Halloween in Ireland

The spooky October season has arrived. Feel the cool and crisp air on your face, marvel at the trees bursting into autumnal reds, golds and oranges, listen to the leaves crunching underfoot, smell the air is filled with chimney smoke, and taste the autumn veggie harvest back on the menu.

All of this means one very important thing – Halloween in Ireland is just around the corner.

But where does this spooky holiday come from? Just what exactly are the origins of Halloween? Today this holiday is wildly popular – costumed children, carved pumpkins, scary stories, tasty treats and more.

But did you know that the festival of Halloween actually originated in Ireland? More than 2,000 years old, Halloween began life as a pagan festival called Samhain (pronounced saw-when), with traditions that have changed surprisingly little from ancient times to our modern interpretations.

Read more about Halloween’s origins as the Celtic festival of Samhain.

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Dracula is very much the vampire tale. Perhaps not the first of its kind, Dracula kickstarted the vampire sub-genre and played a significant role in gothic horror. Bram Stoker was born and raised in Ireland, and many of his inspirations likely came from the Emerald Isle.

In fact, though Stoker was well-travelled, he never stepped foot in Eastern Europe and relied on stories told to him by a Hungarian writer he knew. But he did spend a lot of time researching history and folklore in Dublin’s magnificent Marsh Library. A little-known story from Irish folklore about a cruel, undead ruler from Northern Ireland may have caught his eye… combined with tales from the east relayed to him by his Hungarian friend, and voila, Dracula was born.

Read more about Bram Stoker, Dracula and his Irish inspirations here.

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Ireland’s most infamous witch is the Cailleach or Hag of Beara. Born on November 1st during the ancient festival of Samhain, the Hag of Beara is the ‘witch of winter.’

The Cailleach is responsible for the bringing of winter, starting out as an “old crone” who grows younger and more powerful from Halloween onwards through the winter, until the arrival of Bealtaine (May 1st) when she becomes a youthful maidan. This of course means that her spell is over, winter is gone and summer is here.

Learn more about Irish folklore’s witchy character of the Hag of Beara in our folklore series. 

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