Halloween has a long and interesting history that has changed a lot over time. It all started more than 2,000 years ago with ...

Jack-o’-lanterns are neither ancient nor Irish. One of the earliest references is an 18th-century account of an eponymous Jack, who tricked the devil one too many times and was condemned to wander the ...

They observed lingering customs in rural areas of Britain and Ireland and searched medieval texts for evidence that these practices and beliefs had ancient pagan roots. They mixed stories of magic ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) The Irish often get credit – or blame – for the bonfires, pranksters, witches ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) The Irish often get credit – or blame – for the bonfires, pranksters, witches ...

This time of year, I often run across articles proclaiming Halloween a modern form of the pagan Irish holiday of Samhain – pronounced SAW-en. But as a historian of Ireland and its medieval ...