The History of Halloween in Ireland! (A1-B1)

Ireland is the source of a lot of things in the world, sometimes more unexpected than outsiders might realise. Whiskey was first mentioned here (in 1405), flavoured potato crisps in 1950, and Halloween, although that’s not what we called it.

Halloween, or Samhain (SAH-win), originated in pagan Ireland with the Celts. It was originally a celebration of the harvest at the end of summer, when bonfires were lit to ward off (keep away) evil spirits. Similar to the Mexican tradition of Día de Muertos, the ancient Celts believed that this was the time of the year when the veil between the lands of the living and the dead was at its thinnest. As such, spirits and fairies could more easily pass over and torment the living.

Halloween was a festival, and as such included games and traditions. One such tradition was carving a vegetable to create a jack-o-lantern to scare spirits. The Irish tradition was not always a pumpkin, however. Ancient Celts used turnips, a hard root vegetable, to create their lanterns.

The Irish and Scottish brought the stories and traditions of Halloween to North America in the 19th century where the Americans did what they do best; take someone’s traditions and transform them into a party. While the games associated with Halloween (like apple-bobbing) already existed, dressing up and going trick-or-treating (children knocking on doors asking for sweets/candy) was popularised by the Americans, and inspired by the Celtic traditions of warding off spirits. It used to be called guising (as in, disguising).

The jack-o-lantern tradition, thankfully, started to use pumpkins, which are much easer to carve, and allow much ore creativity.

So, whether you’ve celebrated Halloween in the past, or this year is your first time, now you know a brief history of its origins.