The eighth of December was traditionally the day in Ireland when people ‘from the country’ would come up to Dublin to do their Christmas shopping.
In the past, schools would have closed on December 8, which is the Feast Of The Immaculate Conception, and people would take the opportunity to make the annual trip to the capital to see the Christmas lights and visit Santa.
It marked the beginning of the Christmas rush, buses and trains were full, and the shops were thronged with people from all over Ireland.
But with the rise of online shopping, and with Covid still ongoing, is the December 8 shopping trip a tradition that has died out or has it lasted through these uncertain times?
The Irish Mirror took to the streets of Dublin city centre today to find out…
Getting off the Cork train at Heuston Station, two friends, Jackie and Mary, were up in Dublin for the day, ‘‘just for a break” but didn’t actually realise it was December 8th.
“We’ve only just come up for ourselves, chill out, have something to eat and go back down,” said Mary.
“We usually do it for December [8th] but we weren’t thinking about that, we just thought about having a break.”
They have noticed things being quieter this year. Their train from Cork this morning wasn’t busy, which they put down to the effects of Covid.
“With Covid anyway there’s a stop. There’s not much people on the trains or nothing,” said Mary.
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And are they worried about the virus? “Yeah we’re nervous about it alright like,” said Mary.
“We’d be cautious,” her friend Jackie added.
“But life has to go on,” said Mary. “Covid is not going to stop. It’s not going away so we have to carry on with life.”
Two of the main shopping streets in Dublin, Grafton Street and Henry Street, were eerily quiet for what used to be one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
For Dubs, Gary and Alison, who are living in Meath, December 8th was just a day that they booked off in the calendar to go out and buy Christmas presents - but they expected town to be busier.
“I actually thought the traffic coming into town [was a lot], there were a fair few cars ahead of us coming in to park. So I thought it was going to be busier to be honest,” said Alison.
“The weather probably doesn’t help either, the way it has been yesterday and today,” said Gary, with the orange weather warning for Storm Barra clearing up at 7am in Dublin this morning.
They said that while they wanted to get back out shopping in person, they have noticed a slight change in the amount of items on the shelves.
“I would say in some of the bigger stores, they’re very sparsely stocked compared to normal. There’s a lot of space,” said Alison. “So I’d say they’re struggling to get stuff in or maybe they’re just not bringing it in because the market’s changed.”
And for the traders themselves, Henry street Christmas market trader Martha Owens said December 8th is no busier than usual - in fact it’s not busy at all.
“The weather might have an awful lot to do with it as well,” she said. “[It’s] very, very slow.
“We could nearly have a game of football here. Look around, there's no one on the streets. No one [out] walking really.
“But thankful to be out though. We got out on the 8th till the 24th December last year, so that was a bonus as well.”
But despite the slow trade and the strange year it’s been, she said that the attitude of the shoppers who are out is “absolutely great”.
“Could not fault the Dublin public or the Irish public,” she said. “The support throughout the year has been tremendous to us. We’d be lost without them.
“I do think Covid has an awful lot to do with the emptiness of the street. I think that the people that are in the street are not afraid but there’s an awful lot of people at home that are afraid.
“They should be reassured by somebody in position to tell them not to be afraid. To go out and enjoy the Christmas atmosphere.
“Go back to your roots, go into town, get a bit of Christmas spirit back into you and cheer yourself up.”
