The Festival of Lughnasa

Paganismn and pagan ritual are central theme of Friel’s play. The play is set during the festival of Lughnasa, (pronounded LOO-nus-uh) a local pagan harvest ritual honouring the Celtic god Lugh. in the early twentieth century in Ireland, a form of the traditional festival and its rites were still being observed often featuring drunken revelry an dancing around bonfires.

The “many-skilled” Lugh has been described as “the Celtic god of just about everything,” According to one of his many legends, Lugh was the last great leader of the Tuatha de Dannan. In one of the Tuatha’s victories, Lugh spared the life of Bres, a defeated enemy captain, in exchange for advice on ploughing, sowing, and reaping. He was seen as a multi-talented deity, being capable and quite good at all he undertook. The myths of Lugh include the prevalence of his many skills and the alliance of these skills to the potential of the land. According to the writing of Caesar, he was also regarded as the patron of all the arts, travelling, and influence in money and commerce. To the Romans, Lugh was seen as a counterpart to Mercury. Lugh is the son of Arianrhod, who is associated with sacred kingship and Three-fold Death. His wife’s name is Blodeuwedd, also known as the Flower Maiden.

The festival marked the beginning of the harvest season, the gathering of grain, the ripening of the first fruits (usually berries), and was traditionally a time of community gatherings, market festivals, horse races and reunions, with distant family and friends. Among the Irish it was a favoured time for “handfastings”, trial marriages that would generally last a year and a day, with the opinion of ending the contract before the new year, or later formalizing it was a more permanent marriage.

In modern times on mainland Europe and in Ireland many people continue to celebrate the holiday with bonfires and dancing. the Christian church was established the ritual of blessing the fields on this day. Irish communities across the world often preserve the La Lunasa festivities with families are still choosing August as the tradiional time for family reunions and parties, though due to modern schedules these events have sometimes been moved to adjacent secular holidays, such as the Fourth of July.

The god of Lughnasa’s presence in the play is particularly evident as the god of music (played haphazardly through the radio he inhabits), the dance that results and the impact on the passions of the characters.