{"id":11377,"date":"2020-10-31T21:25:03","date_gmt":"2020-10-31T21:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=11377"},"modified":"2021-03-17T21:03:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T21:03:48","slug":"samhain-halloween-in-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/samhain-halloween-in-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"Samhain – Hallowe’en in Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dia daoibh — Hi everyone!<\/em><\/p>\n

Did you know that the origins of Halloween are actually Irish? Samhain\u00a0<\/em>is a Celtic pagan festival that originated thousand of years ago. It marks the end of the harvest season and the ‘light season’ and the beginning of winter, the ‘dark season.’ O\u00edche Shamhna<\/em> is the Irish word for Halloween, literally eve of Samhain.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Fire Festival\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tlachtga<\/em> (Hill of Ward) near Athboy, Co Meath was\u00a0named after a powerful druidess (a member of the high ranking class in ancient Celtic culture) called\u00a0Tlachtga<\/em> who died there while giving birth to triplets. It dates back to approximately 200 AD and was the location of The Great Fire Festival of Samhain.<\/p>\n

The festival was important because it gave light and warmth to the dark days of winter ahead. People would gather and give sacrifices to the Gods. No other fire was allowed to burn in Ireland at this time except for the great fire, since it was also believed the fire guided friendly spirits. All fires were extinguished, marking the darkest night of the year, and then the great fire was lit, to mark the new year. People would wear masks and costumes to discourage their dead loved ones from taking them to the other side. The fire was visible from the Hill of Tara, which was the seat of the High Kings of Celtic Ireland and where people gathered for feasts and to celebrate Samhain,\u00a0<\/em>both 3 days before and 3 days after.<\/p>\n

The Feast of the Dead\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was believed that during this time of the year the dead could return to this world, and the fire guided as well as warmed them. Great feasts were held with places being reserved at the table for the dead.<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

The festival of Samhain<\/em>\u00a0is mentioned in the Irish myth of Aill\u00e9n Mac Midgna,\u00a0<\/i>the fire breathing goblin:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aill\u00e9n Mac Midgna was a fire breathing goblin from the other world, Mag Mell. for 23 years Aill\u00e9n brought terror to Ireland\u2019s most sacred location, the hill of Tara, the seat of Ireland\u2019s High King.<\/i>
\n
\n<\/i>Each year, on the eve of Samhain, Aill\u00e9n would arrive at Tara and play the Irish harp with such enthusiasm causing everyone in the immediate area to fall asleep under his spell.<\/i>
\n
\n<\/i>Once Aill\u00e9n had cast all of the kings guards asleep he would use his fiery breath to set fire to the great halls of Tara with his fire breathing, leaving nothing but burning cinders behind. When done Aill\u00e9n would return to his fairy mound at s\u00eddh Finnachaid leaving the people to rebuild the great halls.<\/i>
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\n<\/i>Nobody could kill the fire breathing goblin because as soon as anyone got close to him they fell asleep under his spell which is why he was able to continue year after year. That is, until the Irish hero Fionn Mac Cumhaill learned about the disastrous deeds of Aill\u00e9n.<\/i>
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\n<\/i>A few months after Fionn succeeded in becoming a Fian warrior and chieftain of Clan Baiscne he was told of the fire breathing goblin who was causing chaos at the hill of Tara every Samhain. As Fionn had all the knowledge in the world gained from the Salmon of Knowledge, he made a request to the High King. For leadership of the Fianna, a band of warriors, he would kill Aill\u00e9n Mac Midgna the fire breathing goblin. With all the warriors in Ireland unable to stop Aill\u00e9n the burner the Irish King agreed to Fionn\u2019s request.<\/i>
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\n<\/i>Like everyone else, Fionn was not immune to the musical spell from Aill\u00e9n so he needed a way to avoid falling victim to the goblins magic but how?\u00a0<\/i>
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\n<\/i>Another Irish warrior by the name of Fiacha had a poisoned spear but he lacked the knowledge on how to use it. Fionn mac Cumhaill on the other hand knew exactly how to use it after all, he had all the knowledge in the world.<\/i>
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\n<\/i>On Samhain\u2019s Eve Fionn held the spear to his head and inhaled its magical fumes, making him immune to the musical spell \u00a0from Aill\u00e9n\u2019s harp. He lay in wait for Aill\u00e9n to get closer and within reaching distance he stabbed him with the spear killing the goblin to everyone\u2019s joy.<\/i>
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\n<\/i>The King, true to his word, gave Fionn captaincy over the Fianna warriors. Its leader at the time, Goll Mac Morna who was Fionn\u2019s enemy, stood down and swore loyalty to Fionn.<\/i><\/p>\n

___________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Some vocabulary for you:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Halloween<\/strong> \u2013 O\u00edche Shamhna<\/p>\n

October<\/strong> — Deireadh F\u00f3mhair<\/p>\n

Witch<\/strong> — Cailleach<\/p>\n

Ghost<\/strong> — P\u00faca<\/p>\n

Pumpkin<\/strong> — Puimpc\u00edn<\/p>\n

Trick or Treat<\/strong> — Bob n\u00f3 bia<\/p>\n

Sweets\/ Candy<\/strong> — Milse\u00e1in<\/p>\n

Scary movie<\/strong> — Scann\u00e1n Scanr\u00fail<\/p>\n

Halloween party<\/strong> — C\u00f3isir O\u00edche Shamhna<\/p>\n

Games<\/strong> — Cluich\u00ed<\/p>\n

Apples<\/strong> — \u00dalla<\/p>\n

Haunted<\/strong> — Cr\u00e1ite<\/p>\n

Moon —<\/strong>\u00a0Gealach<\/p>\n

Shadow —\u00a0<\/strong>sc\u00e1th<\/p>\n

Tomb —\u00a0<\/strong>Tuama<\/p>\n

Graveyard —\u00a0<\/strong>Reilg<\/p>\n

Coffin —\u00a0<\/strong>C\u00f3nra<\/p>\n

Skeleton —\u00a0<\/strong>Creatlach<\/p>\n

Ghost story —\u00a0<\/strong>Sc\u00e9al taibhs\u00ed<\/p>\n

Vampire —\u00a0<\/strong>Vaimp\u00edr<\/p>\n

Blood —\u00a0<\/strong>Fuil<\/p>\n

Werewolf —\u00a0<\/strong>Coinriocht<\/p>\n

Devil —\u00a0<\/strong>Diabhal<\/p>\n

Death —\u00a0<\/strong>B\u00e1s<\/p>\n

O\u00edche Shamhna sona<\/em> – Happy Hallowe’en everyone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Dia daoibh — Hi everyone! Did you know that the origins of Halloween are actually Irish? Samhain\u00a0is a Celtic pagan festival that originated thousand of years ago. It marks the end of the harvest season and the ‘light season’ and the beginning of winter, the ‘dark season.’ O\u00edche Shamhna is the Irish word for Halloween…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":11379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[535717,3898],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11377","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-irish-language"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11377"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11486,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11377\/revisions\/11486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}