Christmas Gifts
Christmas Gifts. AllGifts.ie has one of Ireland largest selection of Christmas Gifts in Ireland so you will never be short of Christmas gift ideas. Our instant voucher Gift Partners are listed below, or you can also go to our Gifts For Delivery By Van section for traditional gifts delivered by courier.
Choose from either Gift Vouchers (for Ireland’s best shops hotels, restaurants, spas and experience gifts etc) or Gifts for Delivery by Van for hampers including, wine, champagne, and many more great gifts for next day delivery by courier. Happy Christmas!
The History of Christmas Gifts
The Three Wise Men were the original Christmas gift-givers though the event itself, the Epiphany, is now celebrated on January 6th. From ancient times, a custom slowly developed of giving food and small gifts to friend s and family to mark the start of New Year celebrations - probably started in northern Europe.
The first recorded Christmas celebration was in 336AD in the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). A few years later Pope Julius I officially declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on the 25th December.
However, Christmas gift-giving did not really take off in a big way until the arrival of Saint Nicholas in the 4th Century AD. A modest, shy man, born into a wealthy family in what is now Turkey, Saint Nicholas became a bishop in the anti-Christian Roman Empire of the time. Legend has it that he helped three sisters to get married by anonymously throwing gold coins through their window, where they famously landed on stockings drying bay the fire.
From that (and many other acts of charitable gift giving by St. Nick), the legend of Saint Nicholas developed into the tradition of children laying out stockings at Christmas in the hope of Santa Claus arriving in the night to fill them with surprise gifts. In Scandinavia, the tradition developed that Saint Nicholas, complete with white beard and ruddy cheeks, lived in the far north, just inside the Arctic Circle near the North Pole. This is the popular image of Santa Claus that endures with most children around the world today.
With the growth in retailing following the industrial revolution, the tradition of Christmas gifts grew strongly from the late 19th century into what it is today – the biggest global Christmas gift giving tradition of the year. Thanks St Nicholas! Read More »
Christmas Traditions
The great thing about Christmas, is that it has 2000 years of history from which to draw on for its traditions and customs. And, of course, many of the early Christian traditions were based on much older traditions stretching back to early man.
From Christmas hampers to carol singing and Christmas trees, decorations and lights, Christmas cards, Christmas stockings, traditional food and drink, and not to forget the birthday of Jesus, closely followed by St Stephen’s Day (in Ireland, Boxing day in the UK) - the end of December has become a global festival embracing all creeds and colours, marking the start of the end of year’s celebrations that culminate with New Year’s Eve.
Christmas cards: The custom of sending Christmas cards started in 1840 when the Post Office introduced its now famous Penny Post. While eCards continue to grow in popularity as with buying Christmas gifts online , the UK Post Office expects to handle over 100 million cards per day, in the three weeks before Christmas.
Santa’s Reindeers and Sleigh
The image of Santa on a sleigh with Christmas gifts pulled by reindeer became popular following the publication in 1823 of Clement C. Moore’s now famous poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas," commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas”. Very quickly, the image of Santa Clause’s magic sleigh travelling from the North Pole to children everywhere in one night of stupendous gift-giving had become central to growing Christmas traditions. The name Rudolph, for Santa’s main reindeer, was added in 1939 with the publication of Robert’s May’s children rhyme, which in 1947 was set to music and recorded by Gene Autry. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" became a huge hit, cementing Rudolph's place in Christmas history forever.
At AllGifts.ie, you will find everything from adventure gifts to the best hampers in Ireland. Make your Christmas Gifts memorable and special – only at AllGifts.ie!