In Ireland, the holiday of Midsummer marks the middle of summer and comes just a few days after the Summer Solstice. Much of the celebration takes place the evening before on Midsummer\u2019s Eve, also known as St. John\u2019s Eve. As with many Celtic celebrations, great bonfires are lit, and fairs and festivals are held to celebrate. Just like May Day, St. John\u2019s Eve has its own stories, customs, and superstitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn ancient times the sacred fire was lighted with great ceremony on Midsummer Eve; and on that night all the people of the adjacent country kept fixed watch on the western promontory of Howth, and the moment the first flash was seen from that spot the fact of ignition was announced with wild cries and cheers repeated from village to village, when all the local fires began to blaze, and Ireland was circled by a cordon of flame rising up from every hill\u201d (Wilde, 113).<\/p>\n
It was also a time to worship the Goddess \u00c1ine.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026\u00c1ine, who gave her name to Knockainy hill and village in the county Limerick. She ruled, and still rules, that district as fairy queen and banshee. In the second century of our era, she cut off the ear of Ailill Oluim, King of Munster. It was on this account he was called Oluim, from \u201co\u201d, and ear, and \u201clom\u201d, bare; bare of one ear\u201d (Mahon, 137).<\/p>\n
\u201cAynia, deemed the most powerful fairy in Ulster, and \u00c1ine, queen of South Munster, are perhaps the same person, the mysterious and awful goddess once adored as Anu, or Danu. Of the two, it is \u00c1ine who especially seems to carry on the traditions of the older Anu, worshipped, according to the \u201cChoice of Names\u201d, in Munster as a goddess of prosperity and abundance. Within living memory, she was propitiated by a magical ritual upon every Saint John\u2019s Eve, to ensure fertility during the coming year. The villagers round her sidh of Cnoc Aine (Knockainy) carried burning bunches of hay or straw upon poles to the top of the hill, and thence dispersed among the fields, waving these torches over the crops and cattle. The fairy, or goddess was held to be friendly, and, indeed, more than friendly, to men\u201d (Squire, 245).<\/p>\n
Another tale tells the story of a St. John\u2019s Night were a number of girls stayed late on the Hill to watch the clairs (torches) and join in the games when suddenly “\u00c1ine appeared among them, thanked them for the honour they had done her, but said she now wished them to go home, as they wanted the hill to themselves\u201d (Rolleston, 128).<\/p>\n
Since \u201cfire is the holiest of all things\u201d many customs and superstitions surround the bonfire and included carrying off a coal, jumping and leaping through the flames forward and backwards a certain number of times, and walking \u201cthree times round a fire on St. John\u2019s Eve, and you will be safe from disease for all that year\u201d (Wilde, 211). These customs and superstitions were not just limited to people but could include animals. Cattle were \u201cdriven through the half-extinguished bonfire, as a preventive against witchcraft\u201d (W. R. Wilde, 40).<\/p>\n
As Christianity spread and Midsummer became \u201cchristianized\u201d, dedicated by the Church to honor St. John the Baptist, certain customs and superstitions survived (O’Su\u0301illeabha\u0301in, 322). \u201c\u2026Baal fires were kindled as part of the ritual of sun-worship, though now they are lit in honour of St. John. The great bonfire of the year is still made on St. John\u2019s Eve, when all the people dance round it, and every young man takes a lighted brand from the pile to bring home with him for good luck to the house\u201d (Wilde, 113). Whether Celtic or Christian, fire was still seen as a central part of the celebration, bringing good luck just like the fires of May Day did.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Reference<\/p>\n
O’Su\u0301illeabha\u0301in Sea\u0301n. (1942).\u00a0A handbook of irish folklore<\/em>.<\/p>\n No online version available.<\/p>\n Wilde, & Wilde, W. R. (1919).\u00a0Ancient legends, mystic charms & superstitions of ireland : with sketches of the irish past<\/em>. Chatto & Windus.<\/p>\n For the online version, click here<\/a>. Please note they may not be exactly the same.<\/p>\n Putzi, S. (Ed.). (2008).\u00a0To z world superstitions & folklore : 175 countries \u2013 spirit worship, curses, mystical characters, folk tales, burial and the dead, animals, food, marriage, good luck, and more<\/em>. ProQuest Ebook Central\u00a0https:\/\/ebookcentral.proquest.com<\/a><\/p>\n Wilde, W. R. (1852). Irish popular superstitions<\/em>. J. McGlashan.<\/p>\n No online version available.<\/p>\n Mahon, M. P. (1919).\u00a0Ireland’s fairy lore<\/em>. T.J. Flynn.<\/p>\n For an online version, click here<\/a>. Please note they may not be exactly the same.<\/p>\n Squire, C. (191AD).\u00a0Celtic myth & legend, poetry & romance<\/em>. Gresham Pub.<\/p>\n For the online version, click here<\/a>. Please note they may not be exactly the same.<\/p>\n Rolleston, T. W. (1911).\u00a0Myths & legends of the celtic race<\/em>. G.G. Harrap.<\/p>\n For an online version, click here<\/a>. Please note they may not be exactly the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In Ireland, the holiday of Midsummer marks the middle of summer and comes just a few days after the Summer Solstice. Much of the celebration takes place the evening before on Midsummer\u2019s Eve, also known as St. John\u2019s Eve. As with many Celtic celebrations, great bonfires are lit, and fairs and festivals are held to … Continue reading “St. John’s Eve and Midsummer in Celtic Lore”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":4397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,30],"tags":[269,44,295,33],"class_list":["post-4366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish","category-rare-books","tag-ireland","tag-irish","tag-rare-book","tag-rare-books-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4875"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4366"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4401,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4366\/revisions\/4401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}