Bilberry Sunday--The Lost Irish Courtship and Food Festival

Bilberry Sunday was once a food festival and courtship tradition among the Irish people a long time ago. It’s history is somewhat blurred as the original story behind Bilberry Sunday’s beginnings can barely be remembered today. Most young Irish people these days aren’t even aware that Bilberry Sunday used to be one of the most popular Irish Celtic traditions that involved finding a lifelong partner while looking for berries for a food festival.

In olden times, groups of young and single men and women would go to the hills to look for bilberries to be used for a food festival. Harvest time for bilberries usually fell in the middle of summer on the latter part of July and beginning of August. As tradition dictates, groups of young Irish are to be sent to the hills to search for berries on the last Sunday of July. Hunting for bilberries was a tedious process because of the thick heather bush it grows in.

It is also time consuming because bilberries are tiny, about half the size of blueberries, requiring them to collect more fruits. The young men and women would spend most of the day together just looking for them and harvesting the fruits for the food festival that would follow. This gave the young ones a lot of time to interact and get to know each other away from the prying eyes of their parents and other adults of their community.  

The single men would then, take this opportunity to court the woman of his dreams. After the harvest, the women of the town would use the fruits to bake cakes, turn them into jam, wine, pies, tarts and other delicacies. If the women fancied a man from the bilberry expedition earlier in the day, they would bake a bilberry cake for them and present it to the man she was attracted to at the Bilberry Sunday dance at the end of the day. Many Irish couples of long ago, found their spouses and lifelong partners this way.

Unfortunately this charming courtship tradition died out before the 20^th century but is experiencing a revival today. Cultural conservation volunteers are trying to resurrect this tradition by taking groups of children and young adults to the hilltops of Northern Ireland to pick bilberries. To keep up with the old Irish Celtic traditions, they plan the event on the last Sunday of July. This annual cultural renewal of Bilberry Sunday festival started a few years ago and has since regained its popularity with the Irish communities.

Bilberries also have something else to offer aside from tradition and good tasting food in the form of health benefits. Bilberries have beneficial medicinal effects on the body but can also have negative reactions for some people with existing health problems. Moderate consumption of bilberries can benefit people with ulcers, cancer, varicose veins, urinary tract infections, gastrointestinal problems, diabetes, gout and arthritis. It is also an effective blood thinning compound for those with blood circulatory problems.

Both fruits and leaves are used by herbalists to prevent or cure diseases. It’s important to note that the bilberries and its leaves taken as tea can have a poisonous effect if taken in large amounts. People with bleeding problems or haemophilia should not take it because of its blood thinning properties. Taking it continuously for extended periods can also cause drastic weight loss. When consumed with a combination of other herbs such as garlic, ginseng and fenugreek, the mixture could cause hypoglycaemia or a sudden drop in blood sugar levels.