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From: "mark.lusby" <>
Subject: Re: [Irish-American] Irish Halloween Traditions
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2004 14:28:02 +0100
References: <4164024A.807@pacbell.net>


The place to be on Halloween is Derry- largest Halloween street festival in
Europe!

see www.derrycity.gov.uk/halloween
----- Original Message -----
From: "ConnorsGenealogy" <>
To: <>
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2004 3:33 PM
Subject: [Irish-American] Irish Halloween Traditions


> thanks again to George of the Irish Heritage Newsletter....
>
> IRISH HALLOWEEN TRADITIONS
>
> The Celts celebrated Halloween as Samhain, 'All Hallowtide' - the 'Feast
> of the Dead', when the dead revisited the mortal world. The celebration
> marked the end of Summer and the start of the Winter months.
>
> During the eighth century the Catholic Church designated the first day of
> November as 'All Saints Day ('All Hallows') - a day of commemoration for
> those Saints that did not have a specific day of remembrance. The night
> before was known as 'All Hallows Eve' which, over time, became known as
> Halloween.
>
> Here are the most notable Irish Halloween Traditions:
>
> Colcannon for Dinner: Boiled Potato, Curly Kale (a cabbage) and raw Onions
> are provided as the traditional Irish Halloween dinner. Clean coins are
> wrapped in baking paper and placed in the potato for children to find and
> keep.
>
> The Barnbrack Cake: The traditional Halloween cake in Ireland is the
> barnbrack which is a fruit bread. Each member of the family gets a slice.
> Great interest is taken in the outcome as there is a piece of rag, a coin
> and a ring in each cake. If you get the rag then your financial future is
> doubtful. If you get the coin then you can look forward to a prosperous
> year. Getting the ring is a sure sign of impending romance or continued
> happiness.
>
> The Ivy Leaf: Each member of the family places a perfect ivy leaf into a
> cup of water and it is then left undisturbed overnight. If, in the
> morning, a leaf is still perfect and has not developed any spots then the
> person who placed the leaf in the cup can be sure of 12 months health
> until the following Halloween. If not.....
>
> The Pumpkin: Carving Pumpkins dates back to the eighteenth century and to
> an Irish blacksmith named Jack who colluded with the Devil and was denied
> entry to Heaven. He was condemned to wander the earth but asked the Devil
> for some light. He was given a burning coal ember which he placed inside a
> turnip that he had gouged out.
>
> The tradition of Jack O'Lanterns was born - the bearer being the wandering
> blacksmith - a damned soul. Villagers in Ireland hoped that the lantern in
> their window would keep the wanderer away. When the Irish emigrated in
> millions to America there was not a great supply of turnips so pumpkins
> were used instead.
>
> Halloween Costumes: On Halloween night children would dress up in scary
> costumes and go house to house. 'Help the Halloween Party' and 'Trick or
> Treat' were the cries to be heard at each door. This tradition of wearing
> costumes also dates back to Celtic times. On the special night when the
> living and the dead were at their closest the Celtic Druids would dress up
> in elaborate costumes to disguise themselves as spirits and devils in case
> they encountered other devils and spirits during the night. By disguising
> they hoped that they would be able to avoid being carried away at the end
> of the night. This explains why witches, goblins and ghosts remain the
> most popular choices for the costumes.
>
> Snap Apple: After the visits to the neighbours the Halloween games begin,
> the most popula rofwhichisSnapApple.Anappleissuspendedfrom a string and
> children are blindfolded. The first child to get a decent bite of the
> apple gets to keep their prize. The same game can be played by placing
> apples in a basin of water and trying to get a grip on the apple without
> too much mess!
>
> The Bonfire: The Halloween bonfire is a tradition to encourage dreams of
> who your future husband or wife is going to be. The idea was to drop a
> cutting of your hair into the burning embers and then dream of you future
> loved one. Halloween was one of the Celt 'fire' celebrations.
>
> Blind Date: Blindfolded local girls would go out into the fields and pull
> up the first cabbage they could find. If their cabbage had a substantial
> amount of earth attached to the roots then there future loved one would
> have money. Eating the cabbage would reveal the nature of their future
> husband - bitter or sweet!
>
> Another way of finding your future spouse is to peel an apple in one go.
> If done successfully the single apple peel could be dropped on the floor
> to reveal the initials of the future-intended.
>
> Anti-Fairy Measures: Fairies and goblins try to collect as many souls as
> they can at Halloween but if they met a person who threw the dust from
> under their feet at the Fairy then they would be obliged to release any
> souls that they held captive.
>
> Holy water was sometimes anointed on farm animals to keep them safe during
> the night. If the animals were showing signs of ill health on All Hallows
> Eve then they would be spat on to try to ward off any evil spirits.
>
> Happy Halloween from Ireland!
>
> Irish Halloween Traditions - An article provided by
> .
> http://www.ireland-information.com/articles/irishhalloweentraditions.htm
>
>
> --
> Pat Connors, Sacramento CA
> http://www.connorsgenealogy.com
> All outgoing mail virus free, scanned by Norton
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>
>
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