Did you celebrate Easter as a kid?

Teapot22

I'm an 80's child so lots of memories of Mass. I always cried at the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday.

We always had the Easter Bunny too, my husband finds it bizarre, but seems a lot didn't have the Bunny delivering their eggs.I asked my Mum about it. My parents lived in Australia for a number of years and she said it was big there so she carried on the tradition when we came back.

branie2

We never did the Easter Bunny in our house, the Easter eggs came from our parents.

My mother used to go to mass every day during Lent. For a couple of years, I had to go along with her.
I remember Palm Sunday had the long gospel. Holy Thursday meant another mass (usually around 5.00pm) and that torturous service on Good Friday (the long gospel again). Good Friday was a terrible day in the 1970s and 1980s. Aside from petrol stations and the odd corner shop, nowhere else was open. There was nothing good on television. It was a day of "black fast" so I always remember being hungry.

We didn't go to the Easter Vigil mass on the Saturday but Easter Sunday 10.30am was the usual destination. We got our eggs afterwards - usually two each. In the 1970s I remember a plain chocolate egg in a mug.

For a couple of years, my father would hide creme eggs in the garden so my sister and I would search for them. I ate nine in one go in 1984 and puked up onto my pillowcase that night.

brookers

I grew up in the 70s and 80s in the country, I have been trying to explain to anybody that would listen, that Good Friday was a very black day then, I often remember the sky would turn dark around 3pm, you could only eat fish, no place was open. church went on a very long time, we would have gone about 3 or more times during holy week, it was all about how they dragged jesus to the cross and nailed him, cocks crowing three times, Jesus calling out why have you forsaken me. By the time easter sunday came you were really looking forward to a nice dinner. Dont really remember many eggs, they were quite expensive then, we probably had trifle. no easter bunnies or egg hunts or we didnt decorate the house, my mother would have sent easter cards though.

mvl

(80s') Grew up with Easter being influenced by protestant/orthodox traditions from mass point of view.
No chocolate eggs, but we had lovely home made cakes instead. No egg hunt.
Easter eggs were boiled/died. And we did egg tapping with them (still do today for our kids): before tapping two eggs, first person had to say the phrase, "Christ ​is Risen!" the second person would reply "Truly. He is Risen!"; the winner was whoever's egg lasted longer.

_Brian

_Brian wrote: »

I remember we had a Cludog once, think I doesn’t happen anywhere now.

Was common enough when we were kids.

somesoldiers wrote: »

For anyone else that never heard of a Cludog

Conduct a “cludog," where children gather eggs and roast them on a special device or contraption on the farm. Shells are saved and placed around the bottom of a May bush.

There has to be a name for this level of coincidence because I had never heard of clúdóg before yesterday, when I was sitting talking with a man in his mid-80s from north Leinster and he was telling me about clúdóga when he was but a garsún. Niall Ó Dónaill defined the clúdóg as a 'Batch of (Easter) eggs.' I started googling and there's a slew of entries about clúdóg on the (addictive) Dúchas website which has the collection from the Irish Folklore Commission's archive in UCD that de Valera established in 1935. Somebody connected to you is possibly recorded in it as they went around Ireland on bicycles, cars and trains recording stories so put in your surname or village just out of interest.

Fortunately, the search function on the Dúchas website is superb so the first page tells us where in Ireland the word 'Clúdóg' is most commonly recorded in their folklore archive: Cavan, Westmeath, Meath, Longford... (in that order)


Here's one of the 43 stories that return where 'clúdóg' occurs, collected in the 1930s in Longford from 84-year-old Paddy Donohoe, Farmullagh:

Old Festive Customs - Easter

The following was told me by Paddy Donnohoe:- To all the Irish people even now-a-days but more so back twenty years ago Easter meant "a good feed of eggs".
I often heard my father telling that when he was a wee gassoon [garsún!] running about barelegged along with the other youngsters they would "put in" as they used to say to be asked to "gugger" praties to their neighbour's house on Easter Saturday so that they would be sure to receive a few eggs as a gift for their cludóg on Easter Sunday. Here is his description of Easter Sunday custom.
We always heard that the sun danced early on Easter Sunday morning so many a time we were up with the lark and away to the hilltop to see the rising sun. "Look there is dancing" Seán's Pat would say. We'd all strain our eyes watching and then go home firmly believing that we had seen it. Ha! Ha! you weren't up to see it dancing we'd shout to the lazyboots who wouldn't get up. Anyhow when we'd go home the basket of praties was teemed and each one had an egg or maybe two boiling in the black porringer on the fire - this was a special breakfast for this morning alone. Often our elders strove with one another to see who would eat the most eggs. I heard that old Jimin Lojain ate fourteen and nearly died with a colic - Gold bless us"
When evening came we collected all our eggs and went down the long field to hold our cludóg. We had it under the lone bush and had a fire of sticks placed there a few days before. The girls joined in and brought a kettle, mugs, milk, tea and sugar. We usually had a "join" that is each paid a halfpenny a piece and bought a loaf. A halfpenny was a big thing in them days, sure the best workman had only four pence a day - behold you! Well we lit the fire, boiled the eggs and made the tea and ate our cludóg in grand style under the lone bush. When it was over we danced, sung and played games until we were worn out, then off home to bed giving thanks to God for a happy Easter Sunday.

Atoms for Peace

The only imaginary beings allowed in my house growing up were santa and the Virgin Mary.

namloc1980

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

We got Easter eggs and that was it.

Not sure when all this "Happy Easter" and other Americanised ****e started.

Had egg hunts and Easter bunny and the likes growing up in the 80s. Some very miserable people in here.

TeaPot918

Not in the religious sense, only the chocolate sense.

OldMrBrennan83

namloc1980 wrote: »

Had egg hunts and Easter bunny and the likes growing up in the 80s. Some very miserable people in here.

The 'Happy Easter" on the likes of Facebook or texts/whatsapps. Wishing someone (people outside the home at the very least) a Happy Easter is a new thing I've only noticed lately. Is it being creep introduces to push cards, etc?

Widdensushi

my fondest memories of Easter is my sister puking up every year after scoffing a half dozen chocolate eggs, every year thinking that she couldn't be that silly again,must have learned her lesson and there she would go again, good times ��

iamwhoiam

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

The 'Happy Easter" on the likes of Facebook or texts/whatsapps. Wishing someone (people outside the home at the very least) a Happy Easter is a new thing I've only noticed lately. Is it being creep introduces to push cards, etc?

I remember back in the 60's all wishing each other a Happy Easter after Mass
Its simply a friendly thing to do so what on earth is the harm in that ?

lawred2

Four days of mass when I was a kid.

Give me painting eggs and egg hunts every day of the week over that misery fest

namloc1980

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

The 'Happy Easter" on the likes of Facebook or texts/whatsapps. Wishing someone (people outside the home at the very least) a Happy Easter is a new thing I've only noticed lately. Is it being creep introduces to push cards, etc?

Here's a card from 1912:



Victorian era picture of kids on a egg hunt.



Nothing new or American about this. Children on Easter egg hunts have been recorded since medieval times in Germany.

French Happy Easter card from 1908:

freshpopcorn

We used go to the vigil mass on Saturday night at 9pm. I loved the candles.
Then on Sunday we'd have a big Christmas style dinner and dessert.
I used get a large kinder off the Easter Bunny and they'd be other eggs around to.
My aunt would call with an odd egg she got on the way.
We didn't have an egg hunt and I didn't give up anything for lent.

DubDani

I grew up on Germany in the 70s/80s, and over there it has always been a big thing, with properly painted (chicken) eggs, egghunts, chocolate bunnies etc.

The whole Bunny bringing chocolate thing originates actually from Germany. I actually painted proper eggs on Saturday and hid them throughout the garden together with some chocolate ones and a Lindt Bunny etc.

That brings me to my biggest pain around Easter in Ireland.. why are there no white eggs here for Sale, but only brown ones? ;-) White ones are much easier to paint, but thankfully found some in the polish shop.

suicide_circus

leg of lamb, cooked to bejayzus, mint sauce