Lughnasadh

Lúnasa – in Ireland it’s the name for the eighth month.  It is also the name of a festival that has been celebrated for over two thousand years.  It is a harvest celebration, a ritual to give thanks for the bounty of the land, and to ask the gods’ blessings that the weather will hold long enough to gather it all in. (The traditional date is the night of July 31-August 1, but modern convenience has moved the date to whichever Sunday is nearest.)

With the harvest came great celebrations in rural Ireland.  The first harvest festival of the year, Lughnasadh, named for Lugh the Celtic Sun God, was traditionally the most joyous as the populace celebrated the end of relying on the diminishing food stores of the previous year. Usually held on one of the early weekends of August, whole communities might gather at a chosen meeting place often in the hills in order to be closer to the sun god.

With those early celebrations we note the importance of the gods.  Various backstories can be found for the festival.  One states that for the success of the harvest, Lugh must die and merge with the earth. His death is celebrated with the Autumn equinox.  A second story attributes the festival to Lugh's defeat of the dark god Crom Dubh, signifying the end of famine.  Yet another story talks of Lugh's great sorrow at the death of his foster-mother.  Tailtu expired after clearing the forests of Ireland to create farmland. Lugh instituted a two week assembly of games and trading in her memory. Both the second and third stories are said to suggest the changing and merging of gods after an invasion.

With Christianity, celebrating Celtic gods was frowned upon.  The festival, however, did not go away.  Instead the name was changed to Lammas, meaning first loaf.  An integral part of the celebration was the baking of a special loaf of bread from the first corn of the harvest. (Note: corn in this case actually referred to the grain crops of wheat, oats, barley and rye.) This loaf was sometimes eaten as part of a great feast, and sometimes, particularly in the medevial era used as an offering.

Kailee - 2017

Celebrations persisted into the 20th century with various names. Garland Sunday, Bilberry Sunday, Mountain Sunday and Crom Dubh Sunday are some of the titles attached to the event.  The climbing of hills has also persisted, recast as Christian pilgrimages.  Perhaps the best known of these pilgrimages "Reek Sunday" is held on Croagh Patrick, in Co. Mayo, on the last Sunday of July. 

On the Ring of Kerry, the Puck Fair which is held each August, is also thought to be a survivor of Lughnasadh. 


Read more about celebrating the harvest in Ireland

• Irish Culture and Customs  This site has great descriptions of early feasts
• A Trip to Ireland - Lúnasa
• The Irish Times - the Deep Roots of Harvest Festivals
• Ireland's Own: Lughnasa – The Beginning of the Harvest
• Harvest Festivals.Net - Irish/Celtic
• Lughnasadh - Wikipedia
• Roaring Water Journal - Harvest time

Or watch a video

• Dancing at Lughnasa (1998) with Gerard McSorley, Meryl Streep and Michael Gambon - Available on Amazon Video 

• Celtic Festival of Lughnasadh - celebrating the Harvest - YouTube