December 8 represents the day people from the country traditionally flock to the nearest town or city to begin their Christmas shopping.

With online shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday now becoming the norm for people to buy Christmas gifts on, the traditional shopping trip to the city is not as popular as it once was.

However, every year Dublin proves to be one of the most popular destinations for country shoppers to head to on December 8.

They travel to see what is on offer in the capital, hoping to make the most of the day out and tick most of the items off their list.

On December 8, there are five signs that the country folk are out in force.

1.The dealer/bargain hunters are out in force

Both cattle and sheep buyers have been known to leave their trusted residence at the mart for Dublin on December 8.

Using their years of experience of wheeling and dealing, these individuals can be spotted trying to get any discount on an inflatable snowman (that can double up to scare crows) or a set of fairy lights so bright it could light up their farm yard for the next six months.

2. People wearing their county colours

Without a doubt the amount of people in Dublin donning their club or county colours for the day will increase.

Rather than walking down Jones’ Road on the way to Croke Park with their flags, these people will be more likely seen around Henry Street or Grafton Street carrying countless shopping bags.

This shopping holiday gives people from counties not used to playing in Croke Park the opportunity to wear their jersey with pride in the capital.

turkey-jersey

3. Snackboxes and Mighty Macs

Supermacs can become extremely busy around 1pm as shoppers from the countryside go in for ‘a bit of dinner’ – a day out in the city cannot disrupt the schedule of having the dinner at this time!

Having been up early in a bid to beat the motorway traffic these shoppers will have built up an appetite on their march around the shops.

Supermacs is a popular choice among country shoppers. There aren’t too many KFCs or Eddie Rockets outside of the larger towns in Ireland.

There’s five of them in Dublin:

Supermacs map

4. Extra people using public transport

Some of these country shoppers will choose to take public transport rather than drive to Dublin themselves.

As well as their shopping bags, a bag packed with some ham sandwiches and a flask of tea for the journey up to Dublin would not look out of place today.

Bus and train stations in the city should seem a little busier, as shoppers rush around with handfuls of bags in an effort to catch their train/bus later in the day.

motorway 2

5. Taking pictures with iconic Dublin landmarks

It isn’t unusual for people to stand and take pictures alongside iconic Dublin landmarks such as the Spire and O’Connell Bridge.

However, these are generally tourists holding gifts from tourist shops rather than bags of shopping from Arnotts.

Instead of selfies, these country shoppers will ask a passerby to take a ‘proper photo’, especially if the whole family is present.

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