Historian's Report
Division Historian’s Report
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| Division #1 Yonkers Historian Chad Ghastin |
Irish New Year’s Traditions
In Ireland, New Year's Eve is also known as “OÃche na Coda Móire,”- ‘the night of the big portion’ because people would eat a larger than normal meal to ensure plenty for the coming year. Here are few more uniquely Irish New Year's traditions that have stood the test of time.
Banging Bread
One Irish superstition involves banging on the doors and walls and floor of the family home with Christmas bread. This tradition is believed to chase bad luck out of the house and invite good spirits in before the start of the new year.
Another way of ensuring plenty of food next year was to make a cake which was then pounded against the door of the house three times while a prayer was said.
In other areas the man of the house would take three bites out of the cake and then throw it against the front door, in the name of the Trinity and banish hunger from the house. After this the family would then gather up the fragments of the cake and eat it.
Many farmers repeated this ceremony at the door of the barn to ensure plentiful fodder for the cows.
First Through the Door
The identity of the first person to step through the door of the family home on January 1st is of huge importance in Ireland. In fact, many see it as having a hugely significant bearing on the entire year ahead, but the warmth of your welcome was largely dependent on the color of your hair.
Unless he arrived empty handed, a dark-haired man would be greeted gladly because it was believed that he would bring plenty of good luck. However, a red headed woman's arrival meant ill fortune even if her arms were weighed down with all the tokens of what was known as 'first footing' - bread and coal.
In Through the Front, Out Through the Back
At the stroke of midnight on December 31st, those seeking good luck in Ireland were recommended to enter their house through the front door and leave through the back. If that dark-haired man enters your front door at the stroke of twelve, he must leave by the back door immediately, to ensure the luck he brings stays in the house.
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