The place to be on Halloween is Derry- largest Halloween street festival in Europe! see www.derrycity.gov.uk/halloween ----- Original Message ----- From: "ConnorsGenealogy" <nymets11@pacbell.net> To: <IRISH-AMERICAN-L@rootsweb.com> 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 > > > > > > > ==== IRISH-AMERICAN Mailing List ==== > The IRISH-AMERICAN Mailing List Website and Lookup Service > http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ > Use this to unsub, change your subscription, links, etc. >