Lammas or Lughnasadh?

Today, 1 August, is halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox.

If you’re Catholic or Pagan, today is Lammas for the former and Lughnasadh for the latter. If you’re Irish or Scottish, you might celebrate both at the same time. In the UK, specifically Wales, it is Gathering Day, the ‘Gule of August’ or Gŵyl Awst, the “Puck Fair.”

This day essentially celebrates the traditional beginning of the harvest season with bread made from the first grain of the season. This day would be a big deal for the feudal serfs, villeins, because it would mark the end of the “hungry time” when food from last year’s crops were running out and the new crops were not yet ready to harvest.

Lammas or Lughnasadh? Bring a loaf of bread made from the new wheat crop to a church for a blessing.

Lammas is the Christian version of this celebration. Lammas comes from Old English word hlafmæsse and translates as “loaf mass.” Bread made with grain from the new harvest is brought to church and blessed. Really motivated congregations would also have processions to bakeries, and the clergy would bless the bakers.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle calls this day “the feast of first fruits”.

It’s possible the 1 August celebration predates Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England.

It’s likely “that a pre-Christian festival had existed among the Anglo-Saxons on that date” says Ronald Hutton, professor history at the University of Bristol, in his book Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. “The time that the first of the harvest could be gathered would have been a natural point for celebration in an agrarian society”.

Which brings us to Lughnasadh, the Gaelic versions of the start-of-the-harvest festival.

Along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Beltane, Lughnasadh is one of the four Pagan-originated Gaelic seasonal festivals. It is mentioned in early Irish literature, has pagan origins and is named after the god Lugh, a multi-talented supernatural being who figures prominently in Irish/Gaelic Pagan mythology.

Lughnasadh celebrates Lugh’s victory over the spirits of the Otherworld who had tried to keep the harvest for themselves.

Among many things, Lugh is said to have created the Assembly of Talti, kind of Olympic Games that ended on 1 August and celebrated the death of a goddess, invented a board game called fidchell, ball games, and horse racing. Lugh is armed with an unstoppable fiery spear, a sling stone and owns a hound named Failinis.

Cool, huh? But I digress.

During the Middle Ages, Lughnasadh involved gatherings on hill or mountain tops with ceremonies, athletic contests, horse racing, feasting, trading and even matchmaking. According to folklorist Máire MacNeill, who wrote and in-depth study titled, The Festival of Lughnasa, said evidence suggests that festival religious rites included an offerings from the new harvest, “a feast of the new food, the sacrifice of a bull, and a ritual dance-play.”

Lughnasadh and Lammas are often celebrated on the Sunday after 1 August. Through the centuries Lughnasadh and Lammas have been celebrated under a number of names Garland Sunday, Bilberry Sunday, Mountain Sunday, and Crom Dubh Sunday.

Croagh Patrick CC BY-SA 3.0 Hajotthu

One offshoot of the festival is Ireland’s popular Christian tradition known as Reek Sunday, pilgrimage to the top of Croagh Patrick that takes place on the last Sunday in July. The Reek Sunday The pilgrimage has taken place yearly for at least 1,500 years and honors Saint Patrick who is said to have spent forty days fasting on the mountain in the 5th century.

The earliest known mention of the Croagh Patrick pilgrimage is from the year 1113, when the Annals of Ulster report that “a ball of fire came on the night of the feast of Patrick on Cruacháin Aighle [Croagh Patrick] and destroyed thirty of those fasting”. One wonders why, after such a deadly cosmic evet, the pilgrimage tradition would continue.

Pilgrims on Croagh Patrick in County Mayo, Ireland. The Civil Defence wearing the red helmets. Alan James CC BY-SA 2.0

Some pilgrims make the two-hour trek up and 90-minute descent on Croagh Patrick barefoot as a form of penance. Between 15,000 and 30,000 take part in the ritual, which is not without casualties each year.

Up to 300 personnel from mountain rescue teams from across Ireland are involved, along with members of the Irish Air Corps, Irish Cave Rescue Organisation (ICRO), the Order of Malta, Civil Defence Ireland and Garda Síochána. Injuries ranging from cuts and broken bones to hypothermia and cardiac arrest occur each year, according to published reports.

Several regional fairs in Ireland are also thought to have originated with Lughnasadh, such as the Puck Fair, place from 10–12 August in Killorglin, County Kerry. The Puck fair originally involved people climbing the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks mountain range and catch a feral goat. The goat was brought back to the town and the “Queen of Puck”, traditionally a young schoolgirl from a local primary school, crowns the goat “King Puck,” marking the opening of the fair.

The goat was put into a small cage on a high stand for three days. On the third day of the fair, the goat is freed and led back to the mountains.

Needless to say some thought this cruel and now “King Puck” is displayed for a couple of hours.

One other issue with the Puck Fair is pubs stay open until 3 am, rather than the usual 2 am closing time. Local police view this as problem.

But there is no reason that you can’t have your own. Go to a bakery, get some fresh bread, climb a nearby hill (I recommend leaving your shoes on) and enjoy the view.