But in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New Year.
It’s said that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died the previous year come back and look for living bodies to possess for the next year.
The people who are still living try to avoid being possessed. On the night of October 31 they extinguish the fires in their homes to make them cold and undesirable. Then they dress up in ghoulish costumes and “raise hell’ around the neighbourhood to scare off spirits who look for bodies to possess.
After 1845 a huge potato famine broke out in the country, which is why so many people immigrated to America – and brought this habit with them as well.
Few know it, but the custom of “trick-or-treating” is not originally Irish, but Christian-European. They called it souling because on All Souls’ Day early Christians walked from village to village begging for soul cakes, square pieces of bread with currants. The beggar then would say prayers for the person who made the cakes. The more cakes a person gave, the more prayers they would receive! (So if you gave ten soul cakes, the beggar would say ten prayers for you!) In those days, people believed that prayers could make you go to heaven faster when you died.
The most notable Irish Halloween Traditions:
Colcannon for Dinner:
Colcannon, which is boiled potatoes, curly kale (a kind of cabbage) and raw onions, is the traditional Irish Halloween dinner. Clean coins are wrapped in baking paper and placed in the potatoes for children to find and keep.
What you need:
400g/16oz cooked potato
25g/1oz butter
1 teaspoon chopped onion
200g/8oz finely shredded cabbage/kale
Pepper & salt to season
A little milk
Method
Mash the potatoes. Gently fry the onion in the butter for 2 minutes.
Mix into the potatoes the cabbage, seasonings and milk.
Stir until creamy. Serve hot.
The Barm Brack Cake:
The traditional Halloween cake in Ireland is barm brack, a kind of fruited 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.
What you need:
400g/16oz raisins
1 egg
2 large cups of flour
1 large cup of strong black tea
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
1 ring wrapped in tin foil!
Method
Dissolve the sugar in the tea. Add the raisins and leave overnight to soak. The next day, mix the egg, baking powder and the ring into the flour! Put into a greased 2lb loaf tin or 8 inch cake tin. Bake at 350F /190C / Gas Mark 5 for 1 hour. Whoever gets the slice with the ring in it will be the first to be married!!!
The Pumpkin:
Carving pumpkins dates back to the Eighteenth Century when an Irish blacksmith named Jack 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.
Halloween Costumes:
On Halloween night children would dress up in scary costumes and go from house to house. 'Help the Halloween Party' and 'Trick or Treat' were the cries to be heard at each door.
Snap Apple:
After the visits to the neighbours, the Halloween games begin, the most popular of which is “Snap Apple”. An apple is suspended from a string and the 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!
Source is http://www.ireland-information.com.
