‘MONSTERS, Misfits, and Mayhem’ will descend this October Bank Holiday weekend as Bunratty Castle and Folks Park is transformed into a haunted Halloween village.
The dead will walk and strange visions will materialise in the October air as traditions and superstitions associated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain come to life.
Visitors across the October Bank Holiday weekend can delve into Halloween games, ghostly characters, witchcraft, a bed of nails, tarot reading, street entertainment, and haunted train rides past ghosts, grim reapers, and zombies.
Marie Brennan, events manager at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park said the weekend will be where “history meets the haunted”.
“It is an eerie time of year and we have pulled out all the stops to create an unforgettable experience full of fun, frights, and festivity for the whole family.”
Age-old Halloween traditions will be re-enacted at the Golden Vale Farmhouse where the Bean an Tí will speak about the types of food that typically would have been eaten in Samhain and recall the peculiar superstitions of the time.
The farmhouse also will host Halloween fun with traditional games such as bobbing for apples, blind man’s buff, and snap apple.
Adult visitors will be invited to step back in time at a Victorian-era parlour séance where the secrets of the past will be unveiled.
The Wicked Wake will be hosted in The Shannon Farmhouse where the resident MacNamara family will mourn the loss of their beloved Mickey, whose ghostly presence suggests he has unfinished business in the land of the living.
Visitors can experience a re-enactment of a witch trial by following an angry mob from the village street to Ardcroney Church. Meanwhile, a bewitching duo will take up residence in the kitchen of the Loop Head Farmhouse where mysterious concoctions will be brewing.
At Corry’s Pub on the Village Street, Bunratty’s resident seanchaí Mickey Joe will recount fables of Samhain and hair-raising tall tales passed down through the generations.
Other performances include Halloween puppetry with Konor Halpin, escapologist Monsieur Gusto showcasing his juggling, escapology, and acrobatic skills on October 28, and fun and frightening frolics with Dracula King of Vampires, the Minister of Death, escaped convicts, and mad musicians.
‘Monsters, Misfits, and Mayhem’ takes place from 10.30am to 1.30pm and 2.00pm to 5.00pm each day from October 26 to October.
