One of the absolute best aspects of living in Ireland for our family has been skiing throughout Europe. In the past 12 months we have skied Zermatt, Switzerland; St. Anton, Austria; and Les Arcs and Val d’Isere, France. All are unique locations within the Alps and every ski trip with children is different because the more they ski the better they get, which changes the enjoyment level significantly.

The question we get asked the most is, “which place did you like the best?” And the truth is, they were all great in their own ways. But I love ranking our trips, so here’s a few thoughts on the “best of” the Alps.

Best for families – Les Arcs 1950

There are four Arcs comprising the full Les Arcs ski area, and in my opinion 1950 is by far the best because it looks like an old-fashioned French village whereas the other Arcs are more modern. That said, all Arcs have wonderful blue runs that you ski right into the towns. There are no cars allowed and no need even for the bus system – you can move between Arcs as long as the gondolas and chairlifts run.

Every night in the center of 1950 there was either a dance party, snow games competition, or ski instructor jumping competition – plenty to keep kids entertained every day. And if that wasn’t enough, Les Arcs also has a ski zipline, two sledging (aka sledding) tracks, and every residence was ski in / ski out. In the afternoons, the boys would play in the snow outside our chalet and use the ski runs as sledding hills once the skiers were done for the day. The food was much more American than French, which was a bummer, but with so many activities to do each day we had a total blast as a family.

Best Après scene – St. Anton

Ski vacations can’t be all work – you gotta relax too! Admittedly we do not always do a great job of exploring the on-mountain scene every time, but there were major highlights for us. St. Anton had a wonderful mix of on-mountain and in-village restaurants and bars with a great après ski scene. We felt they had the most variety, but La Folie Deuce in Val D’Isere certainly concentrates all the atmosphere of most ski resorts into one major on-mountain party.

Best value for your money – St. Anton

I am only speaking for Europe when I say this, but in general the ski costs were similar across the four resorts we visited. Rental ski gear, lift tickets, ski school – all of that seems to be wildly less expensive than the US right now. However, the countries you’re skiing in can vary widely in cost which affects accommodation pricing as well as your food and drink prices.

We found Austria to be quite enjoyable – the food quality was good, meals were reasonably priced, and beers were cheap. The same cannot be said for Switzerland. Unfortunately, we have been in and out of Switzerland enough to know that no matter which city or town you’re in, the cost is high; it is one thing to splurge on vacation but to spend double or triple the normal price for food and drink at each meal does not make it an enjoyable experience. France landed in the middle between Austria and Switzerland as far as costs go.

Most Unique Experience – All

I am not being annoying when I say this – you really can find amazing benefits at every ski resort in the alps.

Highlights for us: St. Anton night-time sledging run. A wild and crazy ride down from the top of the mountain on a sledging-only track, punctuated by hairpin turns and lots of wipe-outs. It was terrifying and so insanely fun we still talk about it weekly in our house a few months later.

Les Arcs snow zipline. A terrifying and exhilarating zipline over the ski runs in a single or double-basket sling that runs one mile long. I was literally shaking while waiting for the zipline to release me, but I laughed the whole way down and the kids begged to go again.

Zermatt Glacier Palace. Walking through ice tunnels and past ice sculptures at the top of the mountain was such a cool experience. The Matterhorn is one of the most gorgeous ski views in all of Europe, but Glacier Palace was a really cool, unique experience we haven’t seen anywhere else.

Val d’Isere La Folie Douce. As big a party as you will see on a mountain, La Folie Douce was quite the mid-afternoon ski break. We visited on a gorgeous blue-sky day and watched the dancers (both on the stage and in the crowd) for a few hours on a Wednesday afternoon. The kids did not find it as entertaining as we hoped, and you definitely do not need sit down restaurant reservations to enjoy the party.

I hope this breakdown helps you choose an amazing location for your next family ski trip. For Americans, a trip to the Alps is far cheaper than skiing in the US whether you fly from Europe or North America. At the end of the day, our ski trips brought us closer together as a family regardless of where we were, and I am already looking forward to planning a 2026 getaway.

For a more complete list of highlights, check out the full blog post. 

Liz Anderson is an American wife and mother living abroad for the second time. She writes about her experiences as an expat in Europe and Asia at anoceanaway.blog.  She has called Dublin home since March 2024.

No matter how long you’ve lived in Ireland, come the start of spring there’s no possible way to miss those massive chocolate eggs taking up shelf space in practically every shop! People are buying them left and right to be gifted to loved ones of all ages before Easter is over. So, what’s the story behind this delectable tradition?

Traditionally, people would gift chicken eggs (a symbol of spring) during Easter. They would hard-boil and decorate them (as is still done in the U.S.). Once chocolate became more widespread, some European countries began making and selling eggs made out of solid chocolate.

Joseph Fry created Fry’s Chocolate in the 1750s and sold drinking chocolate in the U.K. His grandsons made the first chocolate bars in the 1860s, and in 1873 they created the U.K.’s first chocolate Easter egg. However, unlike their European counterparts, this egg would be the first hollow egg which was made by using a mould—invented by the Fry family. Their unique mixture of cocoa fat, cocoa powder, and sugar formed a paste that was easy to fill the mould with. The mould had a signature “crocodile” pattern to help hide any cracks or imperfections in the final product.

In 1935, Fry’s competitor Cadbury bought them out, and their name took over the iconic giant egg. Today though, nearly every chocolate brand has their own version of the hollowed-out chocolate Easter egg ready to be sold in the spring. Living in Ireland, it’s hard to escape being gifted one (or five) this time of year, and even harder to eat them all (I recommend melting them down and covering some strawberries)! But now, Cadbury have made it easier to bring this giant chocolate tradition to anyone, anywhere in the world! If you go to their Worldwide Hide website, you can “hide” a virtual egg for someone to find.

Gabby Dunne was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, and never left the States before meeting her Irish husband on the Vegas Strip. She moved to Dublin a year later and has been here for 12 years. She has one son and two stepchildren, and she works in early intervention for neurodiverse children. Gabby joined the AWCD in 2023 and is 'finally reconnecting with [her] American side!'

Labor Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, etc. are the old American three-day weekends that we all know and love. But in Ireland, no such importance is attached to some of those Mondays that most of us get off during seemingly random months. So, why are they called “Bank Holidays” and why do they happen when they do?

Originally centered around local traditions, certain rest-days or festivals would have been an excuse for the community to take a break and celebrate things like the harvest or a religious feast day. These would have occurred more frequently in the countryside, and prior to the 19th century before people moved from farms into the city for factory work. The modern, urbanised working mentality meant less opportunity for leisurely celebrations.

However, in 1871 (while Ireland was still under British rule), a banker-turned-politician by the name of Sir John Lubbock introduced the Bank Holidays Act (hence, the term) which subsequently secured four holidays off for the people. These first “Bank Holidays” were: St. Stephen’s Day/Boxing Day (recognizing the day after Christmas), the first Monday in August, Easter Monday, and Whit Monday (recognizing Pentecost). A Monday recognising St. Patrick’s Day was added to the Act for Ireland in 1903.

Once Ireland became a free state, they passed their own Public Holidays Act and repealed all of the listed U.K. Acts related to these holidays. This Act gave the government full power to select the public holidays as they saw fit.

While the term “Bank Holiday” is still widely used, technically, those we recognize today that mostly everyone is entitled to have off are considered “Public Holidays.” One example of a day where banks and other businesses might close is Good Friday (the Friday before Easter Sunday). Though certain institutions might be closed, is not a recognised Public Holiday (under the Public Holidays Act) whereby most workers are entitled to have it off (with pay).

The original public holidays remained after independence (with Whit Monday being altered to simply the first Monday in June), but additions were made and changes still occur to this day. There was even a once-off public holiday designated on September 14th , 2001 as a “National Day of Mourning” for the victims of the September 11th attacks in the U.S.

The most recent change to the regular public holiday calendar happened in 2022 with the introduction of the February holiday that recognises St. Brigid, one of the three Irish patron saints (February 1st ) as well as the Gaelic festival of Imbolc (marking the beginning of Spring).

Currently, Ireland has 10 public holidays. The EU average is 12. So, there might be some more coming our way!

Below is a list of all the current public holidays in Ireland, so you can plan something ahead for the day off:

• St Brigid’s Day (first Monday of every February except when February 1st falls on a Friday)
• St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th)
• Easter Monday (Monday after Easter Sunday)
• May Bank Holiday (first Monday in May)
• June Bank Holiday (first Monday in June)
• August Bank Holiday (first Monday in August)
• October Bank Holiday (last Monday in October)
• Christmas Day (December 25th)
• St Stephen’s Day (December 26th)
• New Year’s Day (January 1st)

Gabby Dunne was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, and never left the States before meeting her Irish husband on the Vegas Strip. She moved to Dublin a year later and has been here for 12 years. She has one son and two stepchildren, and she works in early intervention for neurodiverse children. Gabby joined the AWCD in 2023 and is 'finally reconnecting with [her] American side!'

You may have noticed that the day after Christmas (December 26th) is called Boxing Day in the U.K. and St. Stephen’s Day in Ireland. Besides being Bank Holidays in their respective nations held on the same day, the two days have very different histories.

In the U.K., a tradition began around the 1830's where the upper classes would literally “box up” small gifts for their servants, the poor, or even tradespeople. Christmases were so over-the-top in these wealthier households and servants often worked throughout the holiday. So, as a sort of thanks, small gifts would be given in different forms including money and leftovers from the Christmas feast.

Photo: almanac.com

In Ireland, there is a bit more depth to this day as December 26th recognizes two separate times in history. The more obvious one has to do with celebrating the life and martyrdom of St. Stephen—the first Christian martyr. Stephen was a Christian deacon in Jerusalem during the time directly following Jesus’ death. He defended the Christian faith to powerful Jewish rabbis, and as a result, was stoned to death in 36 CE.

Being a Catholic-centric country, this saint’s feast day became entwined with Celtic folklore. While it might not be printed on the calendar you bought from Eason's, the other name for this day in Ireland is Wren’s Day (or Lá an Dreoilín in Irish). There is no documented explanation for why exactly the wren came to be the centre of this day, but one story is that of the wren betraying the hiding place of St. Stephen while he hid among trees as the wren began flapping its wings drawing the attention of his persecutors. Another story tells about the wren pecking on the drum of a soldier that awoke the Vikings leading to an invasion and mass slaughter.

Photo: Independent.ie

Whatever the true reason, the wren has always been a revered symbol to the Celtic pagans as it was also attached to Samhain. The wren represented the end of the year as winter approached with the solstice and the robin represented the beginning of the year. Historically, on Wren’s Day local boys and men would dress in bright clothing calling themselves “Wren Boys.” Others dressed in suits made of straw and called themselves “Mummers.” These would then hunt for the scarce wren, cage it, and place the cage atop a pole. They would march through the towns asking for money to keep the wren alive. They would give a feather for good luck only to those who donated.

From the 20th century onwards, they used fake birds instead and still carried on the traditions. However, the practices altogether at present have now become as scarce as the wren itself and Irish people tend to opt for enjoying a pantomime on the last Bank Holiday of the year instead!

Gabby Dunne was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, and never left the States before meeting her Irish husband on the Vegas Strip. She moved to Dublin a year later and has been here for 12 years. She has one son and two stepchildren, and she works in early intervention for neurodiverse children. Gabby joined the AWCD in 2023 and is 'finally reconnecting with [her] American side!'

The bonds between the Irish and Americans are well-known to be strong, but did you know that those bonds include an amazing act of generosity from a people who had already endured so much and had little to spare, and that their act of human kindness continues to resonate even today?

In 1847, only a few years after the Choctaw Indian Nation was forcibly relocated along the infamous “Trail of Tears” from Mississippi to Oklahoma, the tribe learned of the suffering of the Irish due to the scourge of famine. Somehow, these people who had so little raised a donation of $170 (equivalent to about $5,000 in today’s dollars) to send to people across an ocean who they would never see or know personally.

Their donation eventually made its way to Midleton, in County Cork. Decades later, the local populace learned of the gift and from where it had come, and the bonds began to strengthen.

Photo courtesy of weloveireland.ie

In 1990 members of the Choctaw Nation visited Ireland to participate in the “Famine Walk” in County Mayo, to reenact the 1848 walk of starving Irish to their landlord.

In 1992 a delegation from Ireland walked the “Trail of Tears” with Native Americans to raise funds for aid to Somalians. Also that year, a plaque commemorating the Choctaw gift was installed at Mansion House, official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin.

In 1995 Irish President Mary Robinson visited the Choctaw Nation.

In 2017, the sculpture “Kindred Spirits” was dedicated in Midleton.

In 2018, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited the Choctaws and initiated a series of yearly scholarships for Choctaw students to study in Ireland.

In 2020 - the gift was beautifully returned, when Ireland took up a considerable donation for the Hopi and Navajo tribes who suffered acutely during the Covid-19 pandemic.

2024 - Two students have just begun their year-long studies at the University of Cork, recipients of the scholarship for Choctaw native students.

Today, it’s just a lesson, how you don’t have to have that much, just a big heart, to build bonds and friendships through helping those around us in need.

Learn more: https://www.choctawnation.com/about/history/irish-connection/

The Irish Round

It’s customary for groups of Irish people meeting for drinks at the pub to engage in “rounds”. Usually, someone takes everyone’s orders, proceeds to the bar to get them, and then pays for all of them.

Once that person has done so, their round is complete.

There is no particular rule or order for who goes next during the first round, it just has to be someone other than the person who just went.

When everyone has bought a round once, the next round will go in the same order as was established during the first round.

Obviously, it is considered bad etiquette to bow out of the scene before you’ve bought a round (especially if you have accepted the rounds bought for you)! If you plan to exit early, you should do so immediately after you have bought your round (whatever round that may be).

Rounds can also be done as couples, where one person from the couple gets the round and it still counts as their one round.

So, if you find yourself out with a group of mostly Irish people, you probably won’t be let to simply buy your own drinks (and you should be prepared to cover everyone else’s—at least once!)

Yer what?

Sometimes, while speaking to an Irish person, they might say something that sounds like “Yer man” and/or “Yer one”. What they mean is “Your man” and “Your one”.

The “man” they are referring to is a man they don’t know.

The “one” they are referring to is a woman they don’t know.

It might be said while passing comment about a stranger in public. For example, “Yer one nearly fell off her seat there!” or “Yer man looks lost…” It might also be used while telling a story about an encounter with a stranger. For example, “I had to tell yer man to wait in the queue like everyone else!”

It is not meant rudely in any way. It is simply like saying, “That guy” or “That woman”.

Have a go at it the next time you’re out with an Irish person!

Gabby Dunne was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, and never left the States before meeting her Irish husband on the Vegas Strip. She moved to Dublin a year later and has been here for 12 years. She has one son and two stepchildren, and she works in early intervention for neurodiverse children. Gabby joined the AWCD in 2023 and is 'finally reconnecting with [her] American side!'

Séasúr Sona buíochais!

…or “Happy Season of Thanks” if you don’t have Google Translate handy!

Halloween is behind us - thanks to Gabby Dunne and Ashleigh Rizzo for giving us a fun opportunity to dress up and be a bit silly at our Halloween party at the Sandymount Community Centre.

I hope all our Canadian members enjoyed their Thanksgiving Day last month. Now it’s time for the rest of us to gear up for turkey and the trimmings! And the PIE!

BTW, Canadians, feel free to double-dip and enjoy a second round of Thanksgiving with the US version - sharing is what it’s all about!

As always, there’s lots on the AWCD calendar. I won’t steal that thunder. You will have to check it all out for yourself on the website and Wild Apricot, but I will remind you of our next daytime General Meeting at The Harcourt Hotel on November 14.  Special Guest Speaker Lorraine Hall, a councillor from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, with buckets of other political-role experiences, will be on hand to give us some insights into Irish politics. Pretty timely, considering that the Irish elections are coming up pronto! And thanks to Program Co-Chair Deb Mandel for getting this one on the books!

At the meeting we will also have our usual door prize, plus our Philanthropy duo, Amber Liggett and Jenny Lavin are having a raffle of some nifty prizes to benefit our selected charity, Dogs Trust Ireland - so bring some extra cash for your chance to scoop a prize.

Our FAWCO duo, Margie O'Rourke and Carol Lovelett, will be on hand with their flowerpot to collect your spare coins for Awesome Blossoms, the FAWCO target project. 'Tis the season for giving!

Coming up, even before the GM, on Nov. 7th there’s an evening New Members’ Social - thank you Lori Garife for securing the venue! We have quite a few new members - hurray! - so let’s all join in to welcome them into the AWCD Community.

Looking just a little further out, have you registered yet for the Annual Holiday Luncheon at Clontarf Castle? Queen of Special Events, Else O’Neill, has scored not only a fabulous venue, but a fabulous price and extras like a welcome drink to get us in the Holiday mood!

A bit of business to close this one out…we had the votes needed to approve the updated Constitution, but, as promised, there is a comparison between original and revised now available. You can find it on the AWCD website by clicking on Members Home. Down under Quick Links, click on Forms and Documents and voilá! Or you can click here.

Thank you to all who participated in the revision, to those who voted, and to those who sent feedback. Together, we are an amazing community!

See you around,

Andrea

Andrea Worker
AWCD President, 2023-25

Samhain (pronounced sow-win) is an ancient Celtic pagan festival that marked the end of the harvest and the start of winter—the dark half of the year. Those who partook in the traditions and rituals believed that the barrier between the physical world and the spiritual world was broken during this time.

Communal bonfires were lit in order to burn sacrifices to the gods for protection against evil otherworldly spirits. Offerings were also left out in the villages for those spirits of deceased relatives believed to have returned for a visit.

The Celts dressed in disguise as monsters or animals so that fairies would not be tempted to kidnap them. Masks were a popular choice. This ancient tradition slowly evolved into the costumes we now adorn today for Halloween!

Another ritual used to repel evil spirits (and guide lost ones) was the carving of turnips. Before pumpkins became the symbol of Halloween, the Celts would carve the frightening faces into turnips from the harvest.

As these Pagan traditions eventually became attached to the Catholic church, they became more secularized and developed into the festivities we now partake in today. However, there are still people who recognize Samhain for the connection it has to the seasons and the spiritual world. In fact, there is a large Samhain festival, The Púca Festival, that takes place each year in Ireland’s Ancient East (Trim and Athboy)! It is on this year from Oct. 31st-Nov. 3rd.

So, if you’re wanting to connect with the true spirit of Samhain, you can check out the full festival program at https://pucafestival.com.

Learn more about Samhain:

• https://time.com/5434659/halloween-pagan-origins-in-samhain
• https://www.pagangrimoire.com/samhain-rituals-traditions
• https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/samhain
• https://www.irelandbeforeyoudie.com/samhain-symbols-history-meaning-facts

Gabby Dunne was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, and never left the States before meeting her Irish husband on the Vegas Strip. She moved to Dublin a year later and has been here for 12 years. She has one son and two stepchildren, and she works in early intervention for neurodiverse children. Gabby joined the AWCD in 2023 and is 'finally reconnecting with [her] American side!'