Ireland: Home of Halloween

Ireland is the birthplace of Halloween, and we have been celebrating it for over 2,000 years.

The ancient Celts called it Samhain [The Irish word for autumn, pronounced sow-win], and it was originally a celebration of the harvest for winter. It marked the end of the pastoral cycle, a time when all the crops were harvested and livestock were brought in from the fields in preparation for winter, ‘the dark half of the year’.

Halloween [or Hallowe'en] is celebrated every year on 31 October, and Samhain begins on 1 November, All Saints Day, one of the four seasonal markers or ‘quarter days’. Traditionally, people left a seat at the table or food out for deceased members of the family on All Saints Day and All Souls Day on 2 November.

The Celts believed that at Samhain, the souls of the dead would visit their homes and those that had died that year would travel to the next world.

Many of the practices that began during Samhain have lasted the test of time and become our modern Halloween traditions, including trick-or-treating, large communal bonfires and pumpkin carving.

The transformation of Samhain to Halloween can be linked directly to the mass migration of Irish people to the United States in the 19th Century, where our Halloween customs and traditions were embraced.

Traditions such as turnip carving and mask-making developed into pumpkin carving and Halloween costumes, eventually becoming core parts of what we all know as Halloween today.

Across the globe, Samhain is now celebrated alongside many different festivals. In Latin America similar festivals such as Dia de los Muertos and La Calabiuza [Day of the Dead], and Dia da Bruxas [Witch’s Day] are celebrated in conjunction with the modern Halloween festivals, many sharing the Celts’ original beliefs around spirits and Samhain.

Download our Irish Halloween Activity Pack for schools.

• Learn about the history of Halloween in Ireland
• Complete a word search
• Colouring sheets for Halloween.