Updated September 2025–Have you ever wondered what Halloween in Ireland is really like?
This post contains affiliate links and I may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you.
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.
- Book the best tours and guides on Tripadvisor, Viator or GetYourGuide
- Get reliable travel insurance with Travel Insurance Master
- Get the best flight tickets with Aviasales
- Rent a comfortable car via Discovercars
- Find the best accommodation on Booking.com
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.
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.
Rent a Wifi Device While You’re in Ireland and save 10% by using code IOB10
Here are 9 of the best known Halloween festivals and events as well as additional events that lend to the celebration of Halloween in Ireland.
1. The Púca Festival, County Meath (Oct. 30-Nov. 2)
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. 30th and Nov 2nd will include, as usual, a number of free and ticketed events, all focused on “music, myth, food, folklore, fire, feasting and merriment.”
This year’s theme is called “Connecting with Our Roots,” which is intended to draw upon the physical and emotional ties to the land and to Ireland’s Celtic ancestry.
All of the events will be centered around the towns of Trim and Athboy.
Some of the highlights of this year’s festival include a variety of musical and comedic performances.
The Two Johnnies, Ireland’s favorite comedy duo, will take the stage in the Púca Big Top in Trim on Oct. 31st.
On Nov. 1st at the Knightsbrook Hotel Spa & Golf Resort in Trim, Moonlight: The Philip Lynott Enigma will take center stage. The rock/theater production explores the early life of Philip Lynott of Thin Lizzy, covering the period in the 1960s and early ’70s.
Also, on Nov. 1st, Dubliner: The Luke Kelly Story will unfold. The show tells the story of the life and songs of Kelly, who played with the famous band, The Dubliners.
Younger visitors will love the thrilling spectacle of the Samhain Circus, while older visitors may love the high spirited banquet celebrating Irish ghost stories and Samhain traditions in an event titled Craicly Stories.
Pretty much everyone will marvel at the annual Púca Procession: The Gathering of the Spirits on Nov. 1st in Trim. The procession blends outdoor theater, street performances and music, all wrapped around Samhain lore, nature, ancestry and the looming darkness of winter.
The event, taking place at the Darnley Lodge Hotel in Athboy, will include a traditional long-table Hallowe’en supper, followed by an intimate storytelling performance courtesy of Sinead O’Brien and a cast of other storytellers.
There’s a lot to entertain everyone at this hugely popular Halloween event that will also include fire displays, a harvest market, workshops, games, and more.
A schedule of events can be found on the Púca Festival website.
2. The Bram Stoker Festival, Dublin (Oct. 31-Nov. 3)
The popular Bram Stoker Festival returns to Dublin in 2025 from Oct. 31st through Nov. 3rd 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 in 1897.
The festival draws inspiration from Stoker, his life and work, all the while celebrating the Gothic, the supernatural, the after-dark and what Dublin might have been like during the Victorian era.
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).
While a full program of events won’t be released until Oct. 1st, the following performances have been confirmed: Dracula:
– The Hunt, which brings to life the novel’s climactic final 10 chapters, held at the Abbey Theatre on Nov. 1st;
– Kwaidan, a performance at the National Concert Hall that invites audiences to step into a world where Japanese legends and Irish culture unite;
– Songs of the Spirits: East Meets West, inspired by the ancient rituals of Samhain and Japan’s Festival of Obon, taking place at St. Ann’s Church, and
– Stokerland, a pop-up Victorian fun park set against the backdrop of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and including lots of fun events such as a Victorian-style carousel, street theater, free face painting, food stalls, and more.
3. Derry Halloween Festival (Oct. 28-31)
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.
Here is a sampling of what you can expect this year from the Derry Halloween festivities:
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. You can view the trail here.
Little Horrors
Especially for little ones who might be interested in some arts and crafts Halloween style. Several spooky kids’ shows will also be shown as well some enchanting storytelling.
Live Music
Enjoy live performances as artists take to the Samhain Stage and the Cathedral Quarter Stage, an area of the city that contains many old churches and historic buildings, all close to the historic Derry City Walls.
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.
You’ll find a full schedule of festival events here.
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, Dublin
Plenty of Halloween entertainment is available once again at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, the popular attraction in Dublin that traces the Irish diaspora through a series of interactive displays and video and audio galleries.
Here’s what you can expect to find this Halloween.
Beware of Dracula Halloween Family Tour (Oct. 27-Nov. 1)
Take a tour of the museum and try to find hidden clues in its galleries to uncover Dracula’s whereabouts. Along the way, you’ll discover more about the Dublin-born Bram Stoker and the famous novel that shaped how we imagine vampires to this day. A storytelling session is included.
This tour is ideal for families with children ages 6-12 who are looking to enjoy a fun, safe Halloween outing.
It runs from Oct. 27th through Nov. 1st.
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.
You 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 United States.
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 will take place Oct. 30th and 31st.
5. Farmaphobia and Pooka Spooka, Causey Farm, County Meath
If you’re traveling with little ones and you want them to join in on the Halloween fun while in Ireland, Causey Farm in Navan, County Meath, is the ideal place to visit.
For older kids, Farmaphobia, which runs through Nov. 1, is a two-hour trek through the spookiest parts of the farm’s 5 haunts, including Bobo’s Lost Carnival, the Zombie Morgie and Cornered.
Pooka Spooka is more suited to younger children ages 2-12 and will take place Oct. 11, 12, 18-19, & 25-31, 12-4 pm daily. Kids can ride broomsticks, wander through the corn maze, explore the mineshaft tunnels, and meet the farm animals.
6. Macnas Halloween Parade, Galway
The much loved Macnas Halloween Parade, put on by the performance company Macnas, will take over the city center again this year on Oct. 26th at 5:30 pm.
This year’s theme is titled An Treun – The Summoning of The Lost, which is inspired by a forgotten Bram Stoker tale and the haunting call of the vanished corncrake.
According to festival organizers, this year’s “shape-shifting spectacle promises folklore, magic and mischief.”
Macnas calls it “one of our most exciting yet,” so be sure to get yourself to Galway for this amazing event.
7. The Nightmare Realm, Dublin (Oct. 4-Nov. 2)
This award-winning Halloween event has been dubbed the most terrifying Halloween event in Ireland and the Best Scream Park in Europe.
You can experience all of the scary fun at The Royal Liver Retail Park, Naas Road, Inchicore, a Dublin suburb.
If you fancy a good spine-tingling experience, you won’t be disappointed.
This year, The Nightmare Realm features five brand-new, cinematic haunted mazes, an expanded Halloween Town, and over 150 live performers in a fully immersive, festival-style setting.
From the moment you step inside, you’ll be stalked by demons, thrown into nightmares, and immersed in a world where fear becomes entertainment. You will descend into the chilling lore of The Curse of the Five—a haunting mystery that unites all five mazes into a single, lore-driven storyline.
The mazes include the Gallows Hill Asylum, Trappers, Clowns in the Attic, SILO C, and A Haunting at Blackmore.
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 from Oct. 4th through Nov. 2nd.
You must be 13+ to see the attraction.
Stock Up on Halloween Favorites at Etsy
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.
Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral, Cork Hill and other Dublin landmarks are among the places you’ll see on the popular The Gravedigger Ghost Bus, with actors providing an amount of fascinating secrets and tales before getting to the final destination, the iconic Gravediggers Pub.
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.
Tales After Dark: A Halloween Journey Through Myth and Mystery is a small-group walking tour (never more than eight guests) created especially for the Halloween season – “the time of year when the city feels closest to the tales that shaped it.”
Conducted by Courtney Fleming, this spooky tour will introduce you to “the vampires, murderers, and witches… alongside shapeshifting púca who waits at the city’s gateways, the wailing banshee tied to noble Dublin families, the water horse lurking in the black pool that gave Dublin its name, and the changelings said to haunt quiet back lanes.”
Tours will run on select evenings from Oct. 24th to Nov. 1st, starting at 6:30 p.m. Advanced booking is essential; no walk-ups on the night are allowed.
Other spooky tours available in the city include The Dublin Ghostbus Tour and The Legends, Ghosts and Ghouls, Dark Dublin: Torture, Murder & Mystery, and the Dublin Ghost Hunt Exploration Game and 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.
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.
Additional Halloween Events Around Ireland this Year
✅ Samhain Festival, Nov. 6-9, Clonakilty, Co. Cork. Check out this great community festival that celebrates Irish culture, music, folklore, and myth. The celebrations culminate in a Púca Parade. See hundreds of visual artists, performers, composers, and musicians come together for this special event. FREE.
✅ Samhain: Limerick’s Hallowe’en Festival, Oct. 26-28, Limerick. The festivities include storytelling for children and adults, workshops, a musical performance at St. Mary’s Cathedral, street theater, and the Parade of Light scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 28th. FREE.
✅ Scare Factory, Oct. 16-Nov. 1, Limerick. Get ready for a spine-tingling experience when you enter an old Victorian redbrick house full of “evil clowns, mutant creatures and zombies.” Admission: From €23.66.
✅ Dead of Night Halloween Festival, Oct. 25-31, Longford. A week-long celebration featuring over 30 events, most of them free or low cost. Includes lantern-lit parades, haunting installations, street theater with fire dancers, jugglers, and more. Kids can enjoy mask-making, pumpkin patch activities and a visit to the festival’s haunted house. FREE OR LOW COST
✅ Dragon of Shandon Samhain Parade, Oct. 31, Cork City. Watch a dragon and its “loyal ghouls, beasts, misfits and spooky creatures” on the streets of Cork once again in this Halloween extravaganza. FREE.
✅ Ghosts of the Manor: A Haunting Halloween Experience, Oct. 24-30, Causey Farm, Co. Meath. See the souls of the dead return in this scary theatrical performance at Rockfield House, a large country house that serves as an accommodation for visitors. This event is in collaboration with Causey Farm and is suitable for children 9 and up
✅ Possession, Oct. 3-Nov. 1, Spike Island, Cork. Experience a spine-chilling experience with renowned mentalist and escape artist Dean Jacob by exploring the haunting corridors of an abandoned prison. Admission: €41.85 per person.
✅ Toil and Trouble Festival, Oct. 29-Nov. 2, Kilkenny. Tours, talks and workshops will be available giving visitors the opportunity to hear what it was like for women living in Kilkenny as society leveled accusations of heresy and witchcraft at them. Learn more at this popular Halloween-themed event.
✅ Samhain at Sullivan’s, Oct. 31, Sullivan’s Taproom, Kilkenny. Live music from band Up She Flew dressed as traditional straw boys, as well as spell-binding performances from a live magician and lots more great Samhain fun at this fun event.
✅ The Werewolves of Ossory, Oct. 8 & Nov. 5, The Rothe House, Kilkenny. Enjoy a social deduction game of Werewolf in the historic Rothe House. Players will be given a secret role at the beginning of each game.
✅ Fireside Stories & Songs at the Hole in the Wall, Nov. 4, Hole in the Wall Pub, Kilkenny. Pull up a seat by the fire and listen to Seanchaí Eimear Burke and musician Conor Graham tell traditional stories and perform songs around the theme of Samhain. Admission: €10 at the door.
✅ Jurassic Newpark’s Wicked Walk, Oct. 11-30, Jurrasic Newpark, Co. Kilkenny. Take part in spooks and spells as you decorate chocolate apples and then embark on a scavenger hunt to discover the haunted cabin. Step up the Sorting Hat to learn the art of spell casting and jump aboard the Hogwarts Express train, keeping an eye out for wicked witches along the way in this delightful Halloween-themed experience for kids.
✅ Magic & Mischief on the Mile, Oct. 28-31, Medieval Mile Museum, Kilkenny. Kids ages 4-14 can step into a world of enchantment with Magic & Mischief at this Halloween event. Activities include Spooky Storytelling with The Grim Chronicler, a potion-making workshop and a Halloween scavenger hunt.
✅ Witches & Wizards Pumpkin Festival, Oct. 18-19 & Oct. 25-30, Castlecomer Discovery Park, Co. Kilkenny. Pick a pumpkin, go on a trick-or-treat adventure, take a ride on the haunted carousel, and enjoy a wizarding stage show, among other fun activities at this fun event.
✅ Origins of Samhain Cave Tour, Oct. 28-Nov. 7, Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, Co. Roscommon. Enjoy a guided tour to Oweynagat (the Cave of the Cats), reputed to be the birthplace of Samhain. Admission: €18.
✅ Halloween Happenings, Oct. 25-31, Lullymore Heritage & Discovery Park, Kildare. Terror treasure hunts and scary train rides are just two of the fun Halloween activities available in this popular park. Admission: €54.50 for a family of four.
✅ The Smurfy Spooktacular Adventure, Oct. 25-30, Beyond the Trees, Avondale, Co. Wicklow. Visit the Smurf Village Halloween Experience, including trick-or-treating and arts and crafts sessions. Admission: €18 per person.
✅ Spooktacular Trick or Treat Trails, Oct. 25-29, Loughcrew Gardens, County Meath. Go on a frightfully fun adventure through the mysterious Loughcrew Gardens and follow the enchanted trail to discover the Candy Man while trying to avoid Vampirella, who is lurking in the shadows.
✅ Wicklow Gaol, Oct. 25, 3-5 p.m. Fancy dress event for the children. Includes games, dancing, treats & guided tours for all ages. Prizes for the spookiest (or cutest) costumes! Children must be accompanied by an adult. FREE
Are you interested in experiencing Halloween in Ireland? Let me know in the comments below.
