I think if I finish these recaps before winter is over, I’m doing okay! (I feel better knowing that Lag Liv is also still attempting to recap their South Africa trip from… last June I think?) Anyway, after this one, I just have one more to go. 🙂
So on that note, let’s dive into Part 2 of Christmas in Ireland: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!
December 24, 2025
Christmas Eve morning was mostly just a little flurry of final preparations for some people and hanging out for others. 🙂 The main event on the schedule was church at noon. For various reasons, my sister decided we’d go to church out in Achill, a little teeny tiny coastal town, instead of their regular church, which had a later service.
It was a ~45 minute drive out to the church, but it’s a beautiful drive and I am actually so glad that we did this. This little stone church was basically out in the middle of nowhere, in the most gorgeous, remote spot. This ended up being a very memorable experience for me, and I think something that will really stick with me from this trip.
We had enough time to take a few Christmas Eve pictures outside the church. My sister’s in-laws (who moved to Ireland from Minnesota a few years ago now to be closer their only child, my brother-in-law, as they age) met us there.
I love how these pictures turned out!! So pretty…..
Now, the actual church service…. let’s just say, I AM SO GLAD WE WENT (there were 13 of us in total) because otherwise, um, it basically would have just been the pastors, the musician, and like 2 other people (who had roles in the service).
My sister explained that there were a few issues at play. First, this church is kind of a “satellite” church of the larger Protestant church in the bigger town. This particular town is so remote there just aren’t enough people to maintain a full parish/congregation, so the pastor comes out on certain schedules to do services here. It sounded like this special Christmas Eve service wasn’t really “advertised” well enough. And also, Ireland is largely mostly Catholic, so there aren’t many Protestants in the first place, and she said church attendance is just waaaaaay down in Ireland across the board.
I felt a little sad about this beautiful little church being almost totally empty- and on Christmas! (Also- they don’t heat the churches there, and it was FREEZING in there!! The sun was shining in through the stained-glass windows and I could see my breath as I sang the hymns. 😅 Maybe they’d get more people to come if there were HEAT! 😉 )
One really special part about this service, though, is that they’d actually invited a famous local Irish musician/guitarist to provide music. (Knowing this made me feel sort of mortified on the church’s behalf, that he drove way out to Achill for this special service and then the place was empty! Thank goodness we went!)
He was amazing though and I actually got tears in my eyes as he played and sang O Holy Night at the end, which is my favorite Christmas song. I felt emotional not only because the setting was really unique and beautiful and his voice and acoustic guitar sounded so lovely, but because I just felt very grateful to be sitting there with my entire family, in IRELAND, on Christmas Eve…. and just for the cool experiences our family has had over the years, in general.
The back side of the church:
Views from the little parking area:
On the way back, the boys ended up riding with my sister’s family. It was such a pretty day!
On the way back to the house, Ivan (who was at the wheel, of course) decided to pull off at this pub/ restaurant not far from my sister’s house. My sister had previously told us it was a “good luck tradition” to stop for a pint on Christmas Eve, and Ivan took this very much to heart! Who can pass up the guarantee of Irish good luck for 2026? 😉 haha.
The others had gone on ahead home with the younger kids (I think my sister’s family had plans to stop by a neighbor’s house? I can’t recall exactly), but Ivan, my parents and I squeezed in a very quick Christmas pint before heading home for the rest of the festivities.
This place was decorated up so nicely for Christmas, there was a fire in the fireplace, and It’s a Wonderful Life was playing on the TV in the bar area.
We didn’t stay long, but this was fun! I had the best time with all of the family time we had this week, but these little pub stops and other small things we fit in made this trip feel like the perfect combo of FAMILY VISIT + VACATION. 🙂
When we got home, it wasn’t long before we got the rest of Christmas Eve rolling! In our family, Christmas Eve is traditionally a “snacky” meal- cheese/crackers/ sausage, meatballs, chips + dip, cookies, things like that.
We were treated to yet another gorgeous sunset! How LUCKY we were with the weather, in the land of lots-o-rain…..
The girls all pretty for Christmas Eve. 🙂
Waiting patiently for my presents. 😅
More family pics…
The kids goofing around with Asher and anxious to get started.
We had our snacky dinner by the tree with festive drinks, too.
Then finally, gift opening time. There were plenty of them, so we took our time going around and slowly opening them all. (We did not bring any gifts for our boys/my parents along, but there were still a lot!)
My sister kicked things off by handing out a gift to us, my parents, and her in-laws, all identical. When we opened it, we were all shocked to see: my sister’s finished book!! She had been “working on a book” (her first) for years, but with very young kids and not a lot of free time, the last we heard, it was still very much a work in progress. Well, it turns out that she, without telling a soul, finished writing her book and had it self-published this fall! I guess she found some more time once her youngest started kindergarten!! This was SO exciting!
I have not read it yet, but my oldest niece was apparently a test-reader 😉 and she said, “omg it’s soooo good!!” I have no doubt about this- my sister is a super talented writer. I can’t wait. (She’s not planning to actually try and publish/sell this one- she wanted to make this a learning experience and is planning to start writing another one soon with the goal of publishing- hopefully a trilogy! Then this first one could apparently later be edited to be a prequel, if desired.)
We were all so proud of her for accomplishing this big endeavor! 🙂 🙂
The rest of the evening was spent opening gifts, snacking, listening to Christmas music and relaxing.
My nephew loved the Squishmallow we got him.
I bought all the kids light up letters with their initial for their bedrooms. Also a hit!
My younger niece I got a Caboodle!! I had one as a kid and I was excited to see they’re apparently back? Still around??
At the end of the night, the girls gave us a little ukelele/ voice concert. It was the sweetest thing ever.
After the kids went to bed (on time, so Santa could come!), the rest of us started watching an original Christmas Carol, but after a while we ran into some, um, scratch issues on my sister’s old DVD. Lol. (We couldn’t seem to find this on the streaming options they have…). Oh well. We pivoted I think to some other Netflix Christmas movie? Not sure.
We enjoyed the quiet, cozy time by the tree/fire and each other’s company before calling it a night.
Christmas Day
Some of us slept right through the Santa gift opening in the morning (whoops…). Sorry not sorry, lol, because the kids were up BRIGHT and EARLY and of course didn’t want to wait until their lazy aunt and uncle and teenaged cousins got up. ha.
We spent the day around the house- just enjoying tea and chatting in the morning. The kids were of course upstairs in the playroom trying out all their new toys!!
I had ordered my nephew this cardboard coloring house, which Ethan helped them put together. (On the phone before Christmas, I had asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas, and my nieces said “All S (my nephew) wants is a big cardboard box and some markers”. Now, I have no idea if they were just saying that or if he actually wanted that, but I was like, hmm. I think I can make that happen! 😉 )
The main event on Christmas Day was a formal Christmas dinner in the afternoon. My sister and her husband made a BEAUTIFUL meal of prime rib, cheesy potatoes, roasted veggies and more with wine and even a flaming dessert.
My sister’s in-laws also joined us for Christmas dinner.
It was ANOTHER beautiful day…… 😍 We sipped some wine and took some photos outside while the meal was finalized.
Kids ready to eat:
My sister and brother-in-law hustling to get everything ready… such great hosts!
Just look at this food! So gorgeous. It was absolutely delicious.
The table was so festive and I loved everything about this!
My mom took some cute action shots. I like how happy and relaxed I look here. 🙂
My youngest baby. 😉
My brother-in-law brought out a flaming dessert and I had tea and we all stayed at the table for a long time after.
My photos stop here, so I will too. 🙂 We spent the rest of the night cleaning up, hanging out and we probably watched another Christmas movie after the kids went to bed, but I honestly can’t remember.
It was a truly wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Relaxing and festive and similar to our own traditions while still having some unique elements (the formal Christmas dinner- we don’t do that at our house!) that I’ll always remember so fondly. 💕
We still had 2 more full days to go before heading home, so stay tuned for my final recap #3. We went on a couple of little adventures that include some gorgeous scenery. 🙂
GRATEFUL KAE 