Halloween Bonfires

We never had Halloween bonfires in our neck of the woods.

Bonfire night was June 23rd, the eve of the feast of St John.

Always a great night as a kid.

Dont see the problem with a Halloween bonfire, if done correctly by local council or something. Not one of those burning tyres and sh1t you were too cheap to dispose of during the year bonfires.

It's a nice connection to our ancient past and what our ancestors did to celebrate this time of year.

What part of the country is this?

As explained already, it not much of the rest of the country but regardless if you have environmental concerns and are aware of a potential bonfire you can always report it to the council.

What do you think they burned back in the day? Any old shite that'd burn probably got thrown in

Galway City had quite a few back in the day. Each 'area' had its own one. A week or two before Halloween night, the local kids/teens would go around to each house looking for and gathering the materials to burn. That was around 10-15 years ago. The last couple of years I can hardly remember one? I know that council began clamping down hard a couple of years ago - seeking out stashes prior to the night. When a bonfire was lit, the fire dept were quickly dispatched.

The council will not attend bonfire collection sites without the Gardai in attendance in many areas of Dublin anyway. The Gardai themselves are afraid to go into some of these areas also.

Would you have a problem if the bonfire was say 20 meters from your front door or is it okay because it's in someone else's green area?

No of course not im only stating fact that some council call outs will not be responded to because of the danger involved.

Let’s stamp out any bit of fun.

I'm going to presume you're a teenager if you still get your kicks out of lighting fires. Join your local scout troop. If it's a good one they'll teach you proper backwoods skills including how to have a proper and safe campfire, you'll get used to them and they won't be a fascination any more.

Our local Halloween bonfire was stopped, too many morons throwing crap that shouldn't be in a fire. DCC come and take any stockpiling.

Only Limerick and I think somewhere in the Midlands have a bonfire night for Bealtaine.

It's a pity it was never made official with a properly organised festival because now it's mostly just kids with tiny fires full of stuff like mattresses that they haven't copped are flame retardant now.

Still the case in NW Donegal, Johns Eve bonfires not Halloween.

Halloween, St Patrick's day night, new years, all have been turned into a free pass to act like a scumbag. This is why we can't have nice things.

I'm from Mayo and as I said bonfire night was and still is 23rd of June.

And as the posters quoted say it's still a thing in Donegal and Cork.

But I live in Kerry and I am laughed out of it when I mention bonfires on the 23rd of June.

They have no concept of it at all.

So where is the country did people have and still have bonfires on the 23rd June?

We just called it bonfire night, no mention of Saint John. Must be the pagan streak in Southern Donegal.

Out local bonfire is run by the local residents committee in a local field a good bit away from any houses in the estate. It’s very well run, there are no scrotes throwing anything at anyone. Everyone can come along safely and enjoy it. I’m middle aged. I’d love to be a teenager again, but back in the 90s again, not nowadays.

OK, fair enough. Have to say, I've teenagers and they have some life compared to my teenage years!!

The scorch marks that last almost a year.

No thanks.

I follow the live bonfire maps from Dublin City Fire Brigade most Halloweens. I'd be lying if I didn't fly my snob flag by being really happy I have always lived in places that never show on it.

Bonfires are a bit of a non issue around Meath, the odd one here and there but not many, plenty of fireworks though.

Think we're a little too grown up as a country and too ready to strangle any fun left in life.

Nope, it's a tradition dating back to the druids, Bone fires, they rodded from us ;)

can't beat the smell of a good old autumnal fire.

There used to be two bonfires in my estate: one for the lads up the hill and one for the lads down the hill. There was a rivalry where we would steal each others' wood and even have to fend off raids from neighbouring housing estates, so for the whole month of October we would spend our evenings guarding our material.

As the estate aged, that was reduced to one bonfire and about 10 years ago the fire brigade started extinguishing the bonfire. Used to be a great way to dispose of wood, old couches and mattresses. We used to stack the mattresses on top of each other to make a wrestling ring and a neighbour, who worked for a cable TV company, would always bring us wooden drums, which we'd perform high-flying manoeuvres off of.

Once you hit 15/16, you venture out of your housing estate on Halloween and get up to mischief elsewhere. Lads would start drinking or smoking hash or both and wouldn't want to do that in front of their neighbours. The tradition was then passed down to the next generation.