KILDARE WILDLIFE COLUMN: British postmen nicknamed ‘robins’ long ago

Christmas Eve is upon us and at this time of year most of Ireland’s wildlife has retreated beneath the surface or found a cosy leaf pile to curl up in and protect themselves against the cold winter weather.

There are of course many wildlife species that you will still encounter in your community.

The robin (Spideog as Gaeilge) is one of of our garden birds resident all year and with a strong link with Christmas. This association dates to Victorian times when British postmen were nicknamed ‘robins’ due to their bright red-breasted uniforms.

While many trees have lost their leaves the evergreen holly (cuileann as Gaeilge) brings colour to our communities through its bright red berries and prickly glossy green leaves. It is another native wildlife species with links to Christmas.

In Christianty it is sad to symbolise Christ’s crown of thorns, the red berries a symbol of his blood and the evergreen a metaphor for life after death.

The little brown wren (dreolín as Gaeilge), one of Ireland’s smallest birds also has links with Christmas in particular St Stephens Day.

The Wren Boys is an Irish tradition that saw boys go into their local woods and catch and kill a wren, before going house to house singing, dancing and reciting poetry in return for money to give the wren a proper burial.

In rural communities you may encounter deer (fianna as gaeilge) another of Ireland’s wildlife species and of course their association with Christmas is in fact they are related to reindeer that pull Santa’s sleigh.

Thank you all so much for learning about the diversity of wildlife with me throughout this past year. We have explored fungi, birds, wild flowers, mosses, trees, Amphibians and mammals.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Christmas and peaceful New Year.

Don’t forget over the Christmas break if you come across a wildlife species that you would like help identifying or to learn more about, take a picture and forward it to me at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre through e-mails: bogs@ipcc.ie.