I’m from New York & have lived in Ireland for the past ten years. My husband is Irish & all three of our kiddies were born here. Thanksgiving is one time of year where I feel a little homesick.
My Thanksgivings in Ireland are different from those I celebrated in the U.S. Thanksgiving is an American holiday & it’s not celebrated in Ireland. So, for everyone else in the country, it’s just a regular Thursday. There are no Thanksgiving decorations in the shops. No Thanksgiving day parade or celebrations; no snow. Everyone goes to work or school.
Photos from my Thanksgiving in the U.S. last year. My cousin made the turkey pinata!
The first Thanksgiving we had in Ireland, I cooked dinner for my husband, our oldest & myself. It was a full blown Thanksgiving dinner & after I vowed I’d never do that again! There was no point cooking for just the three of us. It’s the exact same amount of work to have some family over. My husband is one of seven children so there are plenty of family to invite. Each year we invite a different sibling & their family to join us for Thanksgiving dinner.
Our first year hosting Thanksgiving was a little nerve-wracking. I was worried if Thanksgiving side dishes would be agreeable to the Irish palate. Some went down a treat & others were politely left on the plate. I’ve adapted the dinner to suit everyone’s tastebuds. Also, I’m restricted by which ingredients I can buy in Ireland. There are some ingredients I haven’t been able to get which has stopped me from making things like pumpkin pie or corn spoon bread.
Last Thanksgiving, our daughter who was 1 at the time & I celebrated Thanksgiving in the U.S. with family. It was so fantastic! Everything from the food, snow, live turkeys, decorations & turkey pinata made for lasting memories.
The gorgeous spread my cousins made us for dinner last year! The turkey favours were such a fab idea!
We spotted live turkeys walking down the footpath! Little did they know what was going on!
I really enjoy sharing an American tradition with my husband’s family. And for me, having people over makes it feel like a holiday. Our Thanksgiving dinner is in the evening after everyone’s done with work & school.
I’d hate to lose Thanksgiving. I love that it’s something my children look forward to every year. Having a day to stop & be thankful for what you have is so valuable. Especially coming up to Christmas. Kids can get sidetracked with the I want’s. So we continue to celebrate every year, on Thursday. It’d be more convenient to move our Thanksgiving dinner to the weekend, but it just wouldn’t be the same! I feel like I’m connected with family & friends far away when we celebrate on the same day.
All of the photos in the post are from our Thanksgiving in the U.S. because I can’t find any photos of my Irish Thanksgivings! This is my first Thanksgiving as a blogger so I’ll be sure to take photos tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving! x
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