Showing posts with label "Oíche Shamhna". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "Oíche Shamhna". Show all posts

28 October 2016

"Halloween in Irish Folklore" by Irish Archaeology

"Halloween in Irish Folklore", a blog, by Irish Archaeology, filled to the brim with excerpts, and well worth the reading:

"These folklore accounts detail some of superstitions and festivities which once surrounded Halloween in Ireland. They are based on information supplied by schoolchildren to the Irish Folklore Commission in the late 1930s."

Halloween by Dúchas.ie

A downloadable presentation:

"From earliest recorded history in Ireland, Halloween (All Hallows Eve), or Oíche Shamhna was considered a turning point in the calendar. 
Samhain (November 1st), meant the start of winter, when cattle were brought down from summer pastures, tributes and rents paid, and other business contracted.
Samhain, marks the close of the season of light and the beginning of the dark half of the year, and was therefore perceived as a liminal moment in time when movement between the otherworld and this world was possible. ... "