Named after Irish God, Lugh, Lúnasa is one of the most important days in the Celtic Calendar usually signifying abundance at the time of harvest.
As one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, Lughnasadh heralds the commencement of autumn followed by Samhain and winter, Imbolg and spring then Bealtaine and summer.
The arrival of the harvest was for our forebears a time of great celebration, for it marked the point at which the lean months of June and 'Hungry July' (when the year's stores were traditionally at their lowest), gave way to a period of profusion and plenty.
Baineann Lúnasa le laethanta móra an chultúir Phagánaigh ina raibh béim faoi leith ar fhéilte le go mbainfí an leas is fearr ón talamh chomh maith le ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar na Déithe a bhain leo. Ainmníodh Lúnasa i ndiaidh Lugh a raibh dlúthcheangail aige le gilleacht agus le solas an lae. Bhain Lugh le Tuatha Dé Danann, treibh fíorthábhachtach in Éirinn.
Harvesting in Ireland in 1963 from the RTÉ Archives
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Lugh, a Sun God is where the festival got its name and historically signified a time for celebration based on what was harvested from the land. Lugh is one of the three most important heroes in Irish mythology. His mother is Eithne, the daughter of Balor (of the evil eye) leader of the Fomorians.
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In this edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis / Folklore Fragments, Jonny Dillon and Claire Doohan take to the fields to consider the harvest in tradition, discussing hilltop celebrations, naked horse-swimming races and the spirit of the crops itself, which appears all over Europe, in the form of a female nature spirit known broadly as the 'Corn Mother', as well as being symbolically represented by several animals.
