Happy New Year! November 1st is the first day of the ancient Celtic year. As of January 1st, it’s the day after the big party. Around Ireland, neighbors are quietly cleaning up after the bonfires and fireworks of Halloween.
Parents are taking down decorations and encouraging their children to pace themselves as they devour their candy. Schools are on mid-term break, and the weather is usually cool and wet. The sun is rising after 7:00 am and setting before 5:00 pm, giving us shortly, dark days. In Ireland, November is time to curl up with a good book or a box set in front of the fire with a comfy throw blanket and a mug of tea. It’s time to watch the rainfall and reflect on life.
Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, was born in Dublin on November 8th, 1847. If you didn’t read his classic for Halloween, November is also a good time! This is a good month for Irish writers. Oliver Goldsmith was born on November 10th, 1730 in Ballymahon, County Longford. This November 30th will be the 350th anniversary of Jonathan Swift’s birth. It’s a good month for dreamers in general. Two of the revolutionaries whose dreams finally set Ireland on the path to freedom were born in November: Padraic Pearse on the 10th, 1879, and Joseph Mary Plunkett on the 21st, 1887. Pearse’s brother and fellow revolutionary Willie was born on the 15th in 1881. And one of Ireland’s most famous athletes, runner Sonia O’Sullivan, celebrates her big day on November 28th.
Irish History and Happenings in November
New year, new beginnings. Many important staples of Irish life were launched in November. Ireland’s most beloved institution was also born in November. The Gaelic Athletic Association was founded on November 1st, 1884. The state broadcaster launched a second English-language television station on November 2nd, 1978. In 1791, Dublin’s iconic Custom House opened on November 7th.
November has also been a good month for the 800-year struggle for independence. The United Irishmen met in Dublin for the first time on November 9th, 1791. In 1872, a conference ran from November 18th through the 20th and established the Home Rule League. The Irish Volunteers, which later became the Irish Republican Army that fought in 1916, officially began on November 25th, 1913. The Irish Citizen Army, which fought alongside the IRA in 1916, was also founded in November 1913. It grew out of the trade union movement and the lock-out of 1913.
If someone you love was born in November and has a love of Ireland, Irish birthstone jewelry is the perfect gift. Celebrate the start of a new year for her and a new Celtic year with something as sparkly as her personality – her November topaz birthstone. Whether she likes the classic Claddagh or a more ancient Celtic design, you can find Irish birthstone jewelry with her stone and just the right style.
