Before Christianity reached the shores of Ireland around 500 A.D., the beliefs and the practises of the Celtic people echoed those of many others in the rest of Europe. During this time, it was common to worship not one, but many gods, and routinely pay homage to their mercy and might at various points in the year.

Here, we’ve carefully examined the facts on the four most important festivals of Celtic polytheism — Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine (coming up soon in May!), and Lughnasadh — and despite the time has that passed since the origins of these fascinating celebrations, we’ve noticed that each contains elements that many of us may find familiar today. So, read on, and step back into the past with us — you may be more at home there than you think!

SAMHAIN

The origin of carving pumpkins for Halloween can be traced back to the Irish Samhain tradition of carving turnips. (Tourism Ireland)

The first ancient festival on our list, Samhain traditionally marked the beginning of the winter season in Celtic Ireland. Mentioned as early as in literature from the 10th century, it traditionally took place around the beginning of November, with modern celebrants typically placing it on November 1. In Irish tradition, this festival was said to occur during a time when the lines between the worlds of the living and dead would blur, allowing ghosts and fairy folk to abandon their subterranean homes and walk freely in the mortal realm. Sound familiar? Of course it does!

Over time, the traditions and beliefs related to Samhain melded with those from other cultures, such as All Saints and All Souls Day, creating the tradition that we today recognize as Halloween. In the stories of the Boyhood Deeds of Fionn from the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology, it’s said that the fairy mounds (considered by many even to this day to be doors to the distant Celtic otherworld) “were always open at Samhain.” Because of this, the people of ancient Ireland took the opportunity during Samhain to honor the spirits of loved ones who had passed away, remembering their deaths as the natural world itself died and gave way to winter.

The tradition of donning a costume or disguise for Halloween celebrations also originated with the festival of Samhain. From around the 16th century onwards, people would go from house to house in deceptive dress, singing songs or performing poems in exchange for scraps of food. This tied into the common belief that the dead would rise during this time to seek hospitality from their former communities; by receiving small tokens and bites of food on behalf of the spirits, these old world trick-or-treaters were thought to help appease their otherworldly hunger. Of course, the costumes also helped to protect festival celebrants by helping them blend in with the influx of supernatural beings who walked among them, decreasing their chances of being dragged away beneath a fairy mound before the sun rose the next day.

Of all of the Halloween traditions that find their origins bound up in the festival of Samhain, perhaps the most memorable is that of the jack-o’-lantern. Pumpkins, among other kinds of gourds, would not come to Ireland until the dawn of the 20th century — and so they were predated by turnips, hollowed out and decorated with grotesque facial carvings. During Samhain, children would place candles inside, carrying them around to ward off evil spirits when they went out at night.

IMBOLC

The St. Brigid's Cross is the most common symbol of Imbolc. (Wikipedia)

Commonly referred to now as St. Brigid’s Day, Imbolc is a traditional Irish festival that heralds the coming of spring. Usually held in the first days of February, it was largely viewed as one of the most important times in the ancient Celtic calendar, when Brigid (the pre-Christian goddess of fertility, rather than the aforementioned saint, who is thought to be a Christianization of this older figure) was honored, in the hopes that she would bring prosperity and health in the coming year.

It was said that during Imbolc, the spirit of the goddess Brigid would visit each individual home, inspecting the offerings that had been prepared for her in return for her blessing. Typically, families would make a bed for her in the center of the home, surrounded by food and drink to make her strong. Often, mothers would leave out items of their children’s clothing for the goddess to bless. Then, a small, dollish figure known as the brídeóg (literally “small Brigid”) was symbolically paraded throughout every town and village, before eventually being laid to rest in one special bed. Feasting and drinking commenced soon after.

One of the most distinctive traditions of Imbolc is, wonderfully, still alive and well today. This is the weaving of the “Brigid’s cross,” a small, geometrically-precise, four-armed creation made from rushes. In olden times, the making of these crosses was a full-family activity, and when they were complete, one was placed over each doorway and window of the house. It was said that as long as a cross of Brigid was in place, no harm could pass through that opening. Today, the special weaving technique is still taught in schools all over Ireland as a springtime arts and crafts activity, and is just as associated with the Christian St. Brigid as it is her pagan predecessor.

Imbolc was also traditionally known as a time of divination, when people would keep an eye out for the cailleach, a mystical witch-figure who supposedly came out to gather her firewood for the rest of the year. The legend claimed that if the cailleach wanted the winter frost to last longer than usually, she would command the sun to shine brightly during Imbolc, so that she could find the best of the best wood to burn. Conversely, if the weather on the day of Imbolc was gray and wet, it was said that the cailleach was fast asleep, and that the winter would be a short and mild one.

Today, as well as being viewed by Christians as the feast day of St. Brigid, Imbolc is celebrated by those of the Wiccan faith as a kind of women’s holiday, filled with traditions exclusively reserved for female practitioners.

BEALTAINE

Later in the year comes Bealtaine, the historic Irish May Day festival that celebrates the beginning of the summer months and encourages new growth and prosperity. Traditionally, rituals of safekeeping were performed on cattle and crops, and bonfires, believed to cast spells of strength and immunity, were lit. Herds of cattle were commonly driven between two massive blazes in the center of two to protect them from disease, and all household fires were to be smothered, and re-lit from the single large community bonfire. Sometimes, in order to capitalize on the fortune-granting powers of the bonfire, the young men of the village would even leap over the flames! In addition to this, doors, windows, and archways were covered in yellow May flowers, thought to evoke the look of flickering flames and bring good luck.

The most important Bealtaine bonfire of all was the one lit on the Hill of Uisneach, in Co. Westmeath, where the seat of the High King of Ireland was located. This spot was viewed as the political, social, and spiritual heart of Ireland, where the sovereignty goddess Ériu was buried in the ground. When the fire at the Hill of Uisneach was lit, its light served as a beacon, indicating to communities all over the land that it was time to set their own.

In 2017, current Irish president Michael D. Higgins was invited to the Hill of Uisneach to light the annual Bealtaine fire, making him the first leader of Ireland in over 1,000 years to have done so. Other major historical figures to have visited the hill include Daniel O’Connell, Padraig Pearse, and former president Eamonn de Valera.

******

Have you celebrated any of these ancient festivals in Ireland? Let us know in the comments below!