This piece of Samhain Fakelore comes from our own tourist board. To encourage American tourists to come to Ireland in winter they told them their pumpkin carving tradition comes from us.

Turnip lanterns are carved all across the year because turnips are cattle fodder and they’re always around. They’re carved at Saint Brigids day, Christmas, as well as Halloween or any time a bored child needs to be entertained.

Samhain fakelore: the origin of pumpkin carving

In America the tradition of pumpkin carving is chartered by the story of Stingy Jack. Where a stereotype of an Irish person, who gets drunk and gambles with the devil. Then ends up wandering the earth rejected by booth heaven and hell.

Samhain fakelore: the actual Irish version

The Irish story is called Jackie the Lantern and it charters the will o the wisp. Bog gas lights up blue at night and its alive. It can guide you or stray you.

Duchas.ie our national folklore archive doesn’t have the Stingy Jack story it is unique to America, and our Jackie the lantern stories don’t involve carving a folkcraft lantern.

Samhain fakelore: the truth

The pumpkins are understandable in America. The bog isn’t a part of their lives so they wouldn’t hang on to a story that involves bog gas that they never see. To them it makes sense that the story charters a lantern not a will o the wisp.

But does it make any sense in Ireland? To ignore all the other times of year when the same thing is carved to force it to be a halloween thing that isnt actually chartered by the story Americans use?