It ' s a new thing in Ireland , definitely just an American idea . What with globalisation and the wider spread of information these days , these ideas spread . Black Friday , Cyber Monday etc . All just businesses trying to make money . We ' ll all do our Christmas shopping , with or without these days or whether they start their Christmas advertising in August or December , so they are more of an annoyance for many people . Traditionally in Ireland , the 8 th of December was seen as the start of the Christmas buying time . It is a religious holiday and lots of people came to the cities from the country areas to start their shopping . The 1 st of December is soon enough for businesses to start advertising for Christmas . Whenever they start and whatever initiatives they take , most people will only buy things in the last few days before Christmas Day . Christmas Eve is still the busiest day for the retail trade . Businesses could save themselves money on advertising by starting it later . Most people , on first seeing or hearing Christmas adverts , react with Oh no , not already ! rather than Oh , I must start my Christmas shopping today .