By Peg Prendeville

It is difficult to believe that we are into Halloween time with all that that entails. It has got to be a very commercial occasion now with Fancy Dress being almost compulsory in all schools last Friday before the mid-term break. Of course the children love it and I suppose it keeps businesses ticking over with all the fancy costumes etc but it is so different to the snap-apple days we remember. Then it used to be celebrated on just one day on October 31^st, the last day of the month but now it seems to go on for a week with houses decorated like at Christmas. Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. Hence all the scary masks and witch’s outfits that the children wear now

I really enjoyed the Late Late on Friday night. It brought back many memories of dancing in the National and the Irish Club in Dublin in the 70’s. It was great to see all the old singers Philomena Begley, Sandy Kelly, and the famous Big Tom, who was my idol for some years. A lovely light entertaining show to make up for the doom and gloom of world tragedies and the plight of migrants. We need more of these kind of shows to lift the spirit.

Congratulations again to Peg and Jack O’Grady who have notched up another wedding anniversary recently. Sixty six years together is no bad achievement. And the signs are that they will be together for more years.