Every Halloween, modern-day Druids go to the Hill of Ward in Co. Meath to welcome in the Celtic New Year.
Before Christianity came to Ireland, Halloween was the pagan festival of Samhain, held to celebrate the Celtic New Year at the beginning of the winter.
RTÉ News reporter Richard Dowling visits Tlachta, the Hill of Ward in Co. Meath where modern-day druids have revived the ancient rituals of Samhain and are lighting fires for the ceremony. Local historian Joe Conlan explains that fire could attract evil spirits, so first the druids had to settle the spirits and then they lit a fire to symbolise that all was well. One woman says she has come here because it is the original Samhain site.
