🌾 Lughnasadh: Ireland’s Festival of First Harvest

Deirdre Finn
Jul 31
3 min read

As summer reaches its peak and the golden light lingers a little longer in the evenings, we find ourselves at the ancient Celtic festival of Lughnasadh (pronounced LOO-nah-sah), traditionally celebrated around August 1st. Rooted deeply in the Irish landscape and psyche, Lughnasadh marks a threshold moment—the first of the harvest festivals, a time to honour the land’s abundance, give thanks, and begin the slow, sacred turn toward autumn.

🌿 Celtic Origins: The Story of Lugh and Tailtiu

Lughnasadh is named after the Celtic god Lugh, a solar deity, warrior, and master of many skills. He was revered for his cleverness, bravery, and leadership—known as Samildánach, meaning “many-skilled.” But this festival isn’t just a tribute to Lugh himself—it commemorates his foster mother, Tailtiu, a goddess of the land.

According to Irish mythology, Tailtiu died of exhaustion after clearing the forests of Ireland to make way for agriculture. In her honour, Lugh established a great gathering of games, contests, and celebrations—the Aonach Tailten, believed to have taken place in what is now Teltown, Co. Meath. These funeral games became an annual tradition and form the roots of the Lughnasadh festival.

🌞 The Energy of the Season

Lughnasadh sits at a cross-quarter day—midway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox. It holds the tension of ripening: the height of growth and the first whispers of decline. The fields are full, the fruits are sweet, but the days are shortening, and the year’s energy is beginning its descent.

This is a time of gathering and gratitude, of community and celebration—but also a time to ask:

What am I harvesting? What has come to fullness? What is now ready to be released?

🏞️ Traditional Irish Customs

In old Ireland, Lughnasadh was a community celebration, with gatherings on hilltops and sacred sites such as:

Tailteann (Teltown) in Meath
Croagh Patrick in Mayo
Slieve Gullion in Armagh
Knocknarea in Sligo
Uisneach, the mythic centre of Ireland

People would climb to these heights in pilgrimage, offer prayers, and celebrate the bounty of the earth.

🌾 Rituals of Lughnasadh

1. First Fruits and Sacred Bread

The first grains, especially wheat and barley, were cut ceremonially and often baked into the season’s first loaves of bread. These loaves were sometimes offered to the gods or to the land in gratitude. Eating and sharing these first fruits was both a practical and spiritual act—a way of aligning with the cycles of nature.

2. Wild Berry Gathering

August is also the season of bilberries (fraochán), which were gathered on hillsides during Lughnasadh. Berry-picking was both celebration and divination—the size and abundance of the crop were believed to predict the quality of the harvest to come.

3. Games and Matchmaking

Lughnasadh was marked by sporting competitions, races, wrestling, and feats of strength—echoes of Lugh’s funeral games. It was also a time of matchmaking and even trial marriages or handfastings, where couples could commit for “a year and a day” before deciding whether to marry formally.

4. Fairs and Festivals

Seasonal fairs were held across Ireland, combining trade, storytelling, music, craft, and celebration. These gatherings allowed scattered rural communities to connect, renew bonds, and make plans for the colder months ahead.

5. Bonfires and Offerings

Although more closely associated with midsummer and Samhain, bonfires were sometimes lit at Lughnasadh as a way of honouring the sun’s power and offering protection for the harvest season.

🍞 A Modern Lughnasadh

Today, many are reclaiming the wisdom of the Celtic wheel of the year as a way to reconnect with nature, community, and inner rhythm. You don’t need to live on a farm or climb a mountain to mark Lughnasadh. You can honour the spirit of this season by:

Baking bread or preparing a meal using local, seasonal ingredients
Harvesting herbs or vegetables from your garden or balcony
Going on a pilgrimage walk or hike, especially to a high place or ancient site
Creating an altar with grains, sunflowers, ripe fruit, or symbolic tools
Reflecting on your personal harvest: What projects, dreams, or intentions are coming to fruition?

🌻 Reflection and Gratitude

Lughnasadh invites us to pause in gratitude, to celebrate the fullness of life even as we begin to let go. It’s a festival of both joy and impermanence, reminding us that everything has its season.

Take a moment to reflect: