Samhain, Sauin or Oíche Shamhna is a Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or "darker half" of the year. It is also the Irish language name for November. Celebrations begin on the evening of 31 October, since the Celtic day began and ended at sunset. This is about halfway between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals along with Imbolc, Bealtaine, and Lughnasa. Historically it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. A similar festival is held by the Brittonic Celtic people, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales.
A Neopagan celebration of Samhain
Samonios on the Coligny calendar
The hero Fionn fighting Aillen, who is said to have burned Tara each Samhain
The 'Cave of Cruachan', one of the many 'gateways to the Otherworld' whence beings and spirits were said to have emerged on Samhain.
The Gaels are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic.
The Emigrants, painting from 1844. This depicts a Highland Scots family in Gaelic dress migrating to New Zealand.
Scota and Goídel Glas voyaging from Egypt. From the 15th century chronicle the Scotichronicon.
The Lia Fáil at the Hill of Tara, sacred site of inauguration for the Gaelic High Kings.
A page from the 9th century Book of Kells, one of the finest examples of Insular art. It is believed to have been made in Gaelic monasteries in Ireland and Scotland.