An Irish Christmas lasts from Christmas Eve to January 6 -- the Feast of the Epiphany, which Irish people call "Little Christmas."

On Christmas Eve, the father of the house puts a tall candle on the sill of the largest window. It is usually lit by the youngest child in honor of the Baby Jesus. It is left to burn all night to light the way for any wanderers in need of shelter like Mary and Joseph were years ago. The women bake round cakes full of caraway seeds for each person in the house.

Children enjoy the Wren Boy Procession. Young men and boys (and sometimes girls too) are up early. Some regions dress in colorful clothes while others dress in old clothes and blacken their faces. People in the southern districts wear home made hoods with the eyes cut out or masks of such characters as Mickey Mouse.

They march and sing accompanied by violins, accordians, harmonicas and horns and carry a long pole with a holly bush tied to the top. This is supposed to have a captured wren in it. In earlier days, people actually killed the wren and carried it in the procession.

This custom goes back to the time when, during a rebellion against English rule in the North, a group of English soldiers was surrounded while they slept. But the wrens pecked on their drums and woke the soldiers, allowing them to escape. The wren was called "The Devil's Bird."