Sean Beattie - memories of Christmas past between Derry and Donegal

Having reflected on the close connections between Derry and Inishowen, namely the fact  that the cityside of Derry is actually in Inishowen, we decided to do a bit of research on  past Christmas traditions in common between Derry and Inishowen.  

Sean Beattie is a historian based in Inishowen but educated at St Columb’s College in the  1950’s. He began by reflecting on attendance at midnight mass. Mass was often attended  the night before Christmas. While mass in Derry city was closer by peoples’ homes, many  people in the country, in Donegal and throughout Ireland, would walk for an hour to reach  

the church. Sean remembers large groups of people walking on dark and silent country  roads to the local church.  

“People put a candle in their window on both sides of the border. Mass going was a very  important tradition on both sides of the border.” 

Sean was at school with Seamus Heaney and they were both boarders. The boys were  not told what day the school would close for Christmas till the last morning. If students  from Co Derry ordered a bus, they had to order it two days in advance so then the others  would know what day they were going to get off.  

“We referred to them as the County Derry boys,” said Sean. “Seamus Heaney and his  brother Pat would have been on that bus.” 

Sean said that many customs in Inishowen and Derry were based on the tradition of  trading and of markets between the two areas. 

Eating turkey was not an Irish tradition. Turkeys were grown by Donegal farmers for sale,  and sold in the market in Derry. Most Irish families in the fifties would have eaten bacon or  goose, or a chicken.  

Derry was an important outlet for farmers in Carndonagh and Buncrana. Turkeys were  raised for sale, not to eat – they were their livelihood, said Sean. Some Donegal houses  would have turkeys, but the most common dish was a goose.  

Meat was important. Fish was plentiful and cheap as it was a coastal area, but “Meat was  a treat.” Chicken and bacon was what people were used to - turkey wasn’t a custom to the  same extent. People had a choice between a turkey and a goose, and well off families  then would probably prefer a goose.  

You would have a wider range of shops and Christmas trees in the houses in Derry than in Donegal. The idea of a public Christmas tree was a feature in Derry, but it’s a more recent  thing in Donegal.  

The Inishowen farmers were the suppliers of eggs, chicken and milk in Derry. The time the  border was set up in the 1920s, a milk war went on. People were stopped from going into  Derry In the 1950s and 1960s - they had their own milk suppliers. The Donegal farmers  were very upset when they were stopped at the border, and a tariff on milk was put on.  Eventually the Derry people got their own milk supply. 

You would get Christmas trees on both sides of the border - but only in the “big houses” in  the early twentieth century. People made their own decorations, mainly of paper, that were  recycled from year to year.  

“Smuggling was another border tradition,” said Sean. “People used to come from  Inishowen to buy toys in Woolworths in Derry. That was definitely a custom. You could buy  small things very cheaply in Derry. People got a better range of Christmas cards. Things  were cheaper in Derry. Certain foodstuffs were cheaper. In Inishowen you had a shop  every two or three miles that just sold the basics, but if you wanted something exotic like  tomatoes, oranges or coffee, you would have to go to Derry.”  

You can read more about Sean Beattie’s reflections on Christmas traditions in the  Christmas edition of Ireland’s Own.