This year again, coronavirus is forcing, it is difficult to get to each other to go on a candy hunt.
This is no reason not to celebrate Halloween, on the contrary!
“
2021 will be the opportunity to focus more on traditions rather than looking to go to the pub or to a party,
” according to Irish folklorist Billy Mag Fhloinn.
And it is by summoning the Celt who sleeps in you that you will find the original flavor of Halloween:
Samhain
(pronounced Sam-huin).
At table !
The barmbrack is the traditional Halloween cake in Ireland.
Irish tourism
It all started thousands of years ago, at the end of the harvest in late October and early November: fruits and vegetables were in abundance and you had to prepare for winter. “
We would come together to eat what had been harvested,
” says Clodagh Doyle, curator at the National Museum of Rural Life in Ireland. Apples, in particular, are used for pies or games such as the hanging apple: the goal is to successfully bite into an apple attached to the end of a string. As for dried fruits, they are used for the
barmbrack (or barm brack)
, a very substantial sweet bread in which we hid a ring or a coin: the person to have it in his slice had to get married or become rich within the year ... On the salty side, there are many dishes based on apples of earth like
colcannon
, mashed potatoes and cabbage: for tasting, we dig a well in the mash placed on the plate, in which we put a generous square of salted butter.
Encounter with the supernatural
Today for Halloween, we have plastic masks, but before we made them out of papier-mâché or fabric.
Photography National Museum of Ireland (National Museum IRE)
For the Celts, this transitory moment which signified the end of the year and the beginning of a new one, was also a moment of collision between our world, that of the deceased, and the supernatural: the border was the most porous, and all was possible. The spirit of the dead was temporarily returning to our side, and it was in their memory and honor that we were celebrating. It is not by chance that, since Ireland became Catholic, All Saints' Day comes the day after Halloween, on November 1st. However, not all of the beings and creatures who decided to cross the border between worlds were well-meaning: some were mortal, others just wanted to play tricks. Hence the notion of pranks (
tricks
in English) and disguises: either to confuse and scare people away, or to scare neighbors.
“
Today, we have plastic masks, but before we made them out of papier-mâché or fabric
, remembers Mairead Sweeney, tour guide and specialist in Irish traditions around Halloween.
The faces were fierce and frightening
”.
Since Ireland became Catholic, All Saints' Day comes the day after Halloween
Tell stories by the fireside
Halloween is a special time for the transmission of stories and legends.
Irish tourism
Magic, fear, celebration and remembrance of what is no longer: Halloween is a special time for the transmission of stories and legends, which carry with them the old wisdoms and rules of life. Billy Mag Fhloinn particularly enjoys the story of Nera, an Irish warrior, who was the only one reckless enough to tie a knot at the foot of a corpse on Samhain's Night, the night the dead are supposed to be able to communicate with us. "
The dead man woke up asking for water,
" says Billy Mag Fhloinn. Nera took him to town. As they attempted to enter the first house, flames rose, forcing them to try their luck elsewhere. In another house, the deceased drank three glasses of water, and spat the last on the inhabitants,who died from it. "
This is only part of the story, but there are a lot of notable elements, like the importance of fire,
”he explains.
It is also during the Halloween season that we see the most bonfires.
Turnip lantern
The tradition of digging a pumpkin into a lantern, very present across the Atlantic, did not exist before Irish immigrants settled in America. But there was a time, long before the popularization of pumpkin, when it was a whole different vegetable that was used in Ireland and other Celtic nations like Scotland: the turnip. The use of digging was imported and adapted for pumpkins that were in season. You could easily say that if the goal is to create a thrill in the spine, the turnip is more effective than the pumpkin. “
It's scary. But have you ever tried digging a turnip? It's extremely difficult,
”laughs Clodagh Doyle. An idea of Halloween activity for young and old, which occupies for hours and hours ...
Halloween, celebrated virtually in 2020
In 2015,
USA Today
named Derry “The World's Best Halloween Destination”.
The second largest city in Northern Ireland celebrates October 31st with great fanfare every year.
Irish tourism
This year, Halloween will have a very different face from other years.
“
It will be a virtual celebration for me
,” explains Mairead Sweeney.
I will decorate my house and there will be a meal with traditional dishes
".
Because gatherings and trips are currently banned, the various festivals have adapted to, despite everything, maintain the spirit of Halloween.
First, the city of Derry in Northern Ireland decided to have its Halloween festival, often referred to as the largest in Europe, online.
On the menu: stories, music, make-up tutorials, disguise, cooking and cocktails, from October 28 to November 1.
In the Republic of Ireland, Púca Festival, created last year, is dedicated to the traditional side of Halloween: meet this Saturday, October 31 at the festival site for the lighting of the fires of Samhain.
Finally, in the Irish capital, Bram Stoker Festival (until November 2), pays tribute to the author of Dracula, native of Dublin.
For more information: ireland.com
* Originally published on October 30, 2020, this article has been updated.
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