Patrick Comerford
I was supposed to be in Dublin this evening for the launch of a new book, Christmas and the Irish: a miscellany, edited by my friend and colleague, Professor Salvador Ryan of Maynooth. I was at Luton Airport this morning when I realised I had left my passport back in Stony Stratford, and it was too late to return in time to retrieve it.
I am missing the launch of this new book in the Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street, this evening (30 November 2023) by the Wexford folklorist Michael Fortune.
This collection, follows the success of his three-volume series, Birth, Marriage and Death and the Irish (2016-2021), and it has been a privilege to have been invited to contribute to all four volumes in this collection.
There are only 25 days to go to Christmas, so is worth adding this new book to your list of Christmas presents this year.
This book examines the celebration of Christmas among the Irish, from the seventh century to the present day. The 75 chapters or articles range from the serious to the light-hearted, The writers are drawn from a range of academic disciplines and professions, including anthropology, Celtic studies, education, folklore, healthcare, history, journalism, literature, media and broadcasting, pastoral ministry, philosophy and theology.
In our papers, we reflect on what Christmas has meant to Irish people through the ages, whether living at home or abroad.
The topics include: the theme of light in early Irish texts; festive feasting and fighting in the Middle Ages; the Kilmore carols of Co Wexford; the history of Irish Christmas food through the centuries; crimes of Christmas past; Christmas on the Blasket Islands; the claim that ‘Santa’s Grave’ is in County Kilkenny; why Irish missionaries in Zimbabwe regularly missed out on their Christmas dinner; the origins and early life of the ‘Late Late Toy Show’; a Christmas surprise among Irish peacekeepers in the Lebanon; Christmas customs among the Travelling Community; Christmas and the Irish Jewish community; the Wren Boys; ‘Women’s Christmas’; Irish links to popular Christmas carols; Christmas and James Joyce; the curious custom of reciting 4,000 ‘Hail Marys’ in the lead up to Christmas; and why it became an established tradition for the Viceroy to send a woodcock to the British monarch every Christmas.
This anthology is a fascinating read for all who are interested in the social, cultural, and religious history of Ireland, and undoubtedly it will delight everyone who loves Christmas.
Many of the contributors are my friends and colleagues. In her essay, another Wexford historian, Dr Ida Milne of Carlow College, recalls her mother being the organist at the Christmas carol services in Ferns Cathedral.
Other contributors include Ian d’Alton of TCD, Seamus Dooley of the NUJ, the Limerick historian Seán Gannon, Crawford Gribben and Laurence Kirkpatrick, both of QUB, the singer-songwriter Max McCoubrey, Miriam Moffitt, John-Paul Sheridan of Maynooth, and Clodagh Tait of Limerick.
For the past few weeks, we have been rehearsing the ‘Wexford Carol’ in the choir in Saint Mary and Sint Giles Church in Stony Stratford for this year’s carol services. So, this adds to my pleasure that the ‘Wexford Carol’ is the subject of one of my three papers in the new book:
• The ‘Wexford Carol’ and the mystery surrounding some old and popular Christmas carols;
• ‘We Three Kings of Orient are’: an Epiphany carol with Irish links;
• Molly Bloom’s Christmas card: where Joycean fiction meets a real-life family.
Salvador Ryan is also planning some regional ‘launches’ of sorts over the next two weeks:
• National Museum of Ireland (Country Life), Castlebar, Co Mayo, Saturday (2 December) at 3 pm. There, Salvador Ryan will talk about Christmas traditions and their origins, followed by a small launch of the book afterwards.
• Cavan County Museum, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, Wednesday (6 December) at 7pm. Once again, he will deliver a presentation in song and story on the origins of Christmas.
• Source Library and Arts Centre, Thurles, Co Tipperary, Tuesday 12 December at 8pm. This will be a launch of the volume by the local poet Larry Doherty.
Salvador Ryan is Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Saint Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth. He writes on religious and cultural history from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. His other published titles include Death and the Irish, Marriage and the Irish, and Birth and the Irish (Dublin: Wordwell Books, 2016-2021); We Remember Maynooth: a College across Four Centuries (Dublin: Messenger Publications, 2020); Northern European Reformations: Transnational Perspectives (Palgrave, 2020); Material Cultures of Devotion in the Age of Reformations (Peeters, 2022), and Reforming the Church: Global Perspectives (Liturgical Press, 2023).
Copies of Christmas and the Irish: a miscellany are available to buy at each launch event, and it is also available to order in time for Christmas through local bookshops.
This was supposed to be a quick overnight visit to Dublin, and I had booked a flight back later tomorrow. Evem if I had travelled, I would have missed to miss the launch of the latest 2023 edition of the Old Limerick Journal in Dooradoyle Branch Library, Limerick, at 7 p.m. tomorrow evening (Friday 1 December 2023). It is being launched by Councillor Dan McSweeney, Deputy Mayor of Limerick City and County.
The Old Limerick Journal is edited by Tom Donovan and published by Limerick Museum. My paper in this latest edition looks at the Sephardic and Limerick ancestry of one of the most eminent Irish scientists of the 20th century. My six-page paper, ‘The Sephardic family roots and heritage of John Desmond Bernal, Limerick scientist’, is illustrated with nine of my photographs from Córdoba, Limerick, London and Venice.
Meanwhile, I heard yesterday that another history book in which I have a chapter has also been publsiehd this week and is due in the bookshops in time for Christmas. My seven-page paper, ‘Church-goers in Limerick During War and Revolution’, is Chapter 6 in Histories of Protestant Limerick, 1912-1923, and is accompanied by three of my photographs.
The book is edited Seán William Gannon, who is also a contributor to the Christmas book being launched this evening, along with Brian Hughes and is published by Limerick City & County Council.
Earlier this year, I co-wrote a book on the Philhellenes in Greek history, looking at the role of Irish Philhellenes in the Greek War of Independence in the 19th century. My research was published as <<Ο Sir Richard Church και οι Ιρλανδοι Φιλελληνες στον Πολεμο των Ελληνων για την Ανεξαρτησια>> in Πανος Καραγιώργος και Patrick Comerford, Ο Φιλελληνισμος και η Ελληνικη Επανασταση του 1821, published in Thessaloniki by Εκδοτικος Οικος Κ κ Σταμουλη.
I also edited and wrote the introduction to Who is Our Neighbour?, a six-session study course for Lent 2023 published in London by the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
In addition, my photographs have appeared in books three, including one published in Washington DC: National Geographic, and the cover photograph on Tim Vivian’s latest collection of poetry, A Doorway into Thanks: Further Reflections on Scripture.
But, I hope to share more in the coming weeks about my latest contributions to these books on Christmas and the civil war in Limerick and my paper on JD Bernal’s interesting ancestry.
• Christmas and the Irish: a miscellany, ed Salvador Ryan (Dublin: Wordwell Books), €25, ISBN: 978-1-913934-93-4. This new book can be ordered HERE.
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