This week’s header image on le craic

A day earlier than normal. Have other work to do tomorrow. Could have scheduled this to post tomorrow,  but I have to upload the image and do some widgety changes at the same time so.. Not that it matters to anyone anyway.

This week’s image shows a tractor in a field in Connemara.

A tractor is an appropriate image this week I think. Monday December 8^th is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is a holy day of obligation here in Ireland. It is a day when Catholics are obliged to attend Mass under the rules of Canon Law.

It is also known as Culchie’s day out by sophisticated Dubliners. Once upon a time on this particular day, Dublin folk had to share their pristeen city with hang sangwidge eating, red haired, welly wearing country folk.

See, once the country people had been to Mass in the morning, they would all hit the road to Dublin to indulge in some Christmas shopping. And I count myself proudly as one of those country folk who, as a child, was taken to Dublin for the day to see Santa and the lights.

One of the results of the “Celtic Tiger” is the proliferation of “retail destinations” all around the country. Now the country folk don’t need to make their way to Dublin any more. So there’s more time for shopping after Mass, and more business spread around regionally. There will still be a swelling of numbers in the capital on Monday though, just not as many as before.

For me it means a day when I might get to hear something other than the Dublin twang all day – which is a bit of novelty and a welcome one at that in all n’ anways bud. That’s the storee, yeah.

[100 Things Culchies Love]

Photo owned by rpeschetz and used under the terms of a CC License.