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Tlachtga Samhain Fire Festival
Torch lit procession from the Fair Green in Athboy, Co. Meath to the Hill of Tlachtga.Starting at 7pm on October 31st.
Samhain, the ancient Celtic Festival that we now call Halloween, originated at Tlachtga (Hill of Ward) in Co. Meath more than 2,000 years ago. Samhain marks the end of the old Celtic Year and the beginning of the New Year. The Celts believed that this was a time of transition, when the veil between our world and the next came down, and the spirits of all who had died since the last Oíche Shamhna (Night of Samhain) moved on to the next life.
One of the main spiritual centres of the ancient Celts was located on top of the hill of Tlachtga, now called the Hill of Ward, near Athboy, Co. Meath. The druids felt that this world and the otherworld were closest at Tlachtga
and it was here that the festival of Samhain, or Halloween, was started. The old year’s fires were extinguished and, after sunset, the ceremonial New Year Samhain fire was lit here. Torches were lit from this sacred fire and
carried to seven other hills around the county including Tara and Loughcrew, and then on to light up the whole countryside.
The Irish and Scottish Celts who travelled to America, brought their traditions with them and popularised Halloween – it is now the second biggest festival in the western world.
