In the early times Irish people were Celtic tribes, similar to those found in Scotland, Wales, Breton (Northern France) and Galicia (an ancient region of N W Spain). The Celts griped Paganism, one of many hundreds or even thousands of belief systems that were very common in the days before the three Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, and are still trendy today. The Pagan Celts all spoke Gaelic language, though with some differences in each location. No one at that time, on the other hand, had yet heard about Halloween. This Paganism comes from the Latin word “paganus” which means country dweller or rustic. It’s a term which from a Western perspective has modern connotations of mystic, animistic or shamanic practices or beliefs of any individual religion, and of historical and current polytheistic religions in particular.

These Irish Celts had two mainly important Festival celebrations; the first one which celebrated the arrival of spring, of renewal is simply called as Beltane and is on May First with dancing, feasting and the traditional Maypole. The second one celebrates the end of the harvest and arrival of winter, on the 1st of November and is called Samhain. In the Gaelic language still in use in much of Ireland today, the word for November is Samhain. This is also usually regarded as the beginning of the Celtic New Year.  The ancient Celtic tribes alleged that the dividing line between the living and the dead became dodgy for the living on 31st October, when the change in the weather had become much colder leading to sicknesses and damage to crops. So, therefore they tried to ward off the professed evil spirits by lighting bonfires where the bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Just like at contemporary Halloween, at these new festivals, masks and costumes were worn, making them look like evil spirits, wearing costumes with desired theme in an effort to pacify them and send them far away.

Halloween in this day is not yet that popular as of today. They are not yet familiar with the word Halloween during those times.