It is a time for lights and candles, and in Killarney at the weekend they were lit for a particularly poignant occasion.
It involved the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Sean Brady; the Bishop of Kerry, Dr Bill Murphy; the Right Rev Edward Darling, Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, and local and national politicians.
Some 130 sixth-class students from the eight primary schools in the parish of Killarney led those attending a special ceremony out of the Cathedral of St Mary to the great tree of light - a 100-ft redwood planted on the site of Famine graves in the grounds of the cathedral.
The tree carries a light for each of the 3,296 people who died in the Northern Ireland Troubles over the past 30 years.
Four representatives from Women Against Violence organisation in the North were present.
They were: Ms Margaret McKinney, whose son, Brian, was murdered by the Provisional IRA - his body was found only last summer; Ms Maureen Waters, whose son, Martin, was beaten to death by Protestant paramilitaries; Ms Kathleen Ferguson, from Omagh, whose husband, a policeman, died in the Troubles, and Roberta Lagan, who lost her mother and whose sister lost her husband and two sons.
The ceremony, at which each member of the congregation was given a candle, was broadcast live on Kerry Radio last Sunday evening.
The Tree of Light Committee has produced a Christmas card showing the illuminated tree from the opposite bank of the River Deenach, with the lights of the tree and the cathedral reflected in the river waters. The cards are being sold in packets of 10 for £5 and outlets include the Frank Lewis Gallery, Killarney, and the Killarney Tourist Office.