Rooted in Remembrance

Halloween is derived from the Irish calendar or quarter day Samhain. Although today we think of Halloween as ghosts and ghouls, spooks and spirits, its roots are in remembrance. It is a liminal time where it is believed the spirits of our loved ones return to us, however briefly, and thus a time to pay tribute to the dead and acknowledge their teachings. Join folklorist Glynnis Cowley and the Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again exhibition this Halloween for an exploration of Heaney’s poems of remembrance, from thoughtful elegies such as ‘The Wishing Tree’ to childhood recollections in ‘Blackberry Picking.’

Host or Publisher National Library of Ireland