It is held the day before All Saints’ Day, which is a Christian festival used to celebrate recognised saints.
Halloween activities typically involve trick or treating and dressing up in fancy dress. Samhain was a celebration of the end of the harvest season, and means “summer’s end.” People at this time thought the walls between worlds were thin and spirits could pass through into our realm, and it was feared they may damage crops for the next season. To appease any spirits, Gaels would set up places at their dinner tables for the spirits and light bonfires to scare off evil spirits. The word Halloween comes from Hallowe’en, meaning ‘hallowed evening’ or holy evening.
