Ghost Of Blogs Past

Tomorrow's Halloween of course, the scariest day of most years, though we'll give next Tuesday that distinction for 2008. And Halloween is the most Irish of holidays, too, with much of the tradition we enjoy today having come from that green and ancient island.

As is fitting for this day of the dead, I go deep in to the Tir na Blog crypt and remind you of the Irish contribution to all the silly hings you'll be doing these next couple days.

A brief history of Irish Halloween and some of the traditions that survive to this day:

The Jack O'Lantern: The scary, glowing faces we call Jack O'Lanterns were first carved in Ireland many centuries ago, to frighten off American tourists and Dutch real estate developers. Back then, there were no pumpkins in Ireland and so Jack O'Lanterns had to be carved out of bananas and small birds. An interesting trivia fact: the name "Jack O'Lantern" honors to this day the Irish inventor of the that first carved Halloween icon, Jack McGillycuddy. He made up the "O'Lantern" part, because who'd want to put a "Jack McGillycuddy" out on their porch?

Trick Or Treating: When you see the hordes of little children climb the stairs to your front door tonight, you'll be witnessing a recreation of an Irish tradition that goes back eons into the mists of time. In those early days, Irish peasants would dress in ragged, frightening and horrible costumes that they called "clothes" and would go door to door in their villages, asking their neighbors for treats such as "food" and "water". As they approached, they would shout out a hearty "For Jaysus sake, we're starvin' out here!", which of course became our modern "trick or treat".

Witches, Monsters, Vampires and Ghouls: In the Ireland of old these scary creatures of the night existed in much the same form we imagine them now, but they were called "British".

Tomorrow, gather the kids around for another scary Halloween story from Count Blogula's Castle. Bwa hah ha! From all of us at the Kansas City Irish Fest, a happy and safe Halloween!