Mother's Day - International History and Tradition - Countries - Great Britain and Ireland

Great Britain and Ireland

Great Britain and Ireland celebrate Mothering Sunday, which falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent (18 March in 2012). This holiday has its roots in the church and was originally unrelated to the American holiday. Most historians believe that Mothering Sunday evolved from the 16th-century Christian practice of visiting one's mother church annually on Laetare Sunday. As a result of this tradition, most mothers were reunited with their children on this day when young apprentices and young women in service were released by their masters for that weekend. As a result of the influence of the American Mother's Day, Mothering Day transformed into the tradition of showing appreciation to one's mother. Commercialization and secularization further eroded the concept, and most people now see the holiday only as a day to make a gift to their mothers. The holiday is still recognized in the original historical sense by some churches, with attention paid to Mary the mother of Jesus Christ and the concept of the Mother Church.

The custom was still popular by the start of the 19th century, but with the Industrial Revolution, traditions changed and the Mothering Day customs declined. By 1935, Mothering Sunday was less celebrated in Europe. Constance Penswick-Smith worked unsuccessfully to revive the festival in the 1910s–1920s. However, US World War II soldiers brought the US Mother's Day celebration to the UK, and the holiday was merged with the Mothering Sunday traditions still celebrated in the Church of England. By the 1950s, the celebration became popular again in the whole of the UK, thanks to the efforts of UK merchants, who saw in the festival a great commercial opportunity. People from Ireland and UK started celebrating Mother's Day on the fourth Sunday of Lent, the same day on which Mothering Sunday had been celebrated for centuries. Some Mothering Sunday traditions were revived, such as the tradition of eating cake on that day, although celebrants now eat simnel cake instead of the cakes that were traditionally prepared at that time. The traditions of the two holidays are now mixed together and celebrated on the same day, although many people are not aware that the festivities were once separate holidays.

Mothering Sunday can fall at the earliest on 1 March (in years when Easter Day falls on 22 March) and at the latest on 4 April (when Easter Day falls on 25 April).

For many people in the United Kingdom, Mother's Day is now the time of year to celebrate and buy gifts of chocolate or flowers for their mothers as a way to thank them for all they do throughout the year.