Or if you’re a woman in Ireland then that’s it, almost. Feast days are unpredictable and they go in and out of fashion. Not so long ago Hallowe’en was a modest proposition; nowadays the entire country is transmogrified into the set of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. On Good Friday devout Catholics and devote drinkers each did their own Stations of the Cross; now it’s mostly a day like any other. In recent years, however, another feast day has been quietly rising in popularity and observance — Nollaig na mBan on January 6.

Source: The Times January 02, 2018 00:00 UTC