From beginning the New Year with a spotlessly clean house, to placing sprigs of mistletoe, holly and ivy under pillows, we examine Irish New Year traditions across the centuries...

A Place at the Table
New Year’s Night was traditionally a night that families gathered together to remember the deceased. The tradition was to set a place at the dinner table for those that had passed away and also to leave the door unlatched for the night. Needless to say, this tradition has not continued significantly to this day, in the more security conscious society. At midnight, many people would then enter the house through the front door and then go out the back door again, which was said to bring good luck.

First Person to Pass Through the Door
Another uniquely Irish tradition during the New Year was to place huge meaning and significance on who would be the first person to pass through the door on New Year’s Day. Unfortunately for those with red hair, if the individual was a red haired girl the family would have nothing but grief and heartache for a full year. However, if a tall, dark and handsome man passed through the door first, the house would be full of good luck!

Get out that Duster and Mop!
The last thing that many people want to do post-Christmas is to get out a duster and mop and start cleaning the house. A more modern tradition is to do a pre-Christmas spring-clean. However, a number of centuries ago, it was the tradition to start the New Year with a spotless house. Houses were cleaned from top to bottom and this was said to signify a good start to the upcoming new year.

Romance and Good Spirits
Some of the more romantic and fun traditions around New Year involve good spirits and romance. Single people traditionally placed sprigs of holly or mistletoe and sometimes ivy under the pillows. This was said to encourage them to dream of their future wives and husbands. Another Irish New Year tradition was to walk around the house banging on the doors and the walls with bread and this would chase any bad spirits away and invite good spirits in.  

What are your favorite New Year’s Traditions?