In looking at the displays, I have seen some huge similarities in an Irish, Spanish and Slovak Christmas, as well as some huge differences. I was, I must say surprised at what I’ve learned.

The first thing that I really noticed was that in Spain and Slovakia they begin Christmas on the 24^th rather than the 25^th of December. In Spain up to twenty years ago they did not open their presents until the 5^th of January, a tradition to do with the three wise men, and because there were so few Catholics.

Christmas dinner too is different. In Spain, they have cabbage soup, roast carp (a type of fish,) roast potatoes, and mushrooms but they also have turkey and their grandparents come to dinner. Their Christmas mass is an hour and a half long to our forty-five minute one, unless it’s a family mass.

In Slovakia they have a four-course meal at Christmas, cabbage soup, potato salad, bobalkas, (poppy seeds), a wafer with honey, pasta and mushrooms. They get three weeks holidays compared with our two, with a tradition during the season where the father in a family eats an apple and all the members of the family each take a bite of it. They open their presents after they have their dinner not before. But as in Ireland, they eat turkey and Christmas cake. They, like us have a midnight mass, as do the Spanish. In both countries the Christmas season is longer than it is here but in all three countries it is a very important time of the year and very family oriented. I found more similarities than differences.

Stephen Reid

Email: aidancbs@iol.ie