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 in Ireland.
1. The Puca 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.
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.”
The musical acts for this year's festival will be released later in the year.
The Púca is a shape-shifting creature from Celtic folklore and a familiar character in the Irish Halloween story.
Last year, most of the entertainment was centered in the towns of Athboy and Trim, with five nights of music, comedy and Halloween spectacle around the town's Trim Castle.
In Athboy, an ancient Samhain hub, visitors gathered on Oct. 31st at the town's Fair Green to view the festival's closing ceremony known as “An Lasadh Suas.”
The Puca flame was ignited on a special stage to signal the beginning of a night of music and celebration.
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 early October 2024.
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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.
This year's festival will take place Oct. 28th through the 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. 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.
5. Macnas Halloween Parade, Galway
Something spooktacular is taking place in Galway's Latin Quarter this Halloween.
The much loved Macnas Parade, a performance company based in Galway, is expected to take over the city center again this year.
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.
Known for its spectacular structures, this year’s celebration won't disappoint. Its Halloween 2023 spectacle, La Loba, stands at almost 16 feet (5 meters) and will be 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.
6. 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 Street 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 new mazes, including The Haunted Orphanage, The Sewers, Cannibals Playground, Attack of the Clowns, and Death Row.
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 usually opens at the beginning of October and remains open for a month. Tickets can be purchased on the website.
You must be 13+ to see the attraction.
7. 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. Tickets cost €19 each.
The Horror Hike is another must-see Halloween attraction.
The 3-hour guided tour 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 Ghost Walk Dublin Tour 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. Tickets cost €19.
8. 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. Tickets are €17 for adults and €14 for students and seniors.
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9. Kilkenny Ghost Tours
This ghost 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 at Halloween.
A new addition to the tour is the chance to walk through the medieval burial grounds of St. Mary's Church, where the remains of Kilkenny's merchant families were buried during the 13th century.
The remains of four skeletons were uncovered in this area in 2016 and were believed to have been among the city's poor.
Tours leave every night at 8 p.m. from Lanigan's Bar and Restaurant.
The 1-hour tours cost €16 for ages 13 and up, €14 for ages 12 and under, and €55 for a family of 4.
Are you interested in experiencing Halloween in Ireland? Let me know in the comments below.
