{"id":18620,"date":"2022-10-13T22:00:33","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T22:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/?p=18620"},"modified":"2022-10-19T20:05:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T20:05:34","slug":"best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween","title":{"rendered":"The Best Ways to Visit Ireland, the Birthplace of Halloween"},"content":{"rendered":"

Looking for spooky haunts when <\/b>visiting Ireland<\/b>? We\u2019ve got a few!<\/b><\/p>\n

Take a guess at how to pronounce the Gaelic word <\/span>Samhain<\/span><\/i>. Go on, guess!<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer is<\/span> \u201cSAH-win\u201d<\/span><\/i>, and it was actually the <\/span>original<\/span><\/i> Halloween. First observed by the Celtic pagans in Ireland<\/a> almost 2,500 years ago, it\u2019s still celebrated in the Emerald Isle today! So if you\u2019re wondering <\/span>when\u2019s the best time to visit Ireland<\/span> and you love folklore, feasts, and festivities, try this spooky season!
\n<\/span>
\nWhat\u2019s more, Samhain has influenced many of today\u2019s Halloween traditions, so we\u2019re showing you how and telling you <\/span>the best places to visit in Ireland<\/span> to see it all!<\/span><\/p>\n

The Irish Origin vs. Today’s Tradition<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Halloween<\/p>\n

Carving Jack-o\u2019-Lanterns<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Origin:
\n<\/b>Carving Jack-o’-lanterns started in Ireland with turnips, not pumpkins! The Celts believed that during Samhain, spirits would enter the realm of the living. So, they carved scary faces into these root vegetables to ward them off.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today:
\n<\/b>When Irish immigrants first moved to the U.S., they began carving jack-o’-lanterns from pumpkins, as these were native to the region. Plus, they found them much easier to detail with intricate designs!<\/span><\/p>\n

Where to Go:
\n<\/i><\/b>The Ancient Celts celebrated Samhain all throughout <\/span>the British Isles<\/span><\/a>, not just Ireland! In the U.K.,<\/span> Belfast<\/span><\/a> is also a top destination for Halloween lovers\u2013offering scary movie screenings, Halloween museum events, and pumpkin (not turnip) patches where you can carve your very own jack-o-lantern!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Performers<\/p>\n

Wearing Costumes<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Origin:
\n<\/b>During Samhain, the Celts disguised themselves as ghosts and devils, so that spirits wandering the Earth wouldn\u2019t mistake them for humans and terrorize them! Costumes were handmade; back then, you definitely couldn\u2019t find local costume shops popping up around October.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today:
\n<\/b>Nowadays, we wear costumes not for protection from spirits, but for fun! Many are still handmade, but you still have the option of buying them around local shops and online!
\n<\/span>
\nWhere to Go:
\n<\/i><\/b>Dublin<\/span><\/a> is full of costume festivals this time of year. The capital is home to one of the best Halloween festivals in the world\u2013the Samhain Parade, a celebration of ancient and modern traditions, and of course, costumes!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Five<\/p>\n

Trick-or-Treating\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Origin:
\n<\/b>Originally, the Celts would leave out banquet tables laden with delicious foods to appease hungry ghosts. During the Middle Ages in <\/span>Scotland<\/span><\/a>, the practice of \u201cmumming\u201d became more popular. Scots dressed as demons, ghosts, and otherworldly creatures, performing silly antics in exchange for food and drink.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today:
\n<\/b>From the 19th century \u2018til the 1930\u2019s, Halloween was mostly a holiday where kids were out pranking. So to add a few treats in with the tricks, parents began handing out gifts! They started off as coins, toys, or home-baked goods, but turned into candy as the holiday grew in popularity.
\n<\/span>
\nWhere to Go:
\n<\/i><\/b>Celebrate the original feasting and drinking at reportedly haunted pubs in <\/span>Dublin<\/span><\/a> like The Brazen Head (the city\u2019s oldest!), or the Kavanagh’s, nicknamed “The Gravediggers” because it\u2019s built into a cemetery wall!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lighting Candles and Fires<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Origin:
\n<\/b>Not all of Samhain is about evil ghosts! Back then, towering bonfires were used to guide kindly, lost souls towards the afterlife.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today:
\n<\/b>During Halloween, we normally light up jack-o\u2019-lanterns with candles and not much else. But in Ireland? Bonfires have been widely replaced by another blazing spectacle\u2013fireworks and electric parades!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where to Go:
\n<\/i><\/b>For those interested in a Samhein light show, <\/span>Cork<\/span><\/a>\u2019s Halloween parade is the place for you! The highlight? The Dragon of Shandon\u2013a massive, 36 ft. dragon made entirely of tape and decorated in bright lights!
\n<\/span>
\nYou can also head to <\/span>Glasglow, Scotland,<\/span><\/a> where there\u2019s a breathtaking Halloween fireworks display and lantern parade for visitors!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Looking for spooky haunts when visiting Ireland? We\u2019ve got a few! Take a guess at how to pronounce the Gaelic … read more<\/a>","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":18572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-travel"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Best Ways to Visit Ireland, the Birthplace of Halloween<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best Ways to Visit Ireland, the Birthplace of Halloween\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Looking for spooky haunts when visiting Ireland? We\u2019ve got a few! Take a guess at how to pronounce the Gaelic ... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Away We Go | Carnival's Travel Blog | Carnival Cruise Line\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-13T22:00:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-19T20:05:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/iStock-499230304.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carnival Cruise Line\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carnival Cruise Line\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween\",\"name\":\"The Best Ways to Visit Ireland, the Birthplace of Halloween\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-13T22:00:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-19T20:05:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/#\/schema\/person\/7041ce60d58276a2ea03611daa3bf142\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Best Ways to Visit Ireland, the Birthplace of Halloween\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/\",\"name\":\"Away We Go | Carnival's Travel Blog | Carnival Cruise Line\",\"description\":\"Depart from ordinary\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/#\/schema\/person\/7041ce60d58276a2ea03611daa3bf142\",\"name\":\"Carnival Cruise Line\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b284f9642b57bda8010919a005bcce0d?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.carnival.com%2Fawaywego%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F11%2Fauthor-image.png&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b284f9642b57bda8010919a005bcce0d?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.carnival.com%2Fawaywego%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F11%2Fauthor-image.png&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carnival Cruise Line\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.carnival.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/author\/carnival-cruise-line\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Best Ways to Visit Ireland, the Birthplace of Halloween","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Best Ways to Visit Ireland, the Birthplace of Halloween","og_description":"Looking for spooky haunts when visiting Ireland? We\u2019ve got a few! Take a guess at how to pronounce the Gaelic ... read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween","og_site_name":"Away We Go | Carnival's Travel Blog | Carnival Cruise Line","article_published_time":"2022-10-13T22:00:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-10-19T20:05:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":780,"url":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/iStock-499230304.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carnival Cruise Line","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carnival Cruise Line","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween","url":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween","name":"The Best Ways to Visit Ireland, the Birthplace of Halloween","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-10-13T22:00:33+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-19T20:05:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/#\/schema\/person\/7041ce60d58276a2ea03611daa3bf142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/travel\/best-ways-visit-ireland-birthplace-halloween#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Best Ways to Visit Ireland, the Birthplace of Halloween"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/","name":"Away We Go | Carnival's Travel Blog | Carnival Cruise Line","description":"Depart from ordinary","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/#\/schema\/person\/7041ce60d58276a2ea03611daa3bf142","name":"Carnival Cruise Line","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b284f9642b57bda8010919a005bcce0d?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.carnival.com%2Fawaywego%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F11%2Fauthor-image.png&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b284f9642b57bda8010919a005bcce0d?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.carnival.com%2Fawaywego%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F11%2Fauthor-image.png&r=g","caption":"Carnival Cruise Line"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.carnival.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/author\/carnival-cruise-line"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18620"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18632,"href":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18620\/revisions\/18632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carnival.com\/awaywego\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}