Each Samhain, ancestral spirits are said to emerge from caves surrounding the Royal Capitals of ancient Ireland - Oweynagat, Rathcroghan

In Ireland, Samhain was once a time of paying yearly rent, of selling crops & fattened animals, reaping the reward of summer's hard work.

Traditionally, Halloween was thought the best time to become pregnant, while the ring hidden inside Barmbrack indicated an early marriage.

Halloween festivities using apples likely derive from ancient Roman rituals to the goddess Pomona, who's holiday took place around 1 Nov.

Halloween, All Hallows' Eve, is a Christian holiday dedicated to remembering the dead, saints (hallows), martyrs, & the faithful departed.

Samhain survived as a holiday largely because the Irish Church/kings upheld it as important to the life cycle & rites of Gaelic society.

Traditional Irish jack-o'-lanterns are made using turnips - The fire inside represented the souls who would visit the living on Halloween

In medieval Europe, bonfires were lit at Halloween to guide the dead back to heaven, while protecting the living from evil spirits.

Samhain is a night where the Celtic peoples feast their visiting ancestors.

It has nothing to do with Wicca, nor ugly Hollywood ghouls.

The fairy who roam our world on Samhain are not residual pagan deities, but our ancient forebears who lie in the Rath's & tombs of Ireland.

Kevin Barry became the first Volunteer of the Irish Republican Army to be executed by the British after the Easter Rising #OnThisDay in 1920

''It is nothing, to give one's life for Ireland. I'm not the first and maybe I won't be the last. What's my life compared with the cause?” - Kevin Barry

The Púca are shape shifting creatures from Irish folklore. Some tales describe them as bloodthirsty beings, often doing harm to unwary travelers. However on 1st November, the "Púca's Day", it behaved courteously, and delivered sage advice to willing listeners.