As households and establishments begin to dismantle the sparkle and glow of the Winter celebrations, whether it be Chanukah, Christmas, Diwali or another opportunity to boost the natural darkening of days and moods, leave it to Irish women all over their country to have a bookend that allows them to take a well-earned rest from their household work, letting the men of the house take a turn.
They spend their freedom in gathering together to meet, to eat and talk, dance and sing, on Jan. 6 for Nollaig na mBan. Also referred to as “Little” or “Old” Christmas, this day marks the end of the 12 Days of Christmas, and coincides with the Christian Feast of the Epiphany and keeps the tradition of celebrating and acknowledging Irish women bright beyond the 12 days’ end.
The custom has spread widely in Ireland today from its local roots and now can involve charity and fundraising events, often to aid female-centered issues such as Breast Cancer awareness and help for Battered Women. As decorations are taken down — it was considered unlucky to do this before the 12th night, as it is to leave them up later — women made social calls and enjoyed the last remnants of the feasts while out of their homes, where now the men took charge. Older customs involved lighting 12 candles named after family members in the windows, or swiping the tail of a herring over the eyes of their children to give immunity against disease, always a danger in those times.
Happily, the focus of today’s celebrations leave the remains of the feast for the men, while women go out to eat food made by others, with no cleaning up to be done afterwards. A group of 12 New York Irish American women met on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 at the Playwright Tavern at 202 West 49th St. to eat, drink and share stories, events and news from the past year, and inspire, comfort and entertain each other as well as raise money for a worthwhile charity founded by women, the Ukrainian National Women's League of America, New York chapter (region-nyc@unwla.org). In operation for 100 years in 2025, the UNWLA works hard to raise awareness of the humanitarian situation in war-torn Ukraine, as well as with refugees who are living in the USA.
Nollaig na mBan NYC is the title adopted by the 6 women who began celebrating this delightful day in 2015, following a Jan. 6 meeting in Connolly’s Pub in midtown Manhattan. On that day, the founder, Maura Mulligan, had gathered some of her friends, fellow dancers and Irish language students to talk about how they could work to keep the 4 Celtic ‘Fire Festivals’ - Imbolc (Feb. 1), Bealtaine (May 1), Lughnasa (Aug. 1) and Samhain (Oct. 31) alive. We suggested organizing a cultural event hosting performers from the rich Irish community with music, poetry, storytelling, and dance for an audience who would be give a modest donation to a chosen charity. Maura had already a following celebrating Samhain - originally asking some from her Irish classes to embrace the ancient Celtic traditions of the day with costumes and legends in an Irish restaurant. We now are in the 11th year of enjoying these festivals and honoring the work and legacy of this splendid charity.
Mostly the evening was about chatting with others, catching up with news and sharing ideas and inspiration. Maura Mulligan was missed as she is recovering from the flu, but Karen Daly gave a brief and informative summary of the Women's Christmas history instead. Dee Nolan told us all about her plans for 2026 which included yoga and exercise, as well as having recently received a copy of ‘Wild Irish Women’ by Marian Broderick, and feeling transported and fascinated by the characters. Given to her by her Dublin cousin Margaret, whose birthday was on January 6th, Dee said she is frequently amazed by the exploits in those pages! This author followed with news both sad and exciting. A dear friend passed, a son’s wedding in Costa Rica, the birth of a granddaughter and the progress after a shoulder replacement. A reading of Yeat’s ‘The Rose of Peace’ gave hope for an end to war in these lesser known verses written in 1941. Bridget Dundon was planning to read Tennyson’s “Ring Out Wild Bells’ but a 3 hour class she recently taught had weakened her voice enough to make hearing her a challenge in our lively public location.
Two women from the UNWLA, Orysia Stryzak and Irka Hryhorowych, joined the group to update us with the projects the different chapters are engaged in. We collected donations from our attendees heard about the ‘Keep Ukraine Warm’ project the donation will go to. Advocacy and raising funds for hospitals in Ukraine, in particular maternity wards, have been emphasised as well. So good to know we can help women, children and the elderly survive the harsh winter, as well as support the brave women defending their country.
We reminded all present about the prospect of a Celtic Spring at Imbolc and then donned hats, gloves and coats, all of us feeling lucky to live in warm, safe housing. Outside, the curb glittered with the memories of tinsel, of berries and baubles and pine needles, but all the women felt the warmth of our companionship, gaining so much from the listening, from the speaking, and from the knowledge that we are a part of something so much larger whose strength derives from the ability of women, not just “wild,” but wise and strong in the ways that matter. Maura had shared these words written by the author “SARK”:
The Circles of Women around us
weave invisible nets of love
That carry us when we are weak and
Sing with us when we are strong.
