Articles tagged ‘halloween’
Moate bonfire
By Seán | November 6th, 2006 |
Add a Comment »
Again my suspicion that the Irish tradition of bonfire burning was dying out (hehe - get it? “dying out” . . . nevermind) has taken another blow.
Witness, if you will, the gleeful children to the left clambering over that heap of inflammables. I spotted a report in a local paper about Halloween bonfires and was [...]
Daily Dose - 1 Nov
By Seán | November 1st, 2006 | Add a Comment »
ooooo, Irish news in a DAILY DOSE!
Just about then I realised I was getting the auld DDs,
When the child of Prague began to dance around the mantlepiece . . .
1,000 halloween emergency calls, no major incidents: Read here
Salmon fishing issue still being debated: Read here
40% women’s domestic violence calls ignored: Read here
459 drink driving incidents [...]
Irish Bonfires a thing of the past?
By Seán | October 30th, 2006 | Add a Comment »
So last night the Bean, the 15-year-old vietnamese boy, Anne-Marie and I piled into Betsy II and headed two hours north for a bonfire. As we loaded up with petrol before heading out, the Bean turned to the two yanks in the car and advised,
“Now, if we get stopped at a gardai checkpoint, we [...]
Me on the Gerry Ryan show
By Seán | October 27th, 2006 | 2 Comments »
So there I was, riding my bike into work this morning when the mobile goes off. I pull it out and look down: a Dublin number. Hm. I answer it,
“Hi, Sean?”
“Yes?”
“Sean, this is Therese from the Gerry Ryan show, I understand you have pumpkin carving parties every year?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, we’d be interested in talking to [...]
Irish halloween musings
By Seán | October 26th, 2006 | Add a Comment »
So I was listening to Gerry Ryan today and, at the end of his show Fiona Looney came on and the two of them began discussing halloween. They mentioned that Ireland has recently adopted a number of very american traditions in their celebrations of the holiday, but they also noted that a lot of what [...]
Turnip carving
By Seán | October 21st, 2006 | 1 Comment »
What you see there to your left is the final result of my experiment in reviving an ancient Irish tradition: the carving of a turnip into a jack-o-lantern.
Yes, the original jack-o-lantern was a turnip and not a pumpkin. I have to admit that I had my doubts when I purchased the turnip a few days [...]
Monkey Nuts
By Seán | October 19th, 2006 | 2 Comments »
You may not have believed me without the accompanying picture, but peanuts in Ireland are also called “monkey nuts.”
I felt about 13 years old when I saw this sign proudly hung out the front of a local grocer today.
Monkey nuts (I just love that I can call them that) are a real halloween, sorry, samháin, [...]
Samhain
By Seán | October 15th, 2006 | 1 Comment »
I’ve discussed jack-o-laterns here yesterday, but the whole turnip/pumpkin thing isn’t the only difference between celebrations in the states and in Ireland this time of year.
So, what do the Irish do for Halloween? Well, first off, it’s called samhain (pronounced “sahwn”) here and the Irish light fires.
Seriously.
Big ones.
Massive bonfires flare up all over the countryside [...]
Carving Pumpkins in Ireland
By Seán | October 14th, 2006 | Add a Comment »
Our flat is now decorated for Halloween.
I wish I could stick some pictures up here, but the upload pictures function on my blog isn’t currently working. Sorry, folks!
Here in Ireland, the celebrating of Halloween is something entirely different to what I grew up with in the states. For starters, most folks here in the [...]
