Bin Bags, Turnips and more tricks than treats

Since then, things have most certainly evolved. But even more recent than our pagan ancestral celebrations, we have the Halloween of the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s. These decades brought with them a special dose of Halloween madness that has long been forgotten, and we’re determined to remind you of the Halloweens we all enjoyed (or endured) in our childhoods. Get ready to take a trip down memory lane, and feel a sensational sense of gratitude as you reflect on the carnage that ensued in townlands across Ireland.

ITS FAR FROM PUMPKIN PATCHES WE WERE REARED ON

 American movies and the glory of the internet have brought the phenomena of the Pumpkin Patch to the emerald isle. Beautiful Instagrammable moments are commonplace now, as parents capture picture-perfect moments for the family album. However, let’s rewind 20 years and things look an awful lot different. You’d be lucky if you were granted permission to hack at a turnip for a few hours. Hours of extremely dangerous and messy fun were had, using the sharpest objects we could find to carve our way through a harmless root vegetable that had seen better days. However, our turnip-o-lanterns did indeed pass the spooky test! Unintentionally. With the much less-than-perfect attempt at carving a face, the kids of the 80s were left with horrifying, half-finished monsters that would disgust any passerby. Never mind the pungent scent that they filled the house with! Next time you’re complaining about the humble pumpkin, we recommend counting your blessings.

BIN LINERS, SWEATY MASKS AND QUESTIONABLE FACE PAINTS

Nowadays, the Halloween school disco is filled with an eclectic mix of ghosts, ghouls, superheroes and cleverly sought-out costumes. Our question to you is, “Sure what was wrong with a bin bag?!”. Waterproof, strangely unnerving and cheap as chips, the humble bin bag was a costume must-have in the golden era of Irish Halloweens. Cut a few holes, one for the head and two for the arms and before you know it you have a witch/vampire/werewolf/Frankenstein or any other character that you fancy. You might be thinking, “Didn’t everyone just look the same?”. Oh no, my friend. The awfully uncomfortable, poorly made, questionably designed plastic masks were the showstopper of this Halloween look. Could we breathe? Not really. Were they too hot? Absolutely. Did we care? Not a bit.

If the plastic mask wasn’t tickling your fancy, it was time to bring out the big guns. Dodgy face paints and parents with absolutely zero creative skills. Witch? Total green face. Vampire? White face, red lips. Skeleton? An ambiguous smudge of grey in an attempt to blend. That face paint pack you bought from the local shop may have only had four colours included, but you wouldn’t let that stop you.

MORE TRICKS THAN TREATS

The tradition of trick or treating has evolved into more treats than tricks in recent years. Health and safety protocols and an increased level of empathy for the little people in our lives has made Halloween a time for fun, joy and as many sweets as one can consume. However, Irish Halloweens used to come with a side of danger and a large helping of absolute madness. If you grew up in the country, it wasn’t unusual to procure some (questionably sourced) fireworks, shove them into a mound of cow dung and run for your life before the experiment exploded. Potatoes were shoved up car exhausts, fireworks were thrown at one another like they were snowballs, and wheelie bins were at risk. But sure, wasn’t it all in the name of good old Irish Halloween fun!

The danger wasn’t just reserved for the fields and outdoors either. Even if you were spending the 31st of October with your granny indoors, there was a risk of injury. The apple tart had coins in it, that could have had you choked before the night was out. We shoved each other’s heads in buckets of water, bobbing for apples and barely taking a minute to breathe, and our families bought fireworks from neighbours and fellas on the side of the road, without asking any questions about legalities before they were lighting them up in the back garden.

So yes, Halloween has greatly changed here in Ireland, as we reflect on the chaos that was considered normal for so many years! Though it was filled with danger, mediocre costumes and dodgy turnips, we definitely look back at those unique times with joy and nostalgia. Here at My Townland, we’ve definitely considered giving the bin bag costumes another go, when the Amazon order hasn’t arrived in time. But truly, these are the memories, traditions and incredible stories that live on through our families, our communities and our townlands for years to come. We’ll be laughing about turnips, spuds in exhausts and near-missed injuries for the rest of our lives, and our townlands will always bring those stories back to us. When we reflect on the joy, the laughter and the quintessentially-Irish traditions that we experienced in our hometowns, we feel a sense of pride that is unreachable elsewhere.

We would absolutely love to hear about some of your Halloween traditions that remind you of your townland. Do you share the same as us? Or did your townland celebrate Halloween in its own way?

Make sure to get in touch and let us know!

Happy Halloween, Oíche Shamhna shona duit, and make sure to check your car exhaust the morning after the celebrations!!