From Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve to 12 pubs, Ireland has no shortage of Christmas traditions.

Here are some of our favourites:

Morning Swim

The annual Christmas Day swim is one of the more wholesome festive traditions in Ireland.

Each year on Christmas morning, thousands take the country’s ice-cold lakes and sea to swim for a charitable cause, while others are just having the craic.

The likes of Forty Foot, Sandycove, and Seapoint on the Dublin coast are expected to be jam-packed this year.

A man wearing a Santa hat having fun jumping off the ledge on Christmas day at the Forty Foot in Dublin, 25-12-2018. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

Other popular spots around the country for a Christmas swim include Salthill in Galway and Rosslare in Wexford.

Dingle in County Kerry has also had massive crowds in recent years, as has Bundoran in Donegal.

12 Pubs

The 12 Pubs of Christmas, or simply 12 Pubs, has become a staple of the festive season in Ireland since it first became popular in the mid-2000s.

Groups around the country will plan a route around 12 pubs in their locality which they will travel through in order and have a drink in each.

An empty round of pints of Guinness. Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingews.ie

Some like to make things more interesting by having a set rule for each pub, which can include things like only using one hand to drink.

Other rules can include no cursing and only referring to friends by their nicknames.

The tradition is synonymous with festive clothing like jumpers and hats.

The Wren

Up until recent times The Wren on St Stephen’s Day had been one of Ireland’s most popular and longest-standing Christmas traditions.

It began in the early 20^th Century and involves groups of children making colourful costumes, often with straw.

Tom Ahern, left, from Clane, and Pat McEvoy at the Wren Boy Festival in Sandymount Green today (26/12/2009). Photo. Mark Stedman/RollingNews.ie

Groups typically move from house to house and pub to pub playing music and singing songs.

The popularity of Wren Day has waned over the last number of decades but is still celebrated in parts of the country.

Street Busking

Dubliners are treated to some free world-class entertainment on their doorstep every year thanks to the Christmas Eve Busk tradition.

Famous musicians such as Bono, Sinead O’Connor, Hozier, and Dermot Kennedy have all taken part in recent years.

U2 frontman Bono participated in the busk on 24/12/2013. Photo: Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

Last year’s busk was in aid of homeless charity the Simon Community.

It was held outside of the Gaiety Theatre on South King Street and organisers are yet to reveal the location of this year's busk.

Midnight Mass

Midnight Mass is not just a Christmas tradition in Ireland, it’s become a cultural one too that brings people together over the festive season.

Churchs all across Ireland will be hosting mass at midnight on Christmas Eve as a way to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

In some parts of the country, Midnight Mass may be as early as 6pm despite the name.

Main image: Midnight mass, 25-12-20. Image: Victor Paul Borg / Alamy