Halloween before Halloween: The Irish festival that inspired the spooky season

Somewhere in Ireland, a few hundred years ago, someone sat down with a turnip, hollowed it out and carved a thoroughly unpleasant face into its skin. A candle went inside. The result was left outside a house, probably to frighten somebody passing by. It was Halloween, though the pumpkin had yet to become the star of the show.

The Irish festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in) is where much of Halloween's older folklore begins. Celebrated around the end of October, it marked the close of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. The nights were growing longer, food had to last through the cold months and, according to local belief, the dead might be paying a visit.

Samhain was traditionally observed on November 1, with most of the festivities taking place the night before. In rural Ireland, this was a significant change in the calendar. Livestock had to be brought in from the fields and the year's agricultural work was winding down. There was reason to gather and feast. There was also reason, if you believed the stories, to be careful about wandering around after dark.

The dead were not the only beings people worried about. Irish folklore is full of supernatural figures, including the púca, a shape-shifting creature associated with mischief and strange encounters. On Samhain, the usual rules of the world seemed less dependable. People made protective crosses for their homes and avoided travelling alone. Some left food for the spirits of deceased family members.

Then there were the disguises. People wore masks made from whatever materials were available, sometimes adding wool or animal hair to change their appearance. Groups went from house to house, entertaining neighbours and frightening them in equal measure. They might receive food in return. The practice, known as guising, has an obvious family resemblance to trick-or-treating, although the customs developed and changed over time.

The food deserves its own mention. Halloween in Ireland was a good occasion for apples and nuts, both of which featured in seasonal games. Apple bobbing has survived remarkably well, despite being an activity that involves dunking your face into a bowl of water in pursuit of fruit.

More intriguing is báirín breac, usually called barmbrack in English. This fruit-studded bread was traditionally baked with small objects hidden inside it. Finding a ring supposedly meant marriage was on the cards. A coin promised wealth. A scrap of cloth was a considerably less welcome discovery, associated with poverty. Eating a slice could become an exercise in wondering whether the baker had accidentally ruined your year.

And those turnip lanterns? They have a history of their own. Ireland's National Museum holds a carved ghost turnip collected from County Donegal, recorded as an example of the sort made locally around 1900. Candles were placed inside these hollowed vegetables, and their faces were meant to frighten people or ward off unwelcome spirits. Irish emigrants carried the custom to North America. There, pumpkins eventually took over because they were easier to carve. Anyone who has tried to hollow out a stubborn turnip will appreciate the practical advantage.

Even the name Halloween has a religious history. It comes from All Hallows' Eve, the evening before All Saints' Day on November 1. All Souls' Day follows on November 2. Christian observances became woven into older seasonal practices over centuries, which makes it difficult to draw a perfectly straight line from an ancient festival to every Halloween custom we know today. The popular story of Halloween's origins is often tidier than the historical evidence allows.

Irish and Scottish emigrants helped carry these traditions across the Atlantic, particularly during the nineteenth century. In America, they mixed with local customs and gradually became the Halloween of shop-bought costumes, pumpkin carving and children collecting sweets from their neighbours.

In Ireland, Samhain still has a place in the calendar, with traditional foods, folklore and community bonfires appearing alongside modern celebrations. The old turnip may have lost its job to a pumpkin, but the basic appeal of the night has proved stubbornly durable.

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