Twelve Days of Irish Holiday Traditions: Sing, Sing, Sing!

Inspired by that traditional carol, and the funny Irish version, Christmas Countdown, we're bringing you Twelve Days of Christmas (Traditions). These Irish traditions make the season so special for so many on the Emerald Isle. You may even want to try one for yourself!

Day 9 - Sing, Sing, Sing!

Some say the Irish love for music stems from an oral culture that existed here for centuries. Long before recordings, music, like stories, wasn’t written down. It had to be shared with others to keep it alive. So singing or playing music is sort of baked into the culture here in Ireland if you like.

Any excuse for a sing-song

As a nation, we love music and any excuse to sing; our national emblem is the harp, after all. Most Irish people love a good sing-song. Something you may well know if you have ever seen an Irish sports team play! And just like sporting events, Christmas has all the elements for epic sing-along - people gathered, songs everyone knows - the perfect excuse to make some noise.

Singing at School

In schools around the country, children have been preparing for weeks. Learning carols, often in Irish, to sing at their ‘Christmas concert.’ Attended by parents, grandparents and younger siblings, these Christmas concerts may not always have the most professional of performances - but they are some of the sweetest!

Singing at Church

Of course, singing at Mass goes up a notch at Christmas, too. Many parishes put on carol services, sometimes involving the local schoolchildren and local choirs. There are more professional offerings, too, with the carol service at Dublin’s Christchurch Cathedral one of the hot tickets over the holiday season.

Singing at Home

But of course singing isn’t restricted to the schools, churches or cathedrals. Many families have their own get-togethers with singing and dancing. My own family has a sing-song on Christmas day after eating far too much dinner!

Singing on the streets

And although people no longer go door to door, or at least very rarely, carolers can be heard on many streets around Irish towns and cities each Christmas raising money for charity in the run up to the big day. At events like the Christmas Busk, average Joes sing with famous faces like Bono, Hozier, Kodaline, The Script, Glen Hansard, Imelda May, and the late, great Sinéad O'Connor on Dublin's Grafton Street on Christmas Eve. This annual event to raise money for homeless charities is now a Christmas tradition for many, who travel into Dublin to join in or just watch the spectacle. Charity at Christmas resonates with one and all.

Favorite Christmas songs in Ireland

The usual standards will be heard at all of these events. Plenty of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Silent Nights. But there are a few Christmas songs that Irish people have a special grá for.

"Fairytale of New York"

Voted the best Christmas song of all time in Ireland, Fairytale of New York took The Pogues two years to produce. But when it was released back in 1987 this unlikely Christmas classic won hearts. It has remained a favorite ever since. Featuring a duet sung by Shane McGowan and Kirsty MacColl, it tells the turbulent love story of two Irish emigrants in New York at Christmas through some pretty gritty lyrics.

It is somehow fitting that a man born on Christmas day in 1957 will be remembered for a Christmas song. His funeral cortege passing through Dublin on its way to his funeral in Tipperary yesterday, was accompanied by the Artane Band playing this famous song as people turned out to pay their respects.

@lovindublin

The Artane Band rehearsing Fairytale of New York for Shane MacGowan’s funeral procession today 📹 sarah_glascott on Twitter

♬ original sound - Lovin Dublin

So it seems certain that Fairytale of New York is set to be number one in Ireland again this year. You are sure to hear it tinkling away in shops and being sung with gusto in pubs around the country as people pay tribute to a champion of Irish and Celtic story and song.

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – U2

It may not be a song written by the most successful Irish band of all time, but U2 certainly made it their own and it’s a favorite here at Christmas time.

Originally recorded by Darlene Love in 1963, the U2 version was recorded at a sound check in Glasgow, Scotland in 1982 - in July! They certainly managed to summon the spirit of Christmas in this track and it’s still a favorite

The Christmas Song

A cover of a song by the Raveonettes that started out as a backing track for a Christmas ad for a convenience store seems like an unlikely holiday favorite. But the combination of this charming song, sparse but beautiful vocals, and lovely visuals of Christmas trees around Ireland made it happen.

Produced and performed by Irish musicians Richie Egan and Gemma Hayes, The Christmas Song is a cozy number that gained further profile when it was featured in the holiday movie Love the Coopers / Christmas with the Coopers.

Arthur MacBride

Another odd one for Christmas, this may not be a common choice, but it is a personal favorite in my own house and it isn’t Christmas until it's been sung! There is no matching the spectacularly talented Paul Brady who recorded the definitive version in 1976 - but we give it our best. No easy feat at nearly seven minutes long and lyrics that stretch to pages!

Like Fairytale of New York, it tells a story, this time one with a message of anti-recruiting, and it’s only a “Christmas” song by dint of the events of the song taking place “on Christmas morning.”

Feel like Singing?

Singing is apparently very good for us all, so if ever you needed another excuse, there you have it. Whether you sing along with a Christmas song on the radio alone in your car or join a group to go carolling for charity - we hope you enjoy raising your voice this Christmas season.

What's Next?

Check back in with us tomorrow for Day 10 of our Twelve Days of Irish Christmas traditions. You might also like to see our Twelve Days of Christmas offers too!