How the Irish Celebrate Halloween in Weird Ways

The Puca is a shape-shifting spirit that can bring good or bad luck. Source: Adobestock

By Violet Wisdom

For all things Halloween, we’re taking a little trip to where it all began. From the ancient Druid’s practice of Samhain to today’s Trunk or Treats, Ireland blends it all together for some intriguing All Hallow’s Eve customs. So whether you know October 31st as Halloween, Samhain, the eve of  All Saints Day, Mischief Night or All Hallow’s Eve, in Ireland it is truly the Celtic New Year. 

1. Ringing in the Celtic New Year with a bonfire, Tine Chnámh. As this night is believed to be the time the realm between the living and spirits is the thinnest, a fire is burned to protect people from any not-so-friendly spirits.
   

2. Future-telling cake: Barmbrack. Likely borrowed by the Victorians  for the tradition of a cake to reveal who would be next to be married. Barmback could foretell much more by including a coin for prosperity, a pea predicting marriage, a stick predicting marital strife, fabric bad luck, and a thimble representing one would never be married. All of these items are baked into one loaf of bread. 
   

3. Halloween Fairs: The Púca Festival is by far the most famous in Ireland. For three days, costumed participants celebrate by attending a Samhain circus, concerts, shows, parade, storytelling, food, and ghost stories. What is a puca, you ask? It is a shape-shifting spirit of ancient lore that can bring either good or back luck. Farmers would leave a portion of their crops to the Púca in hopes of good luck and to avoid the spirit from causing damage to the farm. 
   

4. Masks in Ireland go back to the ancient celebrations of Samhain. They were elaborate and often terrifying, commonly made from animal hides. They were also believed to allow the wearer of the mask to feel they could walk among the spirits without being recognized as a human. 

   
   

   

   Carved turnup

   5. The Jack O’Lantern could also be referred to as Jack’s lantern if you are sticking to the origin of the common practice of carving a face into a pumpkin. Jack, known as Stingy Jack, a blacksmith who was denied a place in heaven and ended up in the underworld. There,

   he was given only a piece of coal to see his way back to earth. He put the coal in a turnip and has wandered ever since. So yes, the first Jack O’Lanterns were made from turnips, not pumpkins, which are, by nature, a creepier sight than the cute pumpkins we carve today. The latter is a North American custom that arrived as Celtic immigrants found pumpkins easier to carve. 

So, if you want to have a centuries-old kind of Halloween, carve a few pumpkins (or turnips), make a cake to tell your future, and sit by a bonfire for an evening of ghost stories. Sounds like a perfect evening to me! What are your Halloween traditions? We would love to hear from you!

Violet Wisdom