Another Fantastic Halloween on Cape Clear Island

Really, it just gets better and better. Halloween one of the highlights of the Island’s social and cultural calendar has become a feast of talent, imagination, display and fun.

This year kicked off with the usual army of trick and treaters setting off at dusk along the Islands by ways in search of loot and some scary encounters along the way. Pumpkins are so, well, last year, ghosts and goblins, light and fire greeted the creepy costumed children, scary loud mouthed ambushes, well prepared spectacles that brought merriment to young and old alike.

Returning to the Club for the traditional party, sparklers and snap crackers became a short-lived frenzy and together with some serious munching all were soon in just the right mood for a superb spectacle of fire dancing on the beach to the haunting pace of a pirate costumed bodhrán player. Dark and light, water and sand, graceful black clad dancers, obviously accomplished and practised, watched keenly from the famous wall, this night a natural amphitheatre for a gift of sight and sound from our ancient past. This is the festival of Samhain where it all started millenniums ago.

And as the dancers finished their last steps, the rockets started exploding high over the harbour to bring us a joyous firework display on a beautiful crisp and mild autumn night. Looking up into the night sky, the exploding light of the pyrotechnics lit up the puffs of smoke from the ones that went before. There may be bigger and better displays but none to compare with the magic atmosphere of Trá Ciaráin, the synergy that comes from childhood, youth, middle and old age all gathered in a special place and time.

Back in the club afterwards disco lights and music, set off the fabulous decorations until late in the evening the musicians gathered around one more to play a selection jigs, reels and polkas interspersed with song and as the crowd drifted homewards, we can safely say that all on Cléire went to bed happy.

Cléire abú.