Evergreens to feasts: the international influences that transformed Christmas

From bringing evergreens into the home to cheer the darkest part of the year to the modern feast of presents and food, Christmas traditions have evolved over centuries.

Liam Corry, curator of emigration at the Ulster American Folk Park, said simple Irish traditions have since been influenced by others across the globe to blend ancient pagan customs with Christian beliefs and recent American influence.

Mr Corry said that long before Santa Claus and Christmas cards, midwinter was marked by pagan festivals celebrating light, life and renewal.

Evergreen plants such as holly and ivy were brought indoors to symbolise hope through the darkest months, while yule logs were burned to mark the turning of the year.

As Christianity arrived in Ireland, these traditions merged with those older customs as Christmas Day was established by the early Church as the date to celebrate the birth of Christ.

However even 200 years ago, Christmas in Ireland was relatively low key, with Ordnance Survey notes from 1830 recording the giving out of food and clothing to the poor by rich landowners and Church of Ireland clergy.

Mr Corry said: “People, even the poorest, would try to have better provisions put by for the Christmas meal.

“There does seem to be a tradition of a good cleaning of the home and the farmyard.

“It is described as such in the 1820s by William Charlton.

“He also talks of holly and ivy wreaths being hung up and dances being organised.”

Mr Corry said most of what we recognise today was shaped in America during the 1800s, influenced by German, Dutch and British settlers – including thousands from Ulster.

“The modern Christmas tree, Santa Claus, gift-giving to children and even the idea of a cosy, family-centred Christmas were all popularised in the United States before returning across the Atlantic,” he said.

“These were traditions carried by emigrants, reshaped in a new land, and later embraced back home.”

Turning to Santa Claus, Mr Corry described an “unmistakably American figure with deep European roots”.

Derived from Saint Nicholas, living during the 4th century in what is now the modern-day country Turkey, and shaped by Dutch settlers in New York, Mr Corry said Santa’s image was refined in 19th-century America through poetry, illustration and popular culture.

His sleigh, reindeer and North Pole home became fixed in the imagination before travelling back across the Atlantic.

“Santa is perhaps the best example of how Christmas traditions crossed borders,” Mr Corry added.

“He is a global figure, but one whose story reflects migration, imagination and shared heritage.”

Meanwhile our modern Christmas dinner, especially the roasted turkey, has American origins, having replaced goose as the festive centrepiece in Britain and Ireland.

However Mr Corry said turkey for Christmas dinner only became widespread in the mid-20th century.

It is a theme which, along with celebrations throughout the year, is explored by the Ulster American Folk Park on the outskirts of Omagh, Co Tyrone.

As the United States marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independent, the Ulster American Folk Park will mark its 50th anniversary.

Mr Corry said: “Christmas reminds us that the relationship between Ulster and America is not just political or historical.

“It’s deeply cultural, rooted in shared traditions, family memories and seasonal rituals that continue to shape who we are.

“At Ulster American Folk Park, we preserve these traditions not as relics, but as living expressions of shared history.

“By celebrating Christmas here, visitors can see how Ulster helped shape American culture, and how America, in turn, reshaped Christmas for us all.”