Celebrating Irish Festivals: Calendar of Seasonal Celebrations

by Ruth Marshall

Celebrating festivals with children brings a sense of rhythm, belonging and meaning to the seasons. Reaching back to the ancient Celtic festivals of Ireland and to Celtic Christianity, Ruth Marshall shows how marking festivals offers food for the soul. If you are interested in Irish traditions, or need a family or school resource, then here is an entrancing calendar of festivals that children will cherish. This is a rich treasury of stories, beautiful illustrations, poems, traditions, food, activities, games, dances and songs New ways and inspiring ideas for engaging children; fascinating festive guide to Imbolc, Bealtaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain; Church holy days, agricultural festivals and Celtic Saints' Days; recipes, crafts, games and activities with easy-to-follow instructions.

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Ruth Marshall is a poet, storyteller, author living in rural East Clare in the west of Ireland.
Most of what I do involves some kind of creativity, healing and personal transformation - whether that is as a writer, storyteller, life coach, healer, facilitator or crafter.

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful book from the Festivals Series with a varied collection of stories, activities, poems, games, songs, recipes and craft activities.

Ruth Marshall is a folklore collector, mother, poet and singer and works alongside Judith Evans at County Clare’s Steiner school.

Ireland has a rich history of folklore and traditions, this book is successful in teaching you so much about the traditions and culture of Ireland in a fun way, through stories and games. The crafts and recipes are explained well and the illustrations make this a lovely book to look through. Perfect for inspiring a rainy day activity. There’s some original ideas for games and crafts. This is a great resource for any school or family!

Over the years I have used many of these with children and they all work well, I appreciate that these craft activities use simple, often natural materials and the end product is achievable for a child and makes something that looks good! The parts on Irish saints and legends are interesting and the recipes worked well, we didn't expect to like nettle soup as much as we did! There are some wonderful ideas for Christmas crafts. I created the advent garden for a children's group, a spiral of evergreen covering the floor of the hall with berries and seed heads, and then with lights off and curtains closed the children walked one at a time to light candles along the spiral whilst we sung carols, it was really magical!

Sadly this is out of print at the moment but highly recommend checking your library or looking for a second hand copy