Cabra History.Com

Well folks it’s almost that time of year again when the ould fella in the red suit pays us all a visit. And I’m not talking about the Jewman from Mary Street. Every Christmas Eve we were sent to the Cabra Grand out of the way of the Ma’ and Da’. The excitement amongst all the kids there was MAGIC. We couldn’t wait to get home and into our beds. But first off we had to climb into the ould Belfast kitchen sink for our Christmas Wash. Up onto a chair and then onto the wooden draining board and into the sink. One of the ould brass taps would be scalding hot and the other was always freezing cold. The Ma’ would scrub us with carbolic soap and stick the corner of an old tea-towel into our ears to get the wax out. ‘If you don’t shut up screaming Santy won’t bring you anything nice’. The older sisters had the job of drying us off with a towel that had more holes in it than a pair of fish-net tights. When the sisters were finished rubbing the skin off us we were allowed over to the fire to keep warm. The whole atmosphere was just magic. One Christmas in particular I woke up in the middle of the night and then woke up my younger sister. At first I couldn’t figure out why she was hesitant in going down to see what Santy had left us. Later on she gave out to me because she had wet the bed and now had to get back into it and the wet patch was cold. I got a cowboy rifle from Santy that year, you remember the one that had the cork stuck in the top and it had a piece of string attached to it? Oh and I always loved Mass on Christmas morning. Me and the brother would always kneel up near the front so we could see the crib with baby Jesus in it. And we always got a big fry for our breakfast with rashers, sausages and fried eggs. If we had died and gone to Heaven we wouldn’t have got much better. And most of all we knew that the Ma’ and Da’ loved us because they told Santy that we’d been good and only for them we would have got nothing. Thanks Ma’, thank’s Da’ and a HAPPY CHRISTMAS to you both now that you’re up in Heaven together.