Updated September 2024–Have you ever wondered what Halloween in Ireland is really like?
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Did you know that this popular holiday is based on the pagan festival known as Samhain?
The ancient Celtic holiday (pronounced “sow-in” as in sow, the female pig), would take place between Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 and was one of four quarterly fire festivals in ancient Ireland.
This one marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.
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It was seen as the division of the earth’s year, going from summer to the much darker winter months.
It was this division that prompted the ancient people of Ireland to believe that the spirits could more easily pass through to the mortal world.
During Samhain, the deceased family members were honored while the evil spirits were banished.
To keep themselves from harm, the Celts often left food and drink outside to keep the spirits happy.
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If you’re curious why we dress up in costume for Halloween, it’s because the Celts often wore costumes and masks to disguise themselves from the evil spirits they most feared.
It was the Irish emigrants who brought the old traditions of Samhain with them to America in the 19th century.
The holiday was virtually unknown here before that.
Today, Halloween is a popular holiday in Ireland and while there is certainly a more modern vibe to it, some of those old traditions are being revived in the many festivals that you’ll find around the country.
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Here are 9 of the best known Halloween festivals and events in Ireland.
1. The Púca Festival, Co. Meath
There’s probably no better place to celebrate Halloween than in Ireland's Boyne Valley region, where Samhain was once celebrated with grand fires and feasts.
This 4-day festival in County Meath is a popular annual celebration of Halloween that draws locals and international visitors and is based on the legend of the púca, a shape-shifting creature from Celtic folklore and a familiar character in the Irish Halloween story.
The festival, which takes place this year between Oct. 31st and Nov 3 will include, as usual, a number of free and ticketed events, all focused on “music, myth, food, folklore, fire, feasting and merriment.”
All of the events will be centered around the towns of Trim and Athboy.
Some of the musical acts on slate for this year's festival include Gavin James, an Irish singer-songwriter, and the Limerick group, Kingfishr, who are known for their blending of atmospheric and catchy melodies.
Other events to watch out for include Sorcas na Samhna, a traditional circus show that includes ultra modern lighting, dancing and special effects; Beyond the Veil Púca Trail, a haunted walking tour through the streets of Trim; the adults-only Samhain Circus that includes a creepy cabaret, high wire acts, burlesque, and fire performances, Ancient Music Ireland, an upbeat performance that tells the story of the great Irish instruments from the earliest habitation of Ireland through the Irish Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and early medieval times, as well as comedy shows, heritage tours and more.
You can purchase tickets for any of these events on the Púca Festival website.
2. The Bram Stoker Festival
The popular Bram Stoker Festival returns to Dublin in 2024 from Oct. 25th through the 28th for four days and nights of “deadly adventures.”
The celebration pays homage to Bram Stoker, the Dubliner who created the novel “Dracula,” which was first published 126 years ago.
In 2022, the highlight of the festival was a light and sound experience called “Borealis,” which beamed the experience of an aurora borealis (the Northern Lights) over Dublin Castle’s Upper Courtyard.
As in years past, the festival provides plenty of entertainment for young and old, including film screenings, discussions, and walking tours of Dublin's dark side, specifically the sites most closely associated with Stoker (Marsh's Library, Trinity College, Dublin Castle, and more).
Major outdoor spectacles and installations are the hallmarks of this Halloween celebration, so if you're in the city, be sure to check it out.
This year's program of events will be released in late September 2024.
3. Derry Halloween Festival
You haven’t experienced Halloween until you've come to Derry.
Enjoy the atmosphere of a city thronged with revelers disguised in scary costumes.
In addition, you can enjoy the fabulous food, street theater, stunning light shows, live music, and more in a festival that is now recognized as one of Europe's best Halloween celebrations.
This year's festival takes place between Oct. 28th and 31st.
A full program of events will be released later in the year. The following events took place in 2023:
Awakening the Walled City Trail
Go on a magical journey through the City of Bones where you’ll encounter a cast of weird and wonderful characters who bring Halloween to life in Derry. See the story of Halloween/Samhain through illumination, an aerial performance, pyrotechnics, and music.
Parade and Fireworks
Watch as hundreds of local performers participate in the city’s most popular parade, bringing the story of Halloween together in the form of magic displays and more.
The celebration culminates in a wonderful fireworks display over the River Foyle.
If you plan on being in Derry during this very popular time, be sure to book your accommodation in advance.
4. EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
For Halloween this year, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, the popular attraction in Dublin, is unveiling two spine-tingling events that are sure to captivate families and history enthusiasts alike.
Beware of Dracula Halloween Family Tour
Visitors will explore the dark and mysterious world of Bram Stoker's famous creation, Dracula, in this immersive and interactive experience that will take participants on a themed tour of the museum.
The engaging event promises to be both educational and entertaining as families locate clues hidden in the museum's galleries that point to Dracula's whereabouts and in the process learn more about Stoker's life and the novel that shaped how we interpret vampires today.
Through the combination of storytelling, with a touch of Halloween spookiness, the Stoker character will bring to life tales of creatures from Irish history and folklore that helped the Dublin-born writer bring his famous novel to life.
This tour is ideal for families with children ages 6-12 who are looking to enjoy a fun, safe Halloween outing.
It will open on Oct. 26 and run through Nov. 3. Tickets for adults are €23 and for children, visitors can expect to pay €15, which covers admission to the museum.
Ghosts, Ghouls, and Goodie Glover Day: The Irish Origins of Halloween
In addition, the museum is hosting a fascinating exploration of Halloween's Irish roots through a series of talks, interactive exhibits and themed activities.
Visitors will learn how “Samhain” evolved into the Halloween celebration we know today and how Irish ghost stories and funerary traditions traveled with the Irish diaspora to America and other places around the world and became part of the local customs, shaping in particular, the story of the Jack-o-Lanterns in the U.S.
Additional stories of interest include the tale of The Dullahan/Dark Man, a malevolent harbinger of death who served as inspiration for the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow, how the Irish practice of burying corpses with a stake through the heart influenced Stoker's writings, and a recounting of the Goody Annie Glover story, the Irish woman who was hanged for witchcraft in Boston in 1688.
The event is being launched on Oct. 29th and will remain open to the public on Oct. 30th and 31st. Tickets for adults are €23 and for children, they're €15. This includes admission to the museum.
5. Wicklow Historic Gaol, Co. Wicklow
What better place to celebrate Halloween than at the Wicklow Historic Gaol, possibly the most haunted place in Ireland?
Choose from the virtual reality experience known as the Gates of Hell Tour or a separate day or night tour.
The tour will transport you back in time to the 1700s, providing you with a 3-dimensional view of the prison's conditions, including its dark dungeons.
Some of Wicklow Gaol's most notorious prisoners are characterized in the experience, as well as a guest appearance from one of the jail's famous ghosts.
The virtual reality part of the tour lasts for 19 minutes and is suitable for ages 10 and above.
The ticket also includes a regular tour of the jail, which includes an encounter with Mary Morris, matron of the prison, and her husband, the ill-mannered old jailer, after which you'll board the convict ship, HMS Hercules, for a journey to the New World.
Visit the gaol website for tickets and additional information if you want to visit this popular dark tourism attraction around Halloween.
6. Macnas Halloween Parade, Galway
Something spooktacular is taking place in Galway's Latin Quarter this Halloween.
The much loved Macnas Halloween Parade, put on by a performance company based in Galway, is expected to take over the city center again this year on Oct. 24th at 5:30 pm.
In 2023, the parade was inspired by the legend of La Loba, a wild wolfwoman who is known as the collector and preserver of the bones of humans, animals and gods that face the peril of being lost to the world.
The structure stood at almost 16 feet (5 meters) and was covered from head to toe in white skulls.
If you plan to be in Galway during the annual Halloween celebration, you won’t want to miss this one.
7. The Nightmare Realm
This adults-only, award-winning Halloween event has been dubbed the most terrifying Halloween event in Ireland and the Best Scream Park in Europe.
The attraction is housed in a 130-year-old Victorian red brick building on Mary's Lane in the inner city.
If you fancy a good spine-tingling experience, you won’t be disappointed.
Expect dazzling special effects, immersive scenery, live actors, and five haunt mazes, including The Haunted Orphanage, The Sewers, Cannibals Playground, Attack of the Clowns, and Death Row, and a lot more scary stuff.
The experience also features Ireland’s first 3D binaural experience, giving you the chance to settle down in the dark and immerse yourself in a classic Irish ghost story using only sound and your imagination.
The attraction is open for 22 consecutive nights, from Oct. 4 through Nov. 1. Tickets can be purchased on the website and at the venue, although there is no guarantee of availability on any particular night if you choose to purchase tickets at the door.
You must be 13+ to see the attraction.
8. Dublin Ghost Tours
While the following ghost tours are available throughout the year, taking one around Halloween in Ireland seems like the right thing to do!
The Haunted History Tour of Dublin is a 1 and a 1/2-hour walking tour of the city that uncovers the macabre and gruesome aspects of Dublin’s history.
It includes information on the burning of the 18th-century Madam Darkey “The Witch” Kelly, the tragic tale of The Green Lady of St. Audoen's parish, and many more spooky tales.
Tours are available Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m.
The 3-hour guided Horror Hike tour is another must-see Halloween attraction that involves getting on a “Banshee bus to a magical location southwest of Dublin City.”
The leisurely hike in the Dublin mountains takes visitors to the legendary and mysterious Montpelier Hill, with beautiful views of Dublin.
The building known to Dubliners as The Hellfire Club, is associated with satanic rituals.
The tour is available daily at 7 p.m.
The North Quay Guided Ghost Walk will take you to one of Dublin's oldest Viking neighborhoods, Oxmantown.
The ghost tour begins outside the popular Church Bar on Mary Street, not far from a small ruin that exists in an alleyway, once the home of Saint Mary's Abbey.
You'll hear the story of the infamous and sadistic “Hanging Judge” who presided over the trial of the United Irishman Robert Emmet, as well as the legend of “Scaldbrother,” the infamous medieval thief, and Billy the Bowl, the 18th-century murderer, born without legs, who once terrorized two Dublin neighborhoods.
The 1 and 1/2-hour tour also includes a visit to Numbers 7 & 8 Hendrick Street, once home to no fewer than six different ghosts.
The tour is available on Thursdays and Sundays.
Other spooky tours available in the city include The Dublin Ghostbus Tour, Dublin Walking Tour: Ghosts & Haunted Places, and The Legends, Ghosts and Ghouls walking tour.
9. The Cork Ghost Tour
Take a trip through 1700s-era Cork to experience what the Cork Ghost Tour organizers describe as “hilarious, horrible histories, local tales, ghost stories & hysterical shenanigans!”
The tour begins and ends outside the Cork Opera House.
If you happen to be in nearby Cobh (pronounced “Cove”), why not take the Cobh Evening Ghost Tour?
The 1-hour tour on the town's Titanic Trail reveals many of the haunted stories that are associated with this historic place, where over 2.5 million people departed between 1848 and 1950, making it the single most important port of emigration in Ireland.
Read More: October in Ireland: 18 things to See and Do
10. Kilkenny Ghost Tours
This dark tour through Kilkenny, the home of the world's first-ever witch trial, is an attraction you shouldn’t miss if you happen to be in the city during Halloween.
The tour includes stops at Kilkenny Castle; The Shee Alms House; the Medieval Mile Museum (St. Mary’s), where the remains of Kilkenny's merchant families were buried during the 13th century; Kyteler’s Inn, once the home of a Kilkenny witch; Grace’s Castle, and much more ghostly stuff.
The remains of four skeletons were uncovered in this area in 2016 and were believed to have been among the city's poor.
Are you interested in experiencing Halloween in Ireland? Let me know in the comments below.
