Easter Treats In Ireland:Buy Online Easter Eggs:Gift Ideas:Irish Easter Greetings Card:Decorative Chocolate Easter Eggs:

Easter Sunday sitting down to treat yourself and your family to some well deserved chocolate Easter eggs is coming soon and I would like to share with you some Irish Easter traditions, past and present. There is still plenty of time to send out those Easter greetings cards and to choose which gift or Easter egg to get your loved ones. You can also buy online Easter presents and gifts and avoid all the crowds in the mall or shopping centre. There are some great gift and present ideas that you can find online. I love to send my family and friends an Easter greetings card with pictures of the little yellow Easter bunnies or maybe some Easter egg photos. I also enjoy recieving them and some really interesting Easter gifts such as Custom made Easter eggs or if I am lucky some new jewellery.

Children love Easter, I know mine do, and they so look forward to the Easter bunny arriving. Bringing with him many treats and gifts, usually chocolate Easter eggs and hiding them either in the garden or around the house.

The children then search around and find as many as they can. I love this tradition of the Easter bunny hiding the eggs and I have enjoyed many a happy Easter Sunday morning helping my children to find their Easter eggs that the Easter bunny has hidden. And then, usually after breakfast, we sit down and treat ourselves to some chocolate. Chocolate is lovely at the best of times, but when you have not eaten it for the 40days of Lent, its taste scrumptious :-)

My family usually give up chocolate for Lent so by the time Easter Sunday comes around we cannot wait till ‘after dinner’ for a little treat. It is one day that I allow my children to eat chocolate straight after breakfast...

Eating our Easter eggs on Easter Sunday morning: an after breakfast treat: One of my families favourite traditions that myself and my children have enjoyed over the years and I look forward to my grandchildren’s faces when they encounter the Easter bunny on Easter Sunday morning....

Happy Easter to you all and I hope you get as many Easter eggs,gifts and presents as you have wished for... Chocolate Easter eggs and boxes of chocolates are the traditional gift to give and receive on Easter Sunday...

One of the most important religious dates in the Irish calendar, apart from St Patrick’s Day, is Easter as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. In Ireland preparation for Easter starts on the first day of Lent, forty days before Easter Sunday.

From the first day of Lent Irish people would stop eating meat but would also give up for the forty days of Lent something they enjoy, such as going to the pub for a pint, or a glass of wine, giving up their favourite food, usually cakes or biscuits or both, crisps, cigarettes, anything that the individual feels that they would consider a ‘sacrifice’.

During the forty days of Lent meat would not be eaten on a Friday. In its place fish would be eaten. It is a time of self discipline and reflection, but also a time for Irish families to spend some quality time together and give the gift of Easter eggs and chocolates. Most people give up chocolate for Lent so an Easter egg and chocolates is a lovely treat.

The last week of Lent is the most important part of the fasting period with Palm Sunday being a week before Holy week which sees the coming of Easter and the resurrection of Our lord, Jesus Christ...

Many families would prepare their homes for Easter Sunday by doing what would be better known as, spring cleaning, to prepare the house for blessing by the local priest which is a religious ceremony that dates back hundreds of years.

No outdoor work should take place on Good Friday in Ireland and should be treated as a day of rest and preparation of body and soul for Easter. Most public houses and restaurants will close on Good Friday and reopen Easter Saturday..

On Good Friday people would attend confessions asking for forgiveness for their sins. They would then treat themselves to new clothes and shoes in preparation for Easter Sunday mass..

Eggs would ‘not’ be eaten during the time of Lent and would be presented to the Irish household on Good Friday, but not eaten until Easter Sunday. These eggs would be hard boiled and then painted with different colours and designs. These have been replaced with chocolate Easter eggs for the children, with over five million being purchased each year in Ireland.

Holy Saturday would be a day that Irish people take a vow of silence but also attend a special ceremony to have their Holy water blessed but would also attend the Easter Vigil which usually starts at 10pm with the Church decorated in purple colour banners to celebrate the arrival of the King. All lights in the Church are extinguished at 11pm with a new flame being presented to the altar of the church which is a Paschal candle, a symbol of the Risen Christ and the celebrations of the Holy Flame.......

Easter Sunday in many homes is very similar to any other Sunday or religious day in Ireland. Families get together dressed in their new clothes and would attend mass together in their local church.

After attending mass on Easter Sunday everyone would make their way back home to start the Easter feast which is usually made up of Roast Beef, chicken, lamb, potatoes and vegetables, gravy and followed by a homemade Easter cake, usually decorated with yellow chickens and chocolate flakes..