Halloween in Ireland

Did you know? Halloween is a festival of Irish origin! This eagerly-awaited event has its origins in a Celtic festival known as“Samain“. Dating back to 500 B.C., this major event in the life of the Celts was in fact a major spiritual event, with the living entering into communication with the dead for one night… Far less commercial than today, this event was taken very seriously by the Celtic population, and constituted a major moment in their daily lives. Want to find out more? Here’s a complete rundown on Halloween in Ireland, from its origins to the present day!

Presentation of Samain

A night when the dead co-exist with the living…Ghosts in Ireland

Among the Celts, the year was punctuated by 4 major stages:

• Imbolc was celebrating spring,
• Beltane in summer,
• Lugnasad autumn,
• and Samain heralded winter.

Samain heralded the end of the harvest, the arrival of cold weather and the famous night when the God of Death would allow the dead to live for a few hours alongside the living.

Samain is no more and no less than the Celtic New Year, even if it’s never really fixed. It takes place between October 25 and November 20, corresponding to the 6th day of the rising moon. That night, a huge banquet was organized, and everyone had to be present on pain of death. Fires are lit and sacrifices of horses (Ireland) or bulls (Gaul) are made. If we look at the great Celtic epic, we’ll see that many events take place on a Samain day or night: the healing of Cûchulainn, the victory of the Tuatha at the battle of Mag Tured.

The Christianization of the Celtic peoples signaled the temporary death of this festival, declared pagan in the year 610 by Pope Boniface IV. In 835, Gregory IV created All Saints’ Day, and in 1048 Odilon of Cluny set November 1 as the date for this feast. The eve of the holy night, “all hallow’s even” or “all hallow’s eve” depending on the version, later became Halloween. The migration of the festival to the USA coincided with the exodus of Irish people fleeing the Great Famine of 1840. However, the rites are changing, and nowadays Halloween has become a commercial festival, with children dressed up and knocking on every door in the neighborhood, begging for candy…

Rites

Samain was a nocturnal ceremony.

Every household had to extinguish the fire and plunge into darkness. This act made us aware of the state of death: without light, life is impossible. This awareness enabled them to tame Death, and to contact the Elders (men who had already passed through the Beyond), in order to seek advice, benevolence and wisdom. Afterwards, village members would gather in the dark in the village square, where the druids would light a new fire. This sacred fire symbolized a new beginning, the start of life, the Celtic year, and victory over death.

It was only later that the druids lit other fires around the village, on the hills, to protect the dwellings from any evil threat. Afterwards, each villager took a few embers from the sacred fire, and went back to their homes to restart their fire.

Halloween in Ireland: a popular festival

Traditions that have become Americanized

Let’s face it: Samain has given way to a more modern version of its celebration: Halloween. And in Ireland, this special day is an opportunity for children to wander the streets dressed in masquerade costume with one aim in mind: to ask the neighbors for sweets!

Gone are the traditions of the past: now it’s time for a much more commercial and down-to-earth celebration!

Halloween night is all about scaring each other, digging Jack ‘O’Lanterns out of pumpkins, partying and, above all, showering the kids with sweets of all kinds.

As you can see, Halloween in Ireland is a cool, festive occasion. But certainly very different from the original Samain.