FOR THE FROSTED CRANBERRIES
Christmas signals the birth of Jesus. It is a time to remember the greatest FOR THE PROSECCO SYRUP
200g Siúcra Caster
Sugar
300ml Prosecco
150ml cranberry juice 100g fresh cranberries 100g Siúcra Granulated
Sugar intervention in the history of the Universe. Pope Francis reminds us that the birth of Jesus is not a fairytale; it is a story of a real event, which occurred 2000 years ago.
The 1930s in Ireland were remembered as the era of
a large plate. Roll the syrupy cranberries into the sugar and leave to dry.
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Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4.
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To prepare the cake, brush a 22cm round tin (or a spring form tin) with a hole in the centre generously with melted butter.
Place the butter, Siúcra Light Golden Brown Sugar, vanilla extract and whisk until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and whisk well.
Sift the plain flour and baking powder together and fold into the egg mixture.
Add in enough milk to form a soft cake batter.
Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer
Economic War. Fianna Fáil, led by Eamon de Valera was elected to Government. Being in Government encouraged its members to engage in public battles with The Blueshirts.
The decade ended with the outbreak of World War II. Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister declared in a radio broadcast “We are at War with Germany” in September 1939.
In June 1944, The Allied land forces crossed the English Channel to begin the liberation of Europe and end Hitler’s five year reign of terror and tyranny. World War II ended in 1945. Commercial turf cutting was no longer necessary.
The remaining years in that decade were devoted to rebuilding the towns, cit
is inserted and comes out clean.
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To prepare the icing, whisk all the ingredients together until light and fluffy. 11
When the cake is bake and is still hot, make some holes in the top with a skewer and pour the prosecco syrup over, spreading as you go. Leave to soak in. 12
To decorate, place the cake on a cake stand. Using a palette knife, spread the icing over the top, sides and inside of the cake. 13
Colour some Siúcra Roll Out Icing Sugar with red colour paste and make a bow.
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Arrange the frosted cranberries, rosemary sprigs dusted in sugar and the pretty bow on top.
it ies and especially London after demolition by German bombers. Entire families left every parish in Ireland to participate in the post war reconstruction of Britain.
Mass emigration of families from Ireland to Great Britain was a feature of the 1950s. The decade was known as ‘The Black ’50s’.
The arrival of the little grey Ferguson tractor brought an end to the labour intensive manual farming practices. The little grey Ferguson tractor revolutionised ploughing, sowing and harvesting crops. Farming had moved from dependence on the horse into a new mechanised era.
On December 12, 1956 the IRA launched Operation Harvest. It was aimed at creating an area north of the border with Northern Ireland that would be free of British Government control. On New Year’s Day 1957, The IRA ambushed the Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks in Brookeborough, Co Fermanagh. It was a failure in paramilitary terms. The deaths of Sean South (28) from Garryowen, Limerick and Fergal O’Hanlon (20) from Monaghan turned the attack into a propaganda success. The two activists are commemorated in the ballad Sean South. The opening lines are:
It was on a dreary New Year’s Day
As the shades of night came down
A lorry load of volunteers approached the border town,
There were men from Dublin and from Cork, Fermanagh and Tyrone
But their leader was a Limerick man, Sean South from Garryowen.
Hundreds of unarmed members of An Garda Siochana were transferred to stations in the border counties of Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Dundalk, many of whom married women from the border counties. They did not return to their original Garda Stations.
CHRISTMAS
Christmas festivities began on the 8th December. In most households, preparations for the festive season saw men tidying up outside the house. Farm implements were gathered and stored in outhouses. Whitewash (a mixture of lime and water) was applied to the external walls to brighten the dwelling houses. It was important to emulate the feats of the neighbours. Women were responsible for matters inside the homes. Pots and pans were washed, scoured and polished until spotless. The younger folk searched the countryside for holly bushes with red berries that were used to decorate the mantelpiece and adorn the pictures hanging on the walls.
In my home, my mother and I made trips to Listowel, the nearest town during the week before Christmas. She cycled to town and I drove the donkey and cart. The tea chest was firmly anchored in the middle of the cart to collect and bring home ‘The Christmas’.
The tea chest was deposited inside the counter of ‘Mike the Pie’ O’Connor’s public house and grocery shop to be filled when its turn came. The items to be put into the tea chest under the supervision and keen eye of Mary O’Connor included bottles of stout, bottles of Nash’s red lemonade, a ham, tin of biscuits, a bottle of sherry, a Christmas cake, pots of jam and tall candles. These were luxury items in an era of frugal living and scarce financial resources.
Mrs O’Connor added a box of chocolate, a barm brack, tea and sugar to acknowledge my family’s custom over the previous twelve months. The additional items were known as ‘a Christmas box’. The journey home was often undertaken in darkness. The term ‘bringing home the Christmas’ evokes memories of bygone days of an almost forgotten era.
My mother was able to provide her family with special Christmas gifts by rearing and selling the flock of turkeys. Christmas Eve was a hive of activity. My mother selected the best turkey for our dinner on Christmas
I recall the thrill of waking early on Christmas Day to find out what Santa Claus had brought while we slept uneasily. The house was filled with wonder as my brothers and sisters and I examined the treasures that Santa delivered while we slept. After dinner, we listened to afternoon programmes on the radio.
The excitement of Christmas morning included getting ready to attend 10 o’clock Mass in St Mary’s Church, Listowel. Father had shaved the previous night. It was his duty to take Fox, our work horse from the stable and tackle him to pull the trap to Mass.
St Mary’s Church was lit up and decorated to celebrate the birth of Jesus, Our Saviour. The choir was in full voice to sing the selected Latin hymns during Mass with fervour, including ‘Adeste Fidelis’ and the evergreen ‘Silent Night’.
Christmas in Ireland is not just Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day but days following into January with special celebrations and observations extending the festive season to the 6th January..
St Stephen’s Day the day after Christmas, is known as the Wren Day. The ritual comprises a procession with a pole with a holly bush carried from house to house and families dress up in old clothes and with blackened faces. In olden times, an actual wren would be killed and placed on top of the pole.
Sometime after wren-day, a wren-dance took place. When the date was agreed and a house selected to host the dance, members of the community gathered for a night of festivities. The dances were all night affairs, with liberal quantities of food and drink provided.
The wren dance signalled the end of the festivities. Native sons and daughters who had returned to their homes to spend Christmas with their families departed for London, Birmingham and the other great cities in England.