Analysis: 'an impulse in Irish tradition is to fearlessly celebrate in the face of unsettling things not fully understood'
Halloween is one of many festivals that Irish emigrants exported abroad, and it has now taken root across the world. The ancient Irish celebrated Samhain, the first day of winter and one of the four major pre-Christian festivals, on November 1st. Marking the end of one pastoral year and the beginning of another, Christians later appropriated that day as the Feast of All Saints, testimony of the opposing belief systems that co-existed for so long in Ireland, of pagan and Christian.
The festivities of the Eve of Samhain, Oíche Shamhna, began at sundown on October 31st and came to mark the real celebrations. Known as Halloween, it’s a welcome festivity to look forward to as winter begins. This was a night when the supernatural was deemed to be at its most active and powerful and it was considered an especially powerful date when the otherworld could seep into the normal world. Despite being associated with the scary supernatural, Irish people traditionally saw Halloween as a night of fun and games.
Samhain, and the other quarter day festivals (Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lughnasa) were rooted in farming practice and signified key dates in the agricultural calendar. In older times, Halloween saw farming families reunited after 'booleying', a seasonal movement of livestock that brought cattle and their keepers to temporary summer dwellings and pasture in the uplands. In the Burren, farmers have marked the end of summer by herding their cattle onto 'winterage' pastures in the limestone uplands where they spend the winter grazing.
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From RTÉ Brainstorm, Eugene Costello from UCC on the lost art of 'booleying' in Ireland
Elsewhere, though, the last of the cattle were expected to be driven home along with their herders by Halloween. The day marked the time of the safe return of young family members who had spent summer on the hillsides and as well as being associated with bonfires, disguise and high jinks, it was a night for the family to gather around the hearth at home.
Perhaps Halloween was seen as an additional deadline, a night for the youngsters to be finally back to the safety of the family home away from supernatural danger? There was always a fear in Ireland that otherworldly beings and faeries might abduct young people.
As it was believed spirits were about, people disguised themselves as fellow-ghouls so they would be safe from harm. People made their masks or disguises as grotesque as they could, rubbing their faces with soot, using false names and changed voices. On that night they doused themselves with Holy Water and carried wooden Halloween crosses, a burnt coal or a black handled knife for protection when going out into the night. Halloween bonfires were lit to protect people from these evil forces.
From RTÉ Brainstorm, how the Irish really invented Halloween
An impulse in Irish tradition is to fearlessly celebrate in the face of unsettling things not fully understood. One example is the unruly behaviour once permitted at wakes. Halloween is no exception: despite the fear of monsters, it was a night for merriment and fun. Pranks were permitted: cabbages thrown at doors, gates taken off hinges, chimneys blocked. Perhaps the more raucous goings on were allowed for by people grateful that their young folk were home safe after summer.
There was a focus on food, the glut from the harvest allowing a feast of plenty. There was colcannon with butter, sweet brack, pancakes made with cream, blackberry pies. In some areas, a drink known as "lamb's wool" was made by mixing the pulp of roasted apples with milk or ale. Food was rarely plentiful in Ireland and sugar was uncommon, so people delighted in sweet apples and hazelnuts, in such abundance at Halloween that people played games with the excess.
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From RTÉ Archives, Fr Seán Ó Duinn talks to Michael Ryan for Would You Believe in 1991 about the pagan origins of Hallowe'en
Halloween was believed to be a great night of the year for forecasting the future, and marriage divination was commonly done with food. Still-single younger people wished to ascertain whether any romantic relationships could develop. The mix of food and divination is still with us in the modern barm brack – still sold in the shops today, complete with a novelty ring. The belief remains that the person served the slice with the ring will be the next to marry. In the past, bracks were loaded with small objects that might predict events for the coming year: a coin or bean meant wealth; while a rag or a pea meant poverty, a stick did not bode well. It was a considered a good time to read tea leaves to foretell the future.
It was believed that one’s future husband or wife might appear in a dream on Halloween night if one placed certain objects under their pillow (an apple, or a cabbage leaf or a piece of yarrow). It was believed that if a person stole and ate a salted herring before bed, their future spouse would appear in a dream offering water. One long apple peel, thrown over the shoulder to the ground, was examined to see if it formed the initial of a future spouse.
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From RTÉ Archives, Dr Bairbre Ní Fhloinn from UCD's National Folklore Collection takes questions from viewers about Halloween on a 1995 episode of Echo Island presented by Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh and Dara Ó Briain
Other rituals involved nuts named for couples and placed in the embers of the fire: if the heat caused the nuts to jump apart it indicated an unstable marriage. If the pair remained side by side and intact it bode well for the union. It is important to note here that such marriage divination was simply ‘a bit of fun’. The real predictors of marriage were settled between parents or agreed with the matchmaker.
On Halloween night, the souls of ones’ ancestors were believed to return to the family home. The seats closest to the hearth were considered to be of honour in the Irish household, and an old custom was to reserve them for the returning dead that night. Extra fuel was added to the fire, the seats were arranged around it and food left out to welcome back their spirits.
A version of this article was originally published by the Irish Humanities Alliance
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
