Saint Stephen’s Day is the second day of Christmastide. In Ireland, it is called Lá Fhéile Stiofáin or Lá an Dreoilín, meaning the Wren Day. In most of Ulster in the north of Ireland, the day is usually known as Boxing Day.
About Saint Stephen’s Day in brief
Saint Stephen’s Day is the second day of Christmastide and is celebrated in honour of one of the first Christian martyrs, Saint Stephen, who was stoned to death in 36 AD. It is an official public holiday in Alsace-Moselle, Austria, the Balearic Islands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, Switzerland and Newfoundland.
In Ireland, it is called Lá Fhéile Stiofáin or Lá an Dreoilín, meaning the Wren Day. In most of Ulster in the north of Ireland, the day is usually known as Boxing Day, especially in Northern Ireland and County Donegal. The best-known tradition is the ride of Stephen’s, which refers to a sleigh ride with people dressed in Christmas suits. Another ancient Welsh custom, discontinued in the 19th century, included bleeding of livestock and beating with holly branches of late risers and female servants.
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This page is based on the article Saint Stephen’s Day published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 28, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
