Halloween & its Creepy Irish Origins, Dublin, 31 October 2026

Halloween & its Creepy Irish Origins is a public walking tour in Dublin on 31 October 2026, starting at the Tree of Gold sculpture in Central Plaza. The tour lasts 2 hours 15 minutes and looks at the Irish folklore behind Halloween customs. Halloween began as a Christian overlay on the ancient Irish pagan feast of Samhain, held at the end of October.

The Celts revered their ancestors but also feared them, and on that night the portal between this world and the next opened, letting mostly malevolent spirits roam the land. People devised ways to protect themselves, and those customs survive today as Halloween traditions. Irish writers drew on this folklore for tales such as Melmoth the Wanderer, Carmilla and Dracula, and the tour touches on Irish Gothic writers including Bram Stoker and Sheridan Le Fanu.

The route sees or passes Dublin Castle, the Old City Walls, Forty Steps, Marsh's Library and St Patrick's Cathedral, and Christ Church Cathedral. Groups are small.

Prices start from €27 for adults and €22 for seniors and students. Children aged 12 to 18 with an accompanying adult pay €15, and children under 12 with an accompanying adult go free.