National Carol Day – March 7, 2025

History of National Carol Day

Carol was initially found in Tipperary, Offaly, Monaghan, and Louth counties in Ireland. They are descended from King Oilill Olum through their relationship with Cearbhall.

Prior to the Anglo-Norman Conquest, there were six separate O’Carroll septs. While four septs fell apart before the end of the thirteenth century, the two most significant remained. These were the O’Carrolls of Ely O’Carroll from Tipperary and Offaly, and the O’Carrolls of Oriel from Monagan and Louth. Whereas the Oriel O’Carrolls vanished as an official sept as a result of the Anglo-Norman Conquest, the sept’s people were not scattered but stayed mostly within their historic borders. The O’Carrolls of Ely O’Carroll, on the other hand, managed to keep their independence and tradition until the end of the sixteenth century, and they continued to play an important role in Irish history. They used to have huge domains in Tipperary, but the rise of the powerful Norman Butlers limited them to the area surrounding Birr in Offaly.

Hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants came to North American coasts in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The idea of their own land intrigued the early settlers, yet they were relatively well off in Ireland when they decided to leave. As a result, they were just carrying out a long and thoroughly considered choice. In the 1840s, a totally different pattern emerged: hundreds of destitute individuals piled aboard passenger vessels, trying to find any vestige of opportunity. Crop failures had devastated the Irish homeland throughout this decade, resulting in widespread sickness and malnutrition. Regardless of when the Irish immigrants arrived in North America, they were critical to the rapid growth of the developing countries of the U.S. and what would later become known as Canada.