Holly Bushes: Ireland's Original Christmas Trees

It’s only in recent decades that evergreen Christmas trees have been widely used in Ireland. Back in the good old days, whole families used to go out and collect holly bushes to decorate their homes with for the holidays. If you found a bush with lots of berries, it was taken as a sign that you would have good luck next year.
Decorating with holly was a democratic approach. There was so much of it growing in the Irish countryside that even poor families could get plenty of it to spruce their homes up — just like the rich.