RóiseMcGagh gives some ideas on celebrating the ancient Irish festival of Bealtaine
Bealtaine is the word for May in Irish, it marks an ancient festival, one of the most significant historic dates in Ireland. It is also known as a month to celebrate and pray to Our Lady.
At the moment, gathering for Bealtaine is off the cards anyways and bonfires are of course illegal apart from burning untreated wood, trees, trimmings, or similar materials generated by agricultural practices after notifying the local authority. However, there are still a few things you could do to celebrate the tradition and deliver some active history to your family.
Beginning on the first day of the May which has passed, for thousands of years we have celebrated the cross quarter day which marks the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.
These moments were pivotal for our ancestors who celebrated the changes of season – of upmost importance when their main occupation was low technology farming. The equinox marks the halfway point between the summer and winter solstice – the longest and shortest days of the year – and meant the beginning of days being longer than nights.
The celebration of Bealtaine falls exactly six months from Samhain, or what we now know as Halloween. It pinpoints the end of weather unsuitable for farming in the Northern Hemisphere and symbolises the beginning of the summer months.
It is not known how far celebrations went back, or in what way the turn of the season was once celebrated. It first appears historically in a Irish glossary said to be written by the King of Munster or Bishop of Cashel, Cormac úaCuilennáin in the 9th or 10th Century.
Near Raphoe in Donegeal lies the Beltany Stone Circle dating from around 2100-700 BC, later in the Bronze Age. It is a Stone Circle made up of 64 large standing stones with a diameter of 145ft enclosing a low earth platform.
Only one of the stones is decorated with cup-marks which face into the inner circle. This stone on the north-east side of the circle aligns with the sun as it rises during Bealtaine.
It is said that the festival is derived from Pagan rituals and was adapted into Catholic ones, whatever the case we have developed a uniquely Irish set of traditions.
Fire is a big part of the tradition, speculated to be a symbol of the return of the sun after winter. In ancient Ireland the main festival fire was said to be lit at the Hill of Uisneach in Westmeath, at the centre of the country.
Through the winter in these times, when most people resided in thatch cottages, the fire was never put out – until the celebration of Bealtaine. They were all quenched then on May Day and then re-lit from the main Bealtaine bonfire – torches from this main bonfire would pass from one locality to the next and light each set bonfire.
Passing fire between two bonfires was supposedly a rite of purification – herds of cattle were driven between two fires in many villages. It was also considered lucky for people from the community to pass between the fires, some dared to leap over the bonfire in order to ensure their fertility for the year.
The fire, once lit in the homes was not allowed to leave the house – even its smoke – so that the luck that it brought did not leave with it. Other things like products made on the farm or anything that made a profit was not given away, as It could give away the profit for the year.
While lighting fires on the eve of Bealtaine is an old tradition it has survived in local areas in many parts on the country. Lighting a fire in your hearth for one last time in May could be a nice thing to do to ring in the summer with your family, as well as an opportunity to gather around and tell the kids some stories about the history surrounding the holiday.
Something that is synonymous with the month is creating a small shrine for Mary. Many primary schools will have a small shrine in the classroom at this time of year and teachers will ask students to pick flowers for it. This can be nice to replicate at home since everyone is out of school.
A small shrine can easily be created by placing a cloth over a small table and putting a statue of Mary accompanied by whatever you and your family want to put there, rosary beads, fresh summer flowers or a picture of Mary. Flowers are also often laid at grottos if you have some to spare after you go picking.
There is a link to history in the picking of flowers too. At dawn on May 1 people would collect flowers and branches from the mountain ash or rowan tree make boughs for hanging over doorways outside their windows.
Interestingly on May Day, visitors used to be turned away at the door as anything that was taken from the home could be used for spells against the household. Under different circumstances this year, we will be following that tradition!
At this time of year water taken from local holy wells was said to be particularly potent and flowers left at those wells on May Day to be restorative. It was thought that the dew from the morning of May 1 offered a cure for the rest of the year. People would wash their face with or walk in the first dew of May Day, believing it to have curative properties.
Decorating a bush or a tree is a May Day tradition that is prevalent in different parts of Europe as well as Ireland. A tree, often one near the home or the holy well where people would go to collect water, would be decorated with ribbons or shells. Usually the tree was white thorn, which flowers in May and was said to be a type of faery tree – these branches were not meant to be brought to the household for fear of bad luck however.
There are some other Bealtaine traditions that you might have heard of; walking a ring around one’s property, taking time to repair fencing and boundary markers and lets not forget having a feast, a dance and a few drinks.
While some of these rituals seem very odd and we can’t or wouldn’t perform them now, it is still a lovely time to ring in the summer and remember the traditions of times gone by.