The Hallowed Eve: Dimensions of Culture in a Calendar Festival in Northern Ireland

Halloween is such a major celebration in Ireland that it is often called the Irish Christmas, a day of family reunions, meals, and fun. In America, many of our contemporary traditions are thought to have been brought over by Irish immigrants. But Northern Irish Halloween traditions today are nearly the opposite of American ones, with the emphasis on storytelling, family fireworks, and community bonfires rather than on pranks and peer-group activities. Halloween has become the one safe haven in this troubled country when social conflict is set aside. Although current folk and popular traditions have the potential to be interpreted in divisive terms, there seems to be an unspoken agreement that this holiday must remain free from sectarianism. Halloween in Northern Ireland provides an ideal model of how life could be.