toy ring, but due to health and safety regulations, they do not contain the other items traditionally included. New Year's Eve tradition In many areas of Ireland, it was traditional to bake a large barmbrack on New Year's Eve by the woman of the house. As nightfall approached, three bites would be taken out of the cake by the man of the house and thrown against the front door while invoking the Holy Spirit. This was to ward off poverty or starvation. After an invocation, the family would gather and eat the fragments of cake. In a variant of this tradition from west County Limerick, the door was struck three times with the cake with a different recitation. Other references Barmbracks were mentioned in the Van Morrison song "A Sense of Wonder": Reference to barmbracks is made in Dubliners by James Joyce. The following example can be found in the first paragraph of Joyce's short story "Clay": See also List of breads List of Irish dishes Bara Brith References External links Hallowe'en Barmbrack Yeast breads Irish breads Irish cuisine Sweet breads Halloween food