Every year, as the evenings draw in and the last of the harvest is gathered, people all over the world dress up, carve lanterns and tell ghost stories. Few of them realise how much of Halloween comes from Ireland. Long before costumes and sweets, the Irish marked this time of year with Samhain, a festival that sat on the border between seasons, and between the world of the living and the Otherworld.
The Festival at the Turn of the Year
Samhain was one of the four great seasonal festivals of early Ireland, alongside Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lughnasa. It marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter, the darker half of the year. Celebrations began at sunset on the eve of the festival, because in the old Irish way of counting time the day started at nightfall. The night before the first of November is still called Oíche Shamhna in Irish, and Samhain remains the Irish word for the month of November.
For a farming community, it was a practical moment as well as a sacred one. Cattle were brought down from summer pastures, decisions were made about which animals could be kept through the winter, and stores of food were taken stock of. Gatherings, feasting and fires accompanied this work.
When the Otherworld Came Close
What gave Samhain its special atmosphere was the belief that the boundary between this world and the Otherworld grew thin at this time. The síde, the fairy mounds where the Tuatha Dé Danann were said to dwell, were thought to open, allowing their inhabitants to move freely among people. The spirits of the dead might also return to the places they had known.
This made the night both exciting and dangerous. People who wandered too far from home risked being led astray or taken. Food and drink were sometimes left out for visiting spirits, and later tradition warned that blackberries should not be picked after Samhain because the púca had spoiled them. You can read more about the fairy folk and their mounds in our guide to Irish mythology.
Samhain in the Old Stories
Many of the great tales of Irish mythology take place at Samhain, which shows how important the festival was to the storytellers. The Second Battle of Mag Tuired, in which the Tuatha Dé Danann fought the Fomorians, is set at this time of year, and before it the Dagda is said to have met the war goddess, the Morrígan, at a river on the eve of Samhain.
Another well-known story belongs to the Fenian Cycle. Each Samhain, a being called Aillén came to Tara, lulled everyone to sleep with his music and burned the royal hall. The young Fionn mac Cumhaill finally stayed awake and defeated him, earning his place at the head of the Fianna. Tales like these, collected among the most famous mythical legends, made Samhain a time of trials, omens and turning points.
Fire, Feasting and Divination
Fire was central to the festival. The Hill of Tlachtga in County Meath is traditionally linked with a great Samhain fire, and in later centuries communities lit bonfires on hilltops and in villages across the country. Fires were a source of light and protection as the dark months began.
Samhain was also a night for trying to glimpse the future, especially in matters of love and marriage. Later customs included baking a ring into a barmbrack, hiding charms in colcannon, and games with apples and nuts. Two nuts placed side by side on the hearth might reveal whether a couple would stay together or burst apart. Guising, where young people went from house to house in disguise, may have grown from the idea of blending in with the wandering spirits of the night.
From Samhain to Halloween
Over time, the Christian feasts of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on the first and second of November absorbed much of the older festival, and the eve before them became All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween. In Ireland, lanterns were traditionally carved from turnips. When Irish emigrants brought their customs to North America in the nineteenth century, the larger and softer pumpkin took over, and the modern Halloween began to spread around the world.
Today, festivals in Ireland once again celebrate the older roots of the night with fire processions, parades and storytelling. Behind the costumes and the sweets, the heart of Samhain is still there: a moment to gather close, light a fire against the dark and remember that, at least for one night, the old stories feel very near.