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!'