05/01/2026
Eve of Bealtaine/Beltane 🔥🌿
On the eve of Bealtaine, one of the great festivals of the Gaelic calendar, the ancient Irish marked the beginning of summer.
Falling on May 1st, Bealtaine is a cross-quarter day, midway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. While traditionally fixed by the calendar, its true astronomical midpoint can fall a few days later.
Fire lay at the heart of the festival. Great bonfires were lit on hilltops, symbolising purification, protection, and renewal. Cattle—central to early Irish life—were often driven between twin fires to safeguard them from disease as they were moved to summer pastures.
Bealtaine was also seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld grew thin. Rituals were performed to ward off harmful spirits and to ensure prosperity in the months ahead.
From these ancient rites comes the Irish name for May: “Mà na Bealtaine.”
🔥 “Idir dhá thine Bhealtaine” — “between two Bealtaine fires” — a phrase that still echoes in Irish today, meaning to be caught between two dangers.
