Samhain is a pagan festival, celebrated by Gaels on October 31st – November 1st. The festival of Samhain is first mentioned in Irish literature in the 9th century. These gatherings were feasts. The gatherings marked the opening of ancient burial mounds – which led to the opening of a portal to the ‘Otherworld’. Sacrifices and bonfires were also apart of the celebrations.
Special bonfires were used to cleanse and protect the people, using rituals. Fionn Mac Cumhaill is one of the Samhain people that can protect the people. It is said that Fionn Mac Cumhaill saved the Tara from burning every Samhain from an alien. This gave him the title ‘fianna’, meaning leader.
The celebrations of this festival has drastically changed since the days of Fionn Mac Cumhaill. In Ireland, children go around to houses, trick-and-treating with their friends, usually dressed up in a costume.
Usually children dress up as scary characters, like Zombies, Ghosts and Devils. In schools, children usually dress up and watch a movie in school – a drastic difference from the days of sacrifices.
In Ireland, it is illegal to have fireworks – but it stops nobody. Firefighters and Police are usually most busy at that time of the year – as people do stupid things with fireworks and bonfires that end up with people sustaining life-changing injuries.