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Spooky season is well and truly under way, but not many people know that Halloween actually began life in a dark and wet cave in Ireland.
Known as the Gate to Hell, the Oweynagat Cave is where there pre-Christian festival known as Samhain began.
The Samhain festival turned into Halloween, butwas a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or “darker half” of the year.
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And its origins date back 5,500 year to the cave near Rathcrogan in the ancient capital of Connacht.
According to a BBC investigation, the tunnel cave stretches around 37m (121ft) below ground.
It is said that the area is is where ancient Celts believed a doorway to the other world existed.
Archaeologist and historian, Dr Daniel Curley told the BBC: “At least as long as 2,000 years ago locals believed that the gate between the worlds opened on 31 October.
“This was to allow for the transition of seasons between autumn and winter.
“Monsters and manifestations would emerge, led by the goddess Morríghan, to create a world ready for winter, including birds with foul breath that would strip leaves from trees.
“Locals would stay indoors in fear of being dragged into the other world when the ghouls had finished ravaging the land – If you had to go outside you wore a costume and mask to look hideous.
“That way you would be left alone and not dragged into the other world.”
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It is not actually know when Halloween switched form Samhain the to chocolate-stealing festival we know and love today, however.
And Samhain is still celebrated today among many Celts and Wiccans – but in a more religious way, rather than the running-around-dressed-up way.
Wiccans see the day as the most important of the four “greater Sabbats”, and use it to celebrate the memories of those who have died, such as ancestors, relatives or pets.
Some even travel to the Gate to Hell cave for the occasion.
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