Another reason to love Ireland - Did you know Halloween was invented here?

Let’s start with a brief history of Halloween in Ireland.

The roots of Halloween can be traced back 2,000 years to the Celtic Samhain festival, which celebrated the end of summer. Although today, Halloween is celebrated in most parts of the wo

rld, its origin lies in the pagan Celtic festival of 'Samhain', around 100 A.D. approximately.

Samhain was observed on the evening of the 31st of October. A big fire was lit to signify the end of the harvest season and it was the moment when the Celtics stored supplies to see them through the winter ahead.

This was a spiritual night. The Celts believed that old ghosts would return to the mortal world on that night. To confront these evil spirits, the Celts lit fires thinking that they would drive away the spirits. They also wore scary dresses and masks to resemble the spirits and to avoid being taken away to the underworld.

Pumpkin carving also has its origins from the Irish legend of Stingy Jack and the lanterns were originally called a “Jack o’lantern”. The legend is that Stingy Jack invited the devil to have a drink with him, but as Jack did not want to pay for the drink, he convinced the devil to turn himself into a coin. But instead of paying for the drink, Stingy Jack pocketed the coin and kept it close to a silver cross in his house, preventing the devil from taking shape again. Jack promised to let the devil go as long as he would leave him alone and if he died that the devil wouldn’t claim his soul. When Jack died, God didn’t want such an untrustworthy person in heaven and the devil, true to his word, would not allow him into hell. Jack was sent off into the night with only a burning coal to light his path. He placed the coal inside a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the earth ever since. Irish people for years created their own creations of Jack’s lanterns from turnips, beets and potatoes. When the tradition then travelled to the United States people began to use pumpkins, native to North America, and since pumpkins have become popular for carving lanterns in Ireland.

Over the last ten years Halloween has gained significant momentum in Ireland. It has undoubtedly become more commercialised with decorations appearing in shops from as early as August. The costumes have moved on from black bin bags and a false face mask to fully customised outfits and make up. Sparklers have been replaced by impressive firework displays and themed food and drinks are now commonplace. Dreamland is no different and Eire’s Halloween party is always one of the most popular events of the year.

From October our members secretly plan their Halloween costumes hoping that they will win the title of ‘best dressed!” This is a coveted award where all our members are required to strut their scary, horror filled selves down our catwalk of terror and are then judged by the wider Eire community.

This year our members' costumes ranged from zombie doctors, werewolves, skeltons, aliens and the obligatory witch! The winner of the evening was Tom McCall. His nod to the story of Stingy Jack with his devil costume and drink in hand coupled with his artistic face painting skills stole the show.

Charlotte Daly came a close second with her skeleton inspired costume.

After the awards were made, we headed into town to soak up the evening’s atmosphere with the Halloween parade and fireworks display.

A fun night was had by all. As we awoke on Wednesday the 1st November all that was left of Halloween was the smudged face paints and the fear that by the end of the day all traces of Halloween would be replaced with Christmas music, decorations and gifts! Now, that is something to scream about!

To all our members, thank you for your creativity, you are what made this event spooktacular! Click here to see our upcoming events, and click here to join the Eire Nework.

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