Arcadia Ireland

Halloween in Ireland is certainly a different holiday than it is in the US. Why you ask? Well...

• It’s spookier! Modern Halloween has its roots in Celtic feast Samhain, or the Feast of the Dead; when the divide between this world and the next is at its weakest. This belief evolved into the Christian All Hallows feast over time and eventually Halloween. For many Christian people in Ireland, All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day are still about remembering and praying for the souls of the departed. Ireland is still a county draped in myth, religion, superstition and the imagined Ireland.
• You gotta work for it! Trick or treating has a bit of different meaning in Ireland; you actually have to do a trick to get a treat. Often kids are asked to do a little performance, like dance an Irish gig, sing a song or even rattle off a verse of a poem to earn their sweets. Irish college students can remember standing on someone’s door step desperately trying to remember words to some song to earn that Snickers or €1 coin!
• Costumes. The tradition of dressing up also comes from Celtic tradition, when the Druids would dress up as ghosts and devils to disguise themselves from the real spirits. Until pretty recently Halloween costumes weren't available in Irish stores. We had to make our own; with every little girl going as a witch in a black trash bag, and every little boy a ghost in an old sheet. The Irish were delighted when proper costumes began to enter the stores and we could dress up properly like the kids on TV! Thankfully we've now taken a more American approach to Halloween costumes so you don’t have to be something scary - you can go as whichever Game of Thrones character you like!
• No candy corn! Instead we have Barnbrack cake, a type of fruit cake but with a ring or money coins hidden inside for whoever gets the lucky slice! We do have candy apples although we call them toffee apples. At Halloween the Irish are also mad for Monkey nuts, basically unshelled peanuts, two to a pod.

Don’t forget that all current Arcadia Ireland students can submit their carved pumpkin photos to our All Hallows competition for a chance to win an Amazon voucher! Happy Halloween! Or as we say in Irish Oíche Shamhna Shona Daoibh!