The pedestrian bridge, with the rainbow lights, is the The Millennium Bridge spanning the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland, joining Eustace Street in Temple Bar to the north quays.
I eat at the Eatokyo Restaurant and one of the staff asked why we say Happy Christmas rather than Merry Christmas and why we do not refer to the day after Christmas as Boxing Day.
Christmas in Ireland is the annual festival which marks the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus and its related observances, but also incorporates some pre-Christian customs. These customs range from the traditional food and drink consumed, decorations and rituals, as well as more modern phenomena such as the Christmas day swim and annual television and radio events. The modern Irish Christmas has become more similar to that of the British and American festive period, with emphasis on gift buying and parties.
Historically, for Irish Catholics, the festive period began on 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, with many putting up their decorations and Christmas trees on that day, and runs through until 6 January, or Little Christmas. In modern times, The Late Late Toy Show, on the last Friday of November is viewed as the beginning of the Christmas festive period.
The greeting for “Happy Christmas” in Irish is Nollaig Shona Duit [singular] or Nollaig Shona Daoibh. The literal translation of this is “Happy Christmas to you”.
In parts of Europe, such as several regions of Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, and Ireland, 26 December is Saint Stephen’s Day, which is considered the second day of Christmas.
It is claimed that it was originally “Merry Christmas,” as in the old carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”. However, in the 17th century, Christmas was neither merry nor happy as it was illegal. Puritans in England banned the holiday as licentious, a non-biblical holdover from pagan times. Some historians attribute commentators have attributed the British preference for “happy Christmas” to the use of the expression by the royal family in annual Christmas broadcasts. King George V began the practice in his 1932 Christmas radio message, written by Rudyard Kiplin. I assume that Happy Christmas is used in Ireland as it is a translation of Nollaig Shona Duit,
I decided to visit Dublin Castle having forgotten that there was European-style traditional Christmas market which was booked out well in advance and when I arrived I was surprised by the queues.
Christmas at the Castle is a European-style traditional Christmas market with wooden chalet market stalls selling decorative crafts, inspiring gifts ideas and delicious food. It offers musical entertainment and the added bonus of access to the beautifully decorated State Apartments of Dublin Castle and the Neapolitan Crib in the Chapel Royal.
The event will run from 14:00 to 21:30 daily with a minimum of two and a maximum of three sessions per day. This will be a FREE, ticketed event. Cashless transactions are preferred on site.
Today I used a very old E-mount lens that came with Sony NEX-5 which I purchased in December 2010 and the results were more than a little disappointing. I could not correct for lens distortion and every image was under exposed.
Those who cannot attend Christmas at the Castle can still visit the Dubhlinn Gardens and the current exhibitions in the Coach House Gallery and the Chester Beatty. The Office of Public Works is also organising other Christmas events and markets across Dublin with a choir in the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre each weekend, a festive market and a family Christmas cycle in Farmleigh and a festive market at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin.
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