The significant cost and pressure of Holy Communions is putting “a lot of stress” on families, the father of three sons has said. 

With thousands of Irish children making their first Holy Communion this spring, journalist Michael Houghton took the opportunity to reflect on a ritual that many Irish people view as an important part of childhood. 

As someone who was raised in New Zealand, it is something he still finds a little baffling. 

“It all started actually when my wife said to me, she said, ‘You've got to pull the weeds out of the garden’,” he explained on Lunchtime Live.  

“I turned to her and said, ‘What? We're not having the communion at our house, we're going out.’

“And she said, ‘Well, sure, your sister's coming over.’” 

A First Holy Communion ceremony.

Mr Houghton added that it was “almost as if the Queen was visiting” and estimated that the family has spent around €2,000, including €300 on his first new suit since 2011. 

“It's a lot of stress that's put on families, really,” he said. 

“And at a time when there's the cost of living crisis, there's all of this pressure; I don't know if it's a Celtic Tiger legacy or if it's just constantly we're trying to one up it with everybody else within the class and what we did last time and so on.

“But there really is a lot of pressure when it comes to getting ready for a communion.”

Mr Houghton continued that when his wife made her communion, she recalls it as a “very simple” event and usually the dress was borrowed or had been used before. 

By contrast, for Mr Houghton’s son, his interest is less on religion and more on the money he will make from his relatives and family friends. 

“It should be the religious occasion that is actually the big thing that you're looking forward to,” he said. 

“And I think along the way that those lines have been blurred.”

Main image: First Holy Communion. Picture by: Alamy.com.