Lughnasadh
Lughnasadh | |
---|---|
Also called | Lúnasa ( 1 August |
Related to | Calan Awst, Lammas |
Lughnasadh, Lughnasa or Lúnasa (/ˈluːnəsə/ LOO-nə-sə, Irish: [ˈl̪ˠuːnˠəsˠə]) is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Traditionally it is held on 1 August, or about halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. In recent centuries some of the celebrations have shifted to the Sunday nearest this date. Lughnasadh is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc and Beltane. It corresponds to the Welsh Gŵyl Awst and the English Lammas.
Lughnasadh is mentioned in
The festival persisted widely until the 20th century, with the event being variously named Garland Sunday, Bilberry Sunday, Mountain Sunday and
Name
In Old Irish the name was Lugnasad (Modern Irish: [ˈl̪ˠʊɣnˠəsˠəd̪ˠ]). This is a combination of Lug (the god Lugh) and násad (an assembly), which is unstressed when used as a suffix.[1] Another theory is that it originated from the word nás (death), rather than násad.[2] Later spellings include Luᵹ̇nasaḋ, Lughnasadh and Lughnasa.
In
In
Mythology and folklore
In Irish mythology, Lughnasadh is said to have been founded by the god Lugh as a funeral feast and athletic competition—funeral games—to commemorate the death of an earth goddess.[10] Irish myths about Lughnasadh and Lughnasadh sites tend to feature a woman who is carried off or held against her will, and who dies of grief, shame, exhaustion, or unspecified natural causes.[10] Parallels with the Greek tale of Persephone have been noted.[10] A story about the Lughnasadh site of Tailtin says the festival was founded by Lugh as funeral games in memory of his foster-mother Tailtiu.[11][12] She was said to have died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture.[11] Tailtiu may have been an earth goddess who represented the dying vegetation that fed mankind.[13] Another tale, about the assembly site of Naas, says that Lugh founded the festival in memory of his two wives, the sisters Nás and Bói.[10][14][15] One theory is that it was a mourning (or wake) for the end of summer.[16]
Folklorist Máire MacNeill extensively studied the later folklore and traditions of Lughnasadh. She concludes that the main theme is a struggle for the harvest between two gods. One god, usually called Crom Dubh in later folklore, guards the grain as his treasure. The other god, Lugh, must seize it for mankind.[17][18] Sometimes, this was portrayed as a struggle over a woman called Eithne, who represents the grain. Lugh also fights and defeats a figure representing blight.[17] MacNeill says that these themes can be seen in earlier Irish mythology, particularly in the tale of Lugh defeating Balor,[17] which seems to represent the overcoming of blight, drought and the scorching summer sun.[19] In surviving folklore, Lugh is usually replaced by Saint Patrick, while Crom Dubh is a pagan chief who owns a granary or a bull and who opposes Patrick, but is overcome and converted. Crom Dubh is likely the same figure as Crom Cruach and shares some traits with the Dagda and Donn.[17] He may be based on an underworld god like Hades and Pluto, who kidnaps the grain goddess Persephone but is forced to let her return to the world above before harvest time.[20]
Historic customs
In the Middle Ages, the
From the 18th century to the mid 20th century, many Lughnasadh customs and folklore were recorded. In 1962 The Festival of Lughnasa, a study of Lughnasadh by
A solemn cutting of the first of the corn of which an offering would be made to the deity by bringing it up to a high place and burying it; a meal of the new food and of bilberries of which everyone must partake; a sacrifice of a sacred bull, a feast of its flesh, with some ceremony involving its hide, and its replacement by a young bull; a ritual dance-play perhaps telling of a struggle for a goddess and a ritual fight; an installation of a [carved stone] head on top of the hill and a triumphing over it by an actor impersonating Lugh; another play representing the confinement by Lugh of the monster blight or famine; a three-day celebration presided over by the brilliant young god [Lugh] or his human representative. Finally, a ceremony indicating that the interregnum was over, and the chief god in his right place again.[33]
Many of the customs described by medieval writers survived into the modern era, though they were either Christianized or shorn of any pagan religious meaning. Lughnasadh occurred during a poor time of the year for the farming community when the old crops were done and the new ones not yet ready for harvest.
In Ireland,
Bull sacrifices at Lughnasadh time were recorded as late as the 18th century at
Another custom that Lughnasadh shared with Imbolc and Beltane was visiting holy wells, some specifically clootie wells. Visitors to these wells would pray for health while walking sunwise around the well; they would then leave offerings, typically coins or clooties.[46] Although bonfires were lit at some of the open-air gatherings in Ireland, they were rare and incidental to the celebrations.[47]
Traditionally, Lughnasadh has always been reckoned as the first day of August.[48] In recent centuries, however, much of the gatherings and festivities shifted to the nearest Sundays – either the last Sunday in July or first Sunday in August. It is believed this is because the coming of the harvest was a busy time and the weather could be unpredictable, which meant work days were too important to give up. As Sunday would have been a day of rest anyway, it made sense to hold celebrations then. The festival may also have been affected by the shift to the Gregorian calendar.[48]
Lughnasadh was a time of unpredictable weather in Ireland. Heavy rains known as "Lammas floods" often coincided with beginning of August and were responsible for destroying the corn.[49] There are many folk sayings that relate to the unpredictable weather conditions during Lughnasadh and the importance of these conditions to the harvest:
"...For Lammas floods, with crops oft havoc play,
And e'en one swept the rustic bridge away."[50]
"August needs the dew as much as men need bread.
After Lammas corn ripens as much by night as by day."[51]
Today
In Ireland some of the mountain pilgrimages have survived. By far the most popular is the Reek Sunday pilgrimage at Croagh Patrick, which attracts tens of thousands of pilgrims each year.
The Puck Fair is held each year in early August in the town of Killorglin, County Kerry. It has been traced as far back as the 16th century but is believed to be a survival of a Lughnasadh festival.[11] At the beginning of the three-day festival, a wild goat is brought into the town and crowned "king", while a local girl is crowned "queen". The festival includes traditional music and dancing, a parade, arts and crafts workshops, a horse and cattle fair, and a market. It draws a great number of tourists each year.[52]
In recent years, other towns in Ireland have begun holding yearly Lughnasa Festivals and Lughnasa Fairs. Like the Puck Fair, these often include traditional music and dancing, arts and crafts workshops, traditional storytelling, and markets. Such festivals have been held in Gweedore,[53] Sligo,[54] Brandon,[55] Rathangan[56] and a number of other places. Craggaunowen, an open-air museum in County Clare, hosts a yearly Lughnasa Festival at which historical re-enactors demonstrate elements of daily life in Gaelic Ireland. It includes displays of replica clothing, artefacts, weapons and jewellery.[57] A similar event has been held each year at Carrickfergus Castle in County Antrim.[58] In 2011 RTÉ broadcast a Lughnasa Live television program from Craggaunowen.[59]
In the Irish diaspora survivals of the Lughnasadh festivities are often seen by some families still choosing August as the traditional time for family reunions and parties, though due to modern work schedules these events have sometimes been moved to adjacent secular holidays, such as the
The festival is referenced in the 1990 play Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel, which was adapted into a 1998 film of the same name.[60]
Neopaganism
Lughnasadh, or similar festivities based on it, is observed by some
Neopagans usually celebrate Lughnasadh on 1 August in the Northern Hemisphere and 1 February in the Southern Hemisphere, often beginning their festivities at sunset the evening before.[64][65][66][67][68] Some neopagans celebrate it at the astronomical midpoint between the summer solstice and autumn equinox, or the full moon nearest this point.[69] In 2022, this astronomical midpoint falls on 7 August (Northern hemisphere) or 4 February (Southern hemisphere).[70]
Celtic Reconstructionist
Celtic Reconstructionists who follow Gaelic traditions tend to celebrate Lughnasadh at the time of "first fruits", or on the full moon nearest this time. In the
Wicca
See also
- Aonach
- Celtic calendar
- Gaelic calendar
- Wheel of the Year
References
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- ^ "The story of La Lughnasa, first day of Ireland's ancient harvest festival". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
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- ^ Coffey, George (1912). New Grange (Brugh Na Boinne) and Other Incised Tumuli in Ireland: The Influence of Crete and the Ægean in the Extreme West of Europe in Early Times. Hodges, Figgis, & Company, Limited. p. 26.
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- ^ Mac Gabhann, Seamus. "Landmarks of the people: Meath and Cavan places prominent in Lughnasa mythology and folklore". Ríocht na Midhe, 11. Meath Archaeological & Historical Society, 2000. pp.236–237
- ^ Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. Fionn Mac Cumhaill: Images of the Gaelic Hero. Gill & MacMillan, 1988. p.11
- ^ Anna Franklin & Paul Mason. Lammas: Celebrating Fruits of the First Harvest. Llewellyn Worldwide, 2001. p.238
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- ^ Patterson, Nerys. Cattle-lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland. University of Notre Dame Press, 1994. p.145
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- ^ "Llewellyn Worldwide – Articles: Traditional Lughnasadh with a Modern Twist". www.llewellyn.com. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- ^ Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. pp. 1201–02.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-280120-1.
- ^ Blumberg, Antonia (29 July 2016). "8 Facts To Know About Lughnasadh, Pagan Harvest Festival". Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- ^ "Four Courts Press | The Festival of Lughnasa". www.fourcourtspress.ie. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- ^ MacNeill, Máire. The Festival of Lughnasa: A Study of the Survival of the Celtic Festival of the Beginning of Harvest. Oxford University Press, 1962. p.426
- ^ "Gráinseach Ailt an Chaistín (St. Johnston) | The Schools' Collection". dúchas.ie. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
- ^ Monaghan, p.104
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- ^ Monaghan, Patricia (2004). The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Infobase Publishing. p. 45.
- ^ MacNeill, The Festival of Lughnasa, pp.142–143, 150, 180, 182
- ^ MacNeill, The Festival of Lughnasa, p.143
- ^ MacNeill, The Festival of Lughnasa, p.421
- ^ MacNeill, The Festival of Lughnasa, p.424
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- ^ Monaghan, p.41
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- ^ "Rathangan Lughnasa Festival". Kildare.tv. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ "Lughnasa Festival at Craggaunowen". Shannon Heritage. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ "Lughnasa Fair returns to Carrickfergus Castle". Carrickfergus Advertiser. 25 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
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- ^ McGrath, F. C.. Brian Friel's (Post) Colonial Drama: Language, Illusion, and Politics. Syracuse University Press, 1999. pp.234–236
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Further reading
- Carmichael, Alexander (1992). ISBN 0-940262-50-9.
- ISBN 0-937702-13-7.
- MacKillop, James (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280120-1.
- McNeill, F. Marian (1959). The Silver Bough. Vol. 1–4. Glasgow: William MacLellan.
- ISBN 978-0-906426-10-4.
- Melia, Daniel F. (January 1978). "The Grande Troménie at Locronan: A major Breton Lughnasa celebration". The Journal of American Folklore. 91 (359): 528–542. JSTOR 539572.