The older Irish community in New York remembers Christmas past in Ireland - VIDEO

Move back to Ireland if they miss it so much!! Crying how wonderful Ireland was yet they couldn't wait to get out of it cos of the backwardness,corruption & stupidity.

The crib or créche was a prominent feature in Irish churches around Christmas and midnight mass was said in some rural churches. The most chéches I ever saw in one local area were at Camp Lejune, N.C. in Dec. of 1961. I attempted to go to midnight mass there, but couldn't get closer than 10 yards to the church's front door at 11:45 on Christmas Eve.

@bobwil, I don't see where in the video these people are seen drinking or crying in their beer about anything. For that matter, it is healthier to drink in moderation than to not drink at all, for pity's sake!

bob40: The fact is that some of us who emigrated to NYC in the late '50s or early '60s never tasted a drop of beer or any other booze, and in my case, not even during the 4 years I served in the Marine Corps. And I still do NOT consume any liquor, not even at any event of the American Legion, of which I have been a member since the mid-80s. Incidendally, the Legion is NOT a men's drinking club but a patriotic society.

Same old thing, crying in their beer crying about how wonderful it was in the ole Sod.

My mother always talked about how excited they were to get their Christmas "oranges from Spain," with their suggestion of abundant sunshine and abundant crops. But yes, Christmas was about mucking about with family, visiting relatives and neighbors, waiting and listening to the Wren Boys, and sharing food at the family table with whomever came to the door on St. Steven's Day ( Dec. 26 at that time, also known as Boxing Day in Britain, when all the servants got a day off to visit relatives and were given a boxed lunch for their travels). Much of this type of celebration took place in old Irish neighborhoods in the Bronx where people went to midnight Mass, and after Mass children opened their few presents and stayed up (until sleepy) with the adults who would visit house to house all night. I remember the mountain of rolls and the smell of bacon going through the night to feed people dropping in, including groups of teenagers and young adults, all dressed in suits. And plenty of whiskey and beer, although no one seemed to get drunk. One year my brother, traveling a distance to his fiance's house on another block, found an old woman who had fallen in the snow and could not get up. He carried her to the house she wanted to visit and stayed there awhile.