Beleek China Christmas Plate (first in the series) "Christmas Eve Homecoming"

"I went to live in Massachusetts in the late 1980s and my oldest two children were born there (my 3rd came into being there! But never lets me forget an American passport would have been much appreciated !!!) After a few years, I got homesick and returned to Ireland. While I lived away, I came to realise how important ones "roots" can be. My love for Ireland deepened -absence makes the heart grow fonder!! - and I gained a new appreciation of knowing first hand where my ancestors (the more recent ones anyway) came from. The fact that we have a great culture steeped in tradition as well as music, poetry, storytelling, literature came home to me in a way that I wouldn't have understood before living overseas. I bought this beautiful Christmas plate as it depicts my favourite old-Irish Christmas tradition - placing a candle in the window to guide the holy family and welcome them into our homes. My mother always lit a tall red candle and stuck it in s jam jar to place in our front room window. It's one of my earliest Christmas memories. The robin is one of my favourite garden birds. I love the old-world images on this plate. I bought it at a time when I was missing home, particularly at Christmas . It was around the same time that my "American Children" were born too. It goes up on the wall every Christmas and has become a tradition for my family. There's a simplicity and a glow about it that warms my heart and reminds me of my mother lighting the single red candle every Christmas. I love candles all year round. I came home after a few short years and although I love to travel, Ireland is the place of my birth and the place closest to my heart."