Spooky fun at Bunratty and King John’s Castle for Halloween season

A special programme of chilling events with hair raising surprises await visitors to Bunratty Castle & Folk Park in Clare and King John’s Castle in the heart of Limerick City this Halloween. Monsters, misfits and mayhem will be the order of the day.

This Halloween midterm Bunratty Castle & Folk Park is returning to its Irish pagan roots and will mark the festival of Samhain in its own unique way. Focusing on the old Irish traditions associated with this time of year, visitors are invited to come and experience a traditional Irish Samhain (or Halloween) from Saturday October 23rd to 31st.

As part of the events, Bunratty Castle will unveil a creepy crypt full of scary surprises. Should you dare cross the threshold of this ancient structure beware of ghostly voices and spooky sounds at every turn. The fortress’ creepy castle guides tell you all about the deadly dungeon or monstrous murder hole.

Visitors are encouraged to dress in costume and join the village characters dressed in traditional Halloween attire as they lurk around dark corners of the Folk Park!

Over the past few weeks, local primary schools have been busy getting into the Samhain Spirit creating lifestyle scarecrows which will be on display throughout the park over midterm. Visitors are invited to take a stroll across our spooky 26-acre park and rate their favourite scarecrow based on design, originality and of course “scary-ness”. The school with the winning scarecrow will receive a special prize.

Halloween was a day that feasts were held and this tradition will be a central theme of Bunratty Folk Park’s celebrations as the resident Bean an Tí’s, dressed in costume, demonstrate the food that typically would have been eaten during Samhain including homemade Apple Pies and Brambrack. Traditionally a slice of brack would be left outside on all hallows eve so that any passing Faeries or Spirits could feast and bestow good luck upon a household.

The Bunratty Folk Park fairies are also getting into the Halloween spirit and have transformed their magical fairy village into a frightening forest for all to enjoy. Beware of creepy creatures lurking behind trees, gruesome gravestones and petrifying pumpkins at every turn, it is sure to keep the littlest of monsters entertained.

Halloween Week at King John’s Castle

King John’s Castle is partnering with Fidget Feet Aerial Dance, Lumen Street Theatre and the Samhain Halloween festival to bring a spine-tingling schedule of events to the iconic riverside visitor attraction. Halloween events at the Castle will run from the 23rd to the 31st October.

Fidget Feet will perform a daring aerial dance and bring witches, werewolves and spirits flying high above the castle in search of young victims!!! Performances will take place from 29th to 31st October running at 11.30am, 1.00pm & 3.00pm.

On October 28th at 5.30pm the Castle will resound with the sound of children from ‘Sing out with Strings’, the Irish Chamber Orchestras’ flagship community engagement programme. They will perform spine tingling Halloween music presented as part of the Samhain Halloween Festival.

On October 26th and 27th, the Castle will welcome the return of Planet Science Kidz as they host a series of Spooktacular Science workshops across the two days. This hands-on STEM Halloween Lab will allow kids to discover science and explore gooey topics in Chemistry.

Courtesy of Lumen Steet Theatre, King John’s Castle will also showcase a display of extraordinary Halloween costumes and props. Visitors can stop for a selfie in the spooky surrounds of Limerick’s most formidable fortress.

To wrap up the Halloween festivities, King John’s Castle, in co-operation with Lumen, join Morbid & Sons Victorian Undertakers on Castle Parade for a street side interactive, macabre show about death and the afterlife as part of Samhain: Limerick’s Halloween Festival.

The Samhain activities at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park run from the 23rd to October 31st inclusive and tickets are now on sale on www.bunrattycastle.ie/halloween. Events at King John’s Castle are capacity controlled and prebooking is essential visit www.kingjohnscastle.com/halloween