Straws in the wind signal the season to be merry
WHEN does the Christmas season start? For some it starts with the Late Late toy show, for others it’s the traditional ‘culchie’ shopping day of December 8, or maybe even when the Halloween witches are moved aside to make way for baubles on supermarket shelves. But regardless of how the rest of world might see things the sure sign that we’re approaching mid-winter in Dingle is when the wrens start making ‘ the straws’.
On Friday night a crew was busy making straws for the Sráid Eoin Wren in the Barrack Height pub where the floor was ankle deep in straw, the work was tackled with fervour and the entire job was completed on the night.
The Green & Gold Wren takes an approach where time is no object – the straws are carefully selected, cleaned and graded, quality control is critical, and the job goes on for weeks. On Monday night some of the Green and Golders were at work in O’Flaherty’s pub where the pace was ‘steady’, the weave and the number of strands of straw in a skirt was checked and re-checked… and there wasn’t much to sweep up off the floor at the end of the night