圣诞节在世界各地：爱尔兰 - Christmas Around the World: Ireland

爱尔兰人民，正式的爱尔兰共和国，绝大多数是宗教的罗马天主教徒。天主教一词意为“普遍的”，爱尔兰教会与意大利或西班牙的教会并不相同。但在爱尔兰，罗马天主教会已经代表了超越宗教的东西给人们。通过几百年的英语，新教统治，爱尔兰人民坚定地坚持圣帕特里克在公元400年介绍岛的信念。爱尔兰人拒绝屈从于他们的英国领主在这个问题上的意愿 - 他们的宗教 - 成为他们一般抵抗统治的象征。对爱尔兰人来说，教会成为他们对宗教和政治自由意志的象征，而圣诞节，最宗教的节日，成为庆祝两个高度交织的想法。虽然爱尔兰共和国人民在1921年获得了自由，圣诞节在爱尔兰的意义仍然是独一无二的。因此，季节是双重欢乐的，作为庆祝基督孩子的诞生和人民的自由意志的力量。准备一个充满如此重要意义的假期是不容易的事情。有必须保持的传统和必须保持的标准。


最重要的菜是圣诞蛋糕。蛋糕早在10月就被制作出来，以便有时间进行适当的调味。在圣诞节蛋糕准备后，它被存储在家庭砖墙家的一个孔。每个星期都拿出来，戳一个注射器的白兰地，以重新装修。爱尔兰人也相信你应该在圣灵的精神准备。在圣诞节前，整个家庭仔细清理家中的准备活动。


The people of Ireland, officially the Republic of Ireland, are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic in religion. The word catholic means "universal," and the Church of Ireland is not appreciably different from the Church in Italy or in Spain. But in Ireland, the Roman Catholic Church has come to represent something beyond religion to the people. Through hundreds of years of English, Protestant rule, the people of Ireland tenaciously held to the faith that Saint Patrick introduced to the island in the AD 400's. The refusal of the Irish people to bend to the will of their English overlords on this one issue-their religion-became a symbol of their general resistance to domination. To the Irish, the Church became a symbol of their will for both religious and political freedom, and Christmas, the most religious of holidays, became a celebration of the two highly interwoven ideas. Although the people of the Republic of Ireland gained their freedom in 1921, the significance of Christmas in Ireland has remained unique. The season is thus doubly joyous as a celebration of the birth of the Christ child and the force of the people's will for freedom. Preparing for  a holiday fraught with so much significance is no easy matter. There are traditions that must be kept and standards that must be maintained.

The most important dish is the Christmas cake. The cake is made as early as October to allow time for proper mellowing. After the Christmas cake is prepared it is stored in a hole in the families brick walled home. Every week is taken out and poked with a syringe of brandy to refortify it. The Irish also believe that you should be spiritually prepared for Christmas. Before Christmas the whole family carefully cleans their homes in preparation for the event.