A True Story: Halloween’s Origins

Written By Nicholas Stocco

The following is a true story adapted from the National Geographic article: Inside Ireland’s Gate to Hell that Birthed Halloween by MNW 6-12 Faculty, Erik Matthews (6-12 AMI Diploma) that you can share with your class.

The Cave Where Halloween was Born

In the middle of a field in Ireland is a large mound occupied by sheep. These livestock wander freely, eating the grass and flowers from beneath their feet. However, if these sheep would have been in this spot thousands of years ago, they probably would have been stiff with terror! These sheep would have been held aloft by chanting, costumed pagans while being sacrificed to the Celtic demons that inhabited nearby Oweynagat (Oen-na-gat) cave. Oweynagat, meaning ‘cave of the cats,’ was the birthplace of the Samhain (Sow-in) festival, the ancestor of Halloween. 

The cave of Oweynagat (oen-na-gat) was the birthplace of Medb (Maeve), the most famous queen in Irish history, 2,000 years ago. It is hard to find, hidden beneath trees in a waterlogged paddock at the end of a one-way, dead-end road, about a thousand yards south of a huge temple mound. The temple mound was the Irish meeting place of Rathcroghan (Rath-craw-hin), the hub of an ancient Irish kingdom. 

In the heart of the area was a monumental mound where animals were sacrificed at a mighty, elevated, pagan temple during Samhain (Sow-in). 

A few privileged people lived within the town, but most resided in dispersed farms. There was a festival held each season, and the people descended on the capital only for these four annual festivals. At these lively festivals, people traded, feasted, exchanged gifts, played games, arranged marriages, and announced declarations of war or peace. Festival goers also made ritual offerings, like the sheep we talked about! The gifts, including the sacrificial sheep, were directed to the spirits of Ireland’s underworld, a murky, subterranean dimension inhabited by Celtic devils, fairies, and leprechauns. 

During Samhain (sow-in), some of these demons escaped via Oweynagat (Oen-nagat) cave. “Samhain (sow-in) was when the invisible wall between the living world and the other world disappeared! 

A whole host of fearsome otherworldly beasts emerged to ravage the surrounding landscape and make it ready for winter.” Samhain (sow-in) was essentially a harvest festival, celebrating the end of one pastoral year and the beginning of the new one. Thankful for the agricultural efforts of these spirits, but wary of falling victim to their fury, the Celts protected themselves from physical harm by lighting ritual fires on hilltops and in fields. To avoid being dragged deep into the netherworld by the devils, they disguised themselves as fellow ghouls.

In the 1800s, the Samhain (sow-in) tradition was brought by Irish immigrants to the United States, where it morphed into the Halloween tradition we celebrate today. 

Nicholas Stocco
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