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St. Stephen's Day in Ireland

Date: 
December, 2022
Entry By: 
Joe Fahy
December 26th is known in most parts of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth as Boxing Day. Why? There are various reasons given. Some give credit to Queen Victoria; it's said that during her reign wealthy families would box up gifts for the poor. Servants of aristocrats had to work on Christmas Day. The following day however became a time when their employers filled up boxes with gifts, money and Christmas leftovers, something like a holiday bonus. These gift boxes were very welcomed to share with their families. Tradesmen also were gifted likewise. 

 

Another theory is that at Christmas, Alms boxes were placed in churches and on December 26th the clergy would distribute these funds to the poor in honour of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr.

 
The Bohemian Duke "Good King Wenceslas" also gets a mention. The Carol tells the tale of him seeing a poor man gathering wood on a snowy Christmas day. So moved was he by the sigh that he brought gifts and food to the man's house. 
 
Boxing Day has nothing to do with the sport of boxing but it certainly is celebrated nowadays with horse racing, soccer games, shopping, visiting friends and family, relaxing and of course the challenge of that swim for charities or just for the fun of it. Don't forget the overindulgence in the leftovers, sometimes more enjoyable than the dinner the day before. 
 
In Ireland, December 26th is known as St. Stephen's Day. On this day crowds of people take to the roads in various parts of the country, wearing masks and custom dress, playing music, singing and dancing at houses and bars that they stop at. A collection box will be passed around for whatever charity they may be fund raising for. 
 
The day is celebrating the Wren, or the Wran as it's pronounced with that Irish brogue. The Wrenboys, Strawboys or Mummers as they are called have their best parade in Dingle, Co. Kerry. Here it's a a hobby horse that's at the start of the parade, a wooden head, with the jaws snapping, as people encourage the participants from the sidewalks. The horse would have great importance for social and military reasons in Ireland. The horse would have great importance for social and military reasons in Ireland. The horse can be both lucky or unlucky, with associations to rights of kingship and with fertility. The straw suites worn also have historical resonance. In the 18th and 19th centuries the suits were worn as disguises by the whiteboys during the agrarian wars. 
 
 
In Irish mythology birds have a great prominence. They were seen as intermediaries in pre-Christian times between this world and the next. The flight pattern of birds, like the wren, were used as an omen by the Druids. The Gaelic word for wren is dreoilin it derives from two words draoi ean or the Druid bird. 
 
In Irish legend the story goes that the birds held a parliamentary meeting to decide who should be their ruler. The challenge was that whichever of them could fly the highest would be crowned the ruler. The contest started, some of the smaller birds stopped early, as those who remained had now more room to spread out and get better wing movements. The eagle soared higher and higher in the lead, as it began to get tired this little wren that had hidden in its tail feathers emerged and climbing far above any of the others it was declared the winner. To this day birds keep a safe distance from the wren, 'devious'.
 
As the Strawboys, Wrenboys or Mummers celebrate St. Stephen’s Day they sing.
 
The Wren, the Wren, the king of all birds,
St. Stephen’s Day he was caught in the furze.
Although he was little his honour was great,
Jump up me lads and give him a treat.

 

Chorus:
 
Up with the kettle and down with the pan,
Will you give me a penny to bury the Wran.
If you haven’t a penny a ha’penny will do,
If you haven’t a ha’penny, God bless you.
 
 
The wren has a reputation for treachery, reputed to have betrayed Irish soldiers fighting the Norsemen (Viking). It gets bad press for also betraying St. Stephen. The Catholic Church would not be great supporters of the Wrenboys. Well you know Druidism/Paganism. The money collected following the wren would go towards holding a party in a pub or a house dance where naturally alcohol was involved. The church saw such get togethers with traditional music and dancing as an "occasion of sin". The 'Wrenboys' celebration had almost all but died out with the advent of television and live music in lounge bars through the 70/80/90s but with the revival in places like the West of Ireland and indeed throughout other parts of the island there is a bright future for this and many other Irish pageants.