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Lughnasadh Facts & Worksheets

Lughnasadh, or Lammas Day, is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season.

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Lughnasadh, or Lammas Day, is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season historically observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.

See the fact file below for more information on the Lughnasadh or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Lughnasadh worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Etymology and History

  • Historically observed by the Old Irish (Gaelic) people, it was originally named the festival Lugnasad – a combination of Lug (the god Lugh) and násad (an assembly). 
  • The modern Irish people later named it Lùnastal, the Manx Gaelic Luanistyn and the Welsh Calan Awst.
  • Lughnasadh was one of the four main festivals of the medieval Celtic calendar: Imbolc in February, Beltane in May, Lughnasadh in August, and Samhain in October.
  • Typically celebrated every August 1st, It marks the time of year when the first grains and fruits are harvested Therefore it is also called ‘First Fruits.’
  • Some also celebrate this festival as Lammas (‘Loaf Mass’), an early Christian feast honoring the bountiful wheat harvest. It was customary for the farmers to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop and receive a blessing for the coming harvests.
  • But in Irish mythology, the Lughnasadh was a funeral feast and athletic competition in commemoration of Lugh’s mother, Tailtiu. She died of exhaustion after clearing the lands of Ireland for agriculture.
  • Meanwhile, Wiccans (pagan religion) believe that the Sun God ages and loses his strength as the Sun rises farther in the south each day and the nights grow longer. To ensure the continuation of the harvest cycle, the first grains are ‘sacrificed.’

Historic Customs

  • Folklorist Máire MacNeill has written historical accounts of Lughnasadh customs, including cutting the first of the corn to serve as an offering to the deity by bringing it up to a high place and burying it.
  • Other practices include preparing a meal of the new food and of bilberries and sacrificing a sacred bull, with a ceremony involving its hide, which later is replaced by a young bull.
  • Ritual plays are also practiced, including a dance-play depicting the struggle for a goddess, a ritual fight, and a play representing the confinement by Lugh of the monster blight or famine, including a three-day celebration presided over by the young god or his human representative.
  • Visiting holy wells was also common as believers would pray for health while walking sunwise around the well. They would then leave offerings, typically coins or clooties.
  • In the Scottish Highlands, people made a special cake called the lunastain. When given to a man, it is called luinean and luineag when given to a woman.
  • Lughnasadh was for handfastings among the Irish – trial marriages that would last a year and a day, either ending the arrangement or formalizing the marriage.

Modern Customs

  • Over time, many traditions died out, some replacing activities for the modern generation.
  • Baking bread made from the first wheat harvest is one of the most common practices and creating a doll out of the wheat parts.
  • Early Lughnasadh ritual climbing was Christianized, and some of the treks were renowned as Christian pilgrimages. 
  • Reek Sunday is the most popular pilgrimage at Croagh Patrick in County Mayo, Ireland, attracting thousands of pilgrims each year.
  • Another famous Lughnasadh festival is Aonach an Phoic, translated as “Fair of the he-goat” or better known as the Puck Fair. It is held each year in early August in the town of Killorglin, County Kerry. 
  • The Puck Fair is celebrated for three days – the 10th, 11th, and 12th of August. On the first day, a wild goat is brought into the town and crowned “king,” while a local girl is crowned “queen.”
  • In recent years, towns in Ireland hold yearly Lughnasa Festivals and Lughnasa Fairs – traditionally conducting traditional music and dancing, arts and crafts workshops, traditional storytelling, and opening markets.
  • The Celtic Neopagans celebrate Lughnasadh every August 1st in the Northern Hemisphere and February 1st in the Southern Hemisphere, while some, during the astronomical midpoint between the summer solstice and autumn equinox.
  • Celtic Reconstructionist pagans try to follow the ancient Gaelic traditions in celebrating Lughnasadh at the time of “first fruits”, or on the full moon nearest this time.
  • The Wiccans still celebrate Lughnasadh as one of the eight yearly “Sabbats” of their Wheel of the Year. Practicing Wiccans observe the holiday by baking a figure of the “corn god” in bread and symbolically sacrificing and eating it.
  • Today, some of the celebrations have been re-dated to the Sunday nearest August 1st.

Lughnasadh Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about the Lughnasadh across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Lughnasadh which is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season historically observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Lughnasadh Facts
  • The God Lugh
  • Lughnasadh Blessings
  • Symbols of Lughnasadh
  • Making a Corn Dolly
  • Recipe to Celebrate
  • A Table Presentation
  • The Four Festivals
  • Grain Deities
  • Lughnasadh Wordfind
  • New Skills this Lughnasadh 

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Link will appear as Lughnasadh Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, July 27, 2023

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.