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Dublin: 5 °C Monday 23 December, 2024

The 12 Smells of (Irish) Christmas

Your nose deserves it.

CHRISTMAS DAY WOULDN’T be the same without the heavy scents that flood the air throughout the house.

Smells like…

1. Eau de Mam’s ham

Mam’s ham; often attempted, never imitated. It isn’t truly Christmas day until this mouth-watering scent floods the house.

Ham sk8geek sk8geek

2. Christmas tree spritz

NOTHING beats the smell of a real Christmas tree as it slowly dies in your living room. Not even the smell of new car, the pages of a book, or cold hard cash. Nothing.

christmas tree hodgers hodgers

3. Cinnamon scent

We don’t know when or where this connection to Christmas happened, but we like it. Want to make something smell like Christmas? Throw a bit of cinnamon on it.

Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks 3 inch -2 CINNAMON VOGUE CINNAMON VOGUE

4. Whiff of wrapping paper

Let’s face it, wrapping presents is a pain. But the smell of that freshly cut shiny paper, mmmmmm.

annyong in the wrapping paper sealionsrule sealionsrule

5. Musk of attic

All your decorations have been dragged down and the staleness of the attic lives through them. It’s a mixture of those year old newspapers you used to wrap them up and dusty insulation.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Kelseyandkevin Kelseyandkevin

6. Orange zest

Bit’ve orange in everything, now it’s Christmas. Dried orange, orangey chocolate, an orange with little cloves stuck into it. We’ve got notions of Christmas oranges considering we’re past the days when they used to be the only present you’d get in your sock, as your dad will constantly tell you.

Cloven Orange robef robef

7. Aroma of despair

Can we leave now? Little dude on the right knows what we’re talkin’ bout.

awkward-christmas-card-photos-large-msg-132408091887 Mask Mask

8. Burning dust of rad

Has the heat been off for the past week at all? Nothing says Christmas like lounging around uncomfortably full and sweating actual sweats alongside your meat sweats. “Are you warm? Will we turn off that heat?” gets banded around a lot, but nobody ever does.

radiatordust TripAdvisor TripAdvisor

9. Fragrant frost

It may not be a white Christmas, but it will always be a frosty one. The frosty chill in the air and the crunch under you feet, it doesn’t smell like Christmas without that earthy air.

Frost grass noii's noii's

10. Cracker singe

After you’ve been pressured into putting your paper hat on, it hits your nose. The card strip inside that snaps leaves a smoky chemical smell that just can’t be good for anyone. Breathe it in deep, it only comes once a year.

Cracker dearbarbie dearbarbie

11. Canned Guinness gas

No, not that kind of gas. The actual gas that comes out of the can when you crack open a cold one to accompany the box of Heroes.

Dan, Emma and a can of Guinness Stephen Douglas Stephen Douglas

12. Sweet-box stench

A bit plasticy, a bit chocolatey. All in all, a welcome smell after your mountainous dinner. Choose wisely, choose carefully.

image Louise McSharry Louise McSharry

7 things you miss when you’re away from home for Christmas>

The essential ‘Christmas at home’ survival guide>

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