Traditionally, the Irish have celebrated the 12 Days of Christmas from Christmas Eve on December 24 all the way through January 6, plus Handsels Day, upon which children receive additional small presents called handsels. This makes 13 Days of Christmas. Some of the days are Catholic Saints' Feast Days and some are simply additional celebrations to tie all the days together.

The 12 Days of Christmas as a song became a code - The Christmas Code beginning in the times when Christmas and Catholicism were banned as illegal in England (and therefore Ireland at the time) from 1558 to 1829. For over 70 years, the song contained a code for the celebration of Jesus Christ in open secret, until Parliament lifted the ban.

Traditions As a Code

Holiday and seasonal traditions observed within cultures other than our own often seem like a code of a secret society, until we become familiar with them, their origins, and various meanings. As serendipity, however, it seems that some Christmas traditions observed at school and at home during my childhood were Irish. As an adult I also learned that our European ancestors lived in England, Ireland, and Scotland and not entirely in England.

You may have electric "candles" in your windows or elsewhere in the house during Christmastime. In Ireland, it is customary to place thick white candles or electric lights shaped like candles in each window of the house during this season. The light guides the hungry and homeless to shelter, while it commemorates the expectation of the human race for Mary and Joseph in the stable to bring forth the Christ child. further, on December 24th, milk and Irish bread are left on the dining room table with a lit candle, along with lighted candles in the windows -- The door is left unlocked so that any hungry, lonely person may enter and eat. This is to remember that Mary and Joseph found no room at the inn and that Irish homes would welcome them in today.

Apparently, in some parts of Ireland, children put out large bags rather than stockings for gifts on December 24th, and leave Father Christmas some mince pies and a bottle of Guinness.

Another Irish tradition during the 12 Days of Christmas from December 25th through Twelfth Night is making pillowcases on January 1st for good fortune and continued work/income. (The link tells some of the story.) Some say that the pillowcase is made to hold the large fortunes coming in the new year.

On St. Stephen's Day (December 26th, or Boxing Day in the UK and elsewhere), a tradition of boys carrying a dead wren (today, an artificial wren) in a basket or on the end of a stick and seeking donations throughout town to save the hungry wren is still observed. This is like trick or treat with money given instead fo candies, and seemingly only for boys and not girls. Adults watch football (soccer) and horse racing on TV.

The 12 Days of Chistmas from December 25th - January 5th-6th (12th Night).

1. Day - A Partridge in a Pear Tree represented Jesus Christ, God's Gift to each of His children (the Church). The partridge is depicted as a female - a mother bird that lures danger away from her babies. Some say that the tree represents the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden
2. Day - Two turtle doves: The Old Testament and the New Testament.
3. Day - Three French hens: Faith, Hope, and Love, from the Bible (1 Corinthians 13).
4. Day - Four calling birds = The Four Evangelists that wrote the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
5. Day - Five Golden Rings symbolize the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament.
6. Day - Six geese laying eggs = 6 Days of Creation.
7. Day - Seven swans simming = The Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
8. Day - Eight maids milking cows = The Beatitudes, given by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount.
9. Day - Nine ladies dancing = The Fruit(s) of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22-23.
10. Day - Ten lords leaping are the Ten Commandments. 
11. Day - Eleven pipers piping represent the Eleven Apostles that stayed faithful or returned to faith (Peter, Thomas), but not Judas.
12. Day - The 12 drummers drumming represent the twelve tenets of the Apostles' Creed. 

This meat needs to be marinated for two weeks before cooking.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 Pounds of Lean Brisket (Beef)
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1Tbsp whole juniper berries
• 1 Tbsp whole allspice
• 1 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 3/4 cup cold water

INSTRUCTIONS

• Using your fingers press brown sugar down into the beef like a dry rub on all sides.
• Put meat into a large casserole dish, cover, and set in refrigerate for two days. Do not stir.
• To make an additional dry rub, crush juniper berries, allspice, peppercorns, and salt all together.
• Once a day every day for 9 days, press 1 Tbsp of the second dry rub over the meat surface and return to the refrigerator.
• On Day 12, preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• Rinse the beef under cold water to remove excess dry rub. Pour off the brine.
• Return the beef to the casserole dish and add the water.
• Cover the dish and bake 3.5 hours until meat is tender. Remove from oven, let sit 20 minutes to rest and wrap in foil.
• Put a heavy platter or board on top of the meat and weigh it down with something heavy. Refrigerate the weighted meat overnight to press it.
• Carve the beef very thin and serve with bread and butter.  

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 Cups flour
• 1 stick butter
• 3/4 cup sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Soften butter on the countertop.
• Cut butter into flour and rub into flour with fingers. It should now look like meal or cracker crumbs.
• Add sugar and mix well..
• Grease bottom and sides of an 8” square or round pan with butter and dust with flour.
• Press the dough strongly into the bottom of pan- That’s what makes it “short.”
• Bake 30 minutes. Remove pan from oven to a towel on the counter.
• Quickly cut the shortbread with a sharp blade into shapes while warm and sprinkle with sugar, which will set as the shortbread cools.
• Set aside to cool in the pan or it will crumble. Enjoy!