I grew up in Co. Louth watching the August harvest come in. The tractors moving through the fields in the late evening, the cut hay lying in rows, the smell of it, warm and sweet and slightly dusty, drifting across the road. It was one of those smells that meant something had shifted. Summer was at its height and the year was starting, quietly, to turn.
I didn't know then that there was an ancient Irish festival for exactly this moment. That for thousands of years, the first of August had been marked as Lughnasa, a day of games and gathering, of giving thanks for the harvest, of standing on hilltops and looking out across a land that was finally producing.
I know it now. And the more I learn about it, the more I think it's one of the most important festivals we've let slip.
What is Lughnasa?
Lughnasa (pronounced LOO-na-sa) falls on the 1st of August and is one of the four great Celtic festivals that mark the turning of the Irish year. The others are Imbolc (1st February), Bealtaine (1st May) and Samhain (31st October). Together they divide the year not by the solstices and equinoxes of the astronomical calendar, but by the rhythms of the land from sowing to growing to harvesting and resting.
Lughnasa is the harvest festival. It marks the point when the first grain is cut, the first new potatoes are lifted, the first fruits are ready. It's the moment the year's growing work begins to pay off.
The name itself means 'the assembly of Lugh' or 'Lugh's gathering' and it's named after one of the most important figures in Irish mythology. Lugh was the god of skill, light and craftsmanship. He was said to be master of every art from warrior, craftsman, harper, poet to healer, all at once. He was the shining one, the long armed, the many gifted. And in August, in the height of the growing season, this is his festival.
The story of Lugh and Tailtiu
Lughnasa wasn't established as a celebration of the harvest itself. It was established as a memorial.
Lugh held the festival each year in honour of his foster mother, Tailtiu. She was queen of the Fir Bolg, one of the mythological races who inhabited Ireland before the Tuatha Dé Danann arrived. When the Tuatha Dé Danann came, Tailtiu didn't fight them. Instead she did something far more remarkable.
She cleared the great forests of Ireland so that the land could be farmed.
The old texts say she worked so hard, clearing so many trees, breaking so much ground, that the effort killed her. She died with the work done, the plains open, the soil ready, the people able to grow food for the first time on that scale. She gave her life so that others could eat.
Lugh grieved her deeply. And so he established games and gatherings in her memory every August, at the time of the first harvest, when the work she had given her life to make possible was bearing fruit.
The Tailteann Games, held at Teltown in Co. Meath, were the Irish equivalent of the Olympic Games, continuing for centuries. They included athletic competitions, horse racing, poetry and music. Lugh himself was said to have started them.
Lugh and Co. Louth: A connection closer to home
For families in Co. Louth, Lughnasa carries a particular resonance. The county itself is believed to be named after Lugh, the Irish name for the county is simply Lú, from Lugh himself.
Louth is Lugh's county. The landscape where we live, where these festivals were observed for thousands of years, still carries his name. When we mark Lughnasa here, we're not reaching for a distant mythology, we're standing in it.
And every August, the connection becomes visible in one of the most beautiful sporting events in Ireland.
The Poc Fada: Lugh's games in the Cooley Mountains
The Poc Fada competition is held each August in the Cooley Mountains in Co. Louth, not far from where the Táin Bó Cúailnge (the great cattle raid of Irish mythology) is set. Competitors hit a sliotar over mountain terrain, covering miles of rough ground in as few strokes as possible. It's gruelling, beautiful and completely unlike any other competition in the GAA calendar.
Lugh is said to have invented the game of hurling. He taught it to the Tuatha Dé Danann and played it in the great games he established at Lughnasa. The Poc Fada in the Cooleys, held in the month of his festival, in a county that carries his name, is a living continuation of that tradition, whether the players know it or not.
There's something quietly extraordinary about that. The games Lugh established thousands of years ago to honour Tailtiu are still being played in August, in this landscape, by people who have grown up beside these mountains.
What the harvest meant and what it meant to risk losing it
It's easy to celebrate the harvest in an abstract way now, when food comes from supermarkets and a failed crop doesn't mean anyone goes hungry. But for most of human history in Ireland, the harvest wasn't guaranteed. A wet summer, a late blight, a poor growing year and what came in at Lughnasa determined whether there would be enough to carry the family through the winter ahead.
When the first grain was cut and the first potatoes were lifted, it wasn't just a cause for celebration. It was relief. The year had worked. The land had come through. There would be enough.
The smell of cut hay that I remember from childhood, that warm, dusty sweetness drifting across the fields of Louth, was the smell of that relief. The harvest was in. The year was turning. Everything was going to be alright.
The last Sunday of July is sometimes called Garland Sunday or Bilberry Sunday. Traditionally, families climbed hills to pick bilberries (Fraochán in Irish). These are small, sharp sweet berries, also known as European blueberries, that ripen in the uplands in late July and August. The picking was a marker that Lughnasa was near.
What grows at Lughnasa: In the garden and in the wild
Lughnasa is the peak of the Irish growing year. Here's what's happening in gardens and in the wild around the 1st of August:
In the garden
- New potatoes: The first lift of the year. Nothing tastes quite like a potato pulled straight from the ground in August.
- Runner beans and French beans: They will be in peak production. Pick every few days to keep them cropping.
- Courgettes and tomatoes: Harvest daily if possible. A courgette left three days in August becomes a marrow.
- Sunflowers: The first heads are fully open. Children who planted them in spring can measure them now.
- Radishes and salad leaves: If you sowed in July, these should be ready or almost ready.
In the wild
- Bilberries (Fraochán): On upland and boggy ground, ready for picking now.
- The first blackberries: Earlier in warm years, usually appearing in hedgerows by late July.
- Elderberries: Green now, turning deep purple through August and September.
- Hawthorn berries (haws): Just beginning to colour. Deep red by September.
- Wild raspberries: In woodland edges and hedgerows in good years.
How to celebrate Lughnasa with children today
You don't need a hillside or a field or even a garden. Here are ways to mark the festival that work for families anywhere in Ireland.
Cook something from the first harvest
New potatoes, fresh bread, a simple berry dessert. The act of making and eating food together is the oldest way of marking this festival. If you can use something you've grown, even just herbs from a windowsill pot, so much the better.
Go bilberry picking
If you're near upland ground such as the Cooleys, the Wicklow Mountains, the Mournes, late July and early August is bilberry season. Bring small containers and let the children pick. The berries are sharp and sweet and taste completely unlike anything from a supermarket. This is what Irish children did on Garland Sunday for generations.
Climb a hill
Lughnasa was a hilltop festival. The gathering, the games, the view across a landscape that was producing, all of it happened on high ground. A walk to any viewpoint, even a small one, and taking a moment to look out across the fields and notice what's growing, what's been cut, what's still to come, is enough.
Talk about Tailtiu
Tell your children the story of the woman who cleared the forests so the people could eat, and who died doing it. It's a story about work, sacrifice and gratitude and it's the reason Lugh held the games. Lughnasa is ultimately a festival of remembrance for someone who gave everything to make growing possible.
Notice the harvest around you
Even in a city, August has a particular quality, the light is changing, the evenings are shortening almost imperceptibly, the trees are heavy. Go for a walk and look for the signs of the harvest such as fruit on trees, berries in hedgerows, sunflowers facing south. Ask children what they notice that wasn't there in June.
Discover more Irish seasonal folklore
Four Stories for the Turning Year is a free collection of Irish nature myths for families. One story for each season, rooted in the same traditions that gave us Lughnasa, Samhain, Imbolc and Bealtaine. Written to read aloud together. Download it free below.
Grow and explore the seasons with Little Sprouts
The Little Sprouts Garden Box is a monthly nature subscription for Irish children aged 3–9. Every month follows the Irish seasonal calendar, from the organic seeds to grow, the Irish folklore story, seasonal crafts and recipes. August's box is rooted in the harvest season. No garden needed.
Frequently asked questions
When is Lughnasa celebrated in Ireland?
Lughnasa falls on the 1st of August. In the old Irish calendar it marked the beginning of the harvest season and was one of the four great Celtic festivals alongside Imbolc (1st February), Bealtaine (1st May) and Samhain (31st October). Some modern celebrations extend across the last week of July and first week of August.
How do you pronounce Lughnasa?
Lughnasa is pronounced LOO-na-sa. The festival is also sometimes called Lúnasa, which is the modern Irish word for the month of August.
Who is Lugh in Irish mythology?
Lugh (pronounced Loo) is one of the most important figures in Irish mythology. He was a god of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the supernatural race who inhabited Ireland before humans. He was the god of skill, light and craftsmanship, said to be master of every art and trade. He is associated with the sun, with games and with the harvest. Lugh is believed to have invented the game of hurling. Co. Louth is named after him, its Irish name, Lú, derives directly from Lugh.
What did people do at Lughnasa in ancient Ireland?
Lughnasa was a time of assembly, games and celebration. The great Tailteann Games, held in Co. Meath, featured athletic competitions, horse racing, music and poetry. Families gathered on hilltops, picked the first fruits and gave thanks for the harvest. The festival was also a time of fairs and markets, of settling debts and making contracts. It was one of the most important social occasions of the year.
Is there a modern celebration of Lughnasa in Ireland?
Yes. The Poc Fada competition in the Cooley Mountains of Co. Louth is held each August and is directly connected to the games Lugh established at Lughnasa. Croagh Patrick in Co. Mayo is climbed on Reek Sunday, the last Sunday of July, which is believed to predate Christianity and connect to Lughnasa traditions. The Puck Fair in Killorglin, Co. Kerry, is also thought to have roots in the ancient harvest festival.
What is the connection between Lughnasa and bilberries?
Bilberry picking, known as fraochán or fraughan picking in Ireland, was a traditional Lughnasa activity. Families climbed hills and mountains on Garland Sunday (the last Sunday of July) to pick the small, sharp-sweet berries that ripen on upland ground in late July and August. The picking marked the approach of the harvest festival and was a social occasion, particularly for young people. The tradition is still practised in some parts of Ireland.
