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Halloween Costume Party Ideas: Customs around the World:
Ireland
Tradition is still celebrated as much as it is in
the United States. In rural areas, bonfires are lit
as they were in the days of the Celts and children
dress up in costumes to spend the evening
"trick-or-treating" in their neighborhoods. After
the visiting, most people attend parties with
neighbors and friends. At these parties, many games
are played, including "snap-apple," in which an
apple on a string is tied to a doorframe or tree,
and players attempt to take a bite out of the
suspended apple. In addition to bobbing for apples,
parents often arrange treasure hunts with sweets or
pastries as the "treasure." The Irish also play a
card game where cards are laid face-down on a table
with sweets or coins beneath them. When a child
selects a card, he or she receives whatever prize
might be found there. A traditional food is eaten on
Halloween called "barnbrack." This is a type of
fruitcake which can be baked at home or
store-bought. A muslin-wrapped treat is baked inside
the cake which, so it is said, can foretell the
future of the one who finds it. If the prize is a
ring, then that person will soon be wed and a piece
of straw means a prosperous year is forthcoming.
Children are also known to play tricks upon their
neighbors on Halloween night. One of which is known
as "knock-a-dolly," where children knock on the
doors of their neighbors but then run away before
the door is opened. When the Irish immigrated to
the US in the 1800s they brought many of their
customs with them, creating one of the most popular
holidays in the new world.
Halloween is still a favorite "special day" for
school celebrations, when people hold costume
parties, play old -fashioned games, and give clever
plays and pageants based on the ancient customs.
Frequently whole communities gather for a Halloween
festival, as did the villagers of earlier days. |
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