Honeymoon

After the successful capture of the bride, was “the hiding”(Honeymoon), and by the time the bride’s family would find them, the bride would already be pregnant.

The word honey is from “meala” in Irish.  The word for honeymoon is “mi na meala“, the “month of honey” and refers to how the bride and groom would spend that period of time.

Irish monks first produced the fermented honey brew called mead for medicinal purposes; then found it could make well people feel even better.  Following the wedding a sufficient amount of mead was given to the bride and groom, along with special goblets, so they could share the unique brew for one full moon after the wedding–and thus the term honeymoon was coined.  It was believed that this delicate yet potent drink was the best way to ensure a good beginning for a new marriage and it was also believed to endow powers of virility and fertility