Easter in Ireland: Folklore, History & Traditions

Easter in Ireland today is marked similarly to many parts of the world, with a visit from a long-eared visitor and too much chocolate! And being a largely Catholic country, there is also a strong religious focus here in Ireland.

But there are also a few Irish flourishes that add a local flavour to proceedings. There are events to remember “The Rising”, dry traditions and sneaky pints, dancing with the Easter Sunday sun, clúdóg feasts, cake dances, and a funeral for a fish. Read on to discover some Irish Easter Traditions and folklore and a guide to how to say Happy Easter in Gaelic.

Marking the Easter Rising

Despite all the chocolate, this time of year in Ireland can be bittersweet with the remembrance of the 1916 "Easter Rising." This military campaign saw Irish rebels take on rule in the country, igniting years of intense and divisive fighting and, eventually, Irish independence.

Military ceremonies, parades and commemorations are held throughout the country to mark this pivotal event in Irish History each year.

Happy Holidays for Irish Children

The struggles of the past are a distant memory for many, and for most these days, Easter is associated with holidays. It is still one of the most important holidays here in Ireland, along with Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day. Children across the country are delighted as they have a whopping two weeks off school!

Irish children will spend their Easter holidays like many of their counterparts in other parts of the world - egg hunting and eating too much chocolate. It's expected that over five million large chocolate eggs will be gobbled up by Irish Children over the Easter holidays, around 4 each, according to a recent poll!

Clúdog: An Easter Feast

Irish children of times gone by would have had much healthier feasts. They would spend the first days of their holidays in Holy Week building an "Easter house" made of sticks and sod and whatever else they could get their hands on and collecting fresh eggs. Then, on Easter Sunday, they would gather together in their little house with any eggs they had managed to collect, their Clúdóg, and cook them over a fire, having an al fresco Easter feast!

Everyone is in High Spirits

It's not just the children in high spirits. There are jolly adults too, at least since 2018. The 1927 Intoxicating Liquor Act prohibited pubs to serve alcohol on Good Friday right up until 2018. Breaking with a tradition of over 90 years, visitors to Ireland and locals alike can now have a sneaky pint in most pubs on Good Friday!

But perhaps things haven't changed all that much. Publicans in Newmarket, Co Cork, agreed to stay closed on Good Friday in 2018 to keep with the "dry" tradition despite the State lifting the ban. And even publicans in the capitol reported a quieter day than a typical Friday.

Old Irish Easter Traditions

But an alcohol-free Good Friday isn't the only Easter Tradition that is changing in modern Ireland. Good Friday was traditionally a quiet day for fasting, attending church and the stations of the cross. Most workplaces were closed, and not too long ago, even TV and radio were off-air.

Many workplaces still honor the holiday, so Good Friday is the beginning of an extra long weekend for most, with lots of family visits and rich food after Lenten Fasts.

A Funeral for a Fish

After a long Lenten fast with meat off the menu, many local butchers, especially in the south of Ireland, would hold a mock funeral for a herring. The butcher would march the fish tied to a pole out of town, where it would be whipped by locals who were quite tired of the taste of herring and looking forward to breaking their fast!

Dancing with the Sun on Easter

An amazing archive of Irish folklore collected from Irish school children in the 1930's states that a traditional Easter Sunday starts early, with a throwback to pre-Christian traditions, waking up to see the Easter sun dance on the horizon!

We loved this excerpt from an account written by a student at St Peter's, Phibsboro in Dublin in the late 1930s about the dancing Easter sun. After that diversion, breakfast is all about eggs—and lots of them, as they were traditionally forgone during Lent. These are served up with soda bread marked with a cross.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread, like this loaf in a Co. Kerry cottage with a typical crossed top, would be left to cool on a windowsill before eating. This could be a quieter breakfast than typical as children, as we learned, would own feast outside in an "Easter House", after Mass of course, eating boiled “Easter Eggs” with homemade wooden spoons called prankins.

Easter Takes the Cake

Easter dinner in Ireland is spring on a plate, leek soup, roast lamb and vegetables, or roast ham, followed by cake or buns and, of course, the modern-day addition of chocolate eggs.

And traditionally all of that food could be worked off at an Easter Dance contest, where people would aim to win simply by outlasting all of the other participants or by being a particularly fine dancer. And the prize? More food in the form of a beautifully decorated cake, specially baked for the occasion.

Easter Bank Holiday

There may not be as much dancing these days, but mercifully, everyone can recover from the fun, food, and excitement of Easter here in Ireland, as we have a bank holiday on Easter Monday. Despite the holidays, fun, and festivities, we will always endeavor to get back to any inquiries you might have.

How to say Happy Easter in Gaelic

And, of course, we send "Beannachtaí na Cásca oraibh" - The blessings of Easter to you! Listen to my pronunciation guide below to share easter blessings with your friends and family this spring.

Other Irish Easter Folklore

And a last few bits of Folklore associated with Easter in Ireland:

• Get your spring clean in on Good Friday. In days gone by in Ireland, the family would have cleaned before the local priest would come to give the house an Easter blessing.
• Avoid bloodshed at all costs on Good Friday. No shaving nor any work with tools that might result in a cut or graze!
• You can get your haircut, so long as the person wielding the scissors isn't likely to give you a knick! Haircuts on Good Friday were thought to protect against headaches for the year ahead. They also would have had you looking your best on Easter Sunday, one of the busiest days of the year at the local church.
• Visit a holy well to collect holy water on Good Friday. Water collected on this day was thought to be curative! Good for what ails you!
• Once your holy water is blessed, you can drink three sips of it for good health and sprinkle it on family members, pets, and livestock to ensure good health and good luck!
• Collect but don't eat any eggs on Good Friday - save them for Easter Sunday Clúdóg!
• Close out the celebrations on Easter Sunday with a bonfire. This one might have pre-Christian origins in Ireland.