect on the memories of joyful times past, and to make every effort to ensure that the future will be peaceful and prosperous for all. Here in the United States, the holiday season is celebrated in a myriad of ways bequeathed us by the thousands of … [Read more...] about Slàinte! A Universal Christmas
Christmas Then and Now
By Colum McCann
IA Newsletter, December 21, 2024
IA Newsletter, December 21, 2024
Every Christmas Morning Now, Every Christmas Morning Then Every Christmas morning now is full of every Christmas morning then, and in the old unaccountable unfolding of memory I can’t rest on a single time when it all took shape, but this is the story of a suburban Christmas, an Irish Christmas, a Dublin Christmas, a Christmas in the four-bedroom house where I spent my first … [Read more...] about Christmas Then and Now
A Child’s Christmas in Brooklyn
By Jimmy Murphy
In the Brooklyn world of my childhood, Ireland seemed especially close at Christmas. While we kids looked forward to Santa, Mom and Dad were looking back to Ireland. Cards would arrive, and Mom would cherish each and every one, especially those from her sisters, my Aunts Una and Joan, who would include letters for her to linger over, her eyes growing all teary. My parents left … [Read more...] about A Child’s Christmas in Brooklyn