Bonfire night

Daroxtar · 21-06-2011 11:12PM

We have them in Sligo too, Bonfire night and St.Stephens night were usually the two nights of the year you'd be guaranteed a serious trad session in our local.

Rhys Essien · 21-06-2011 11:53PM

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Twas brought up on ray foley today and apparently Mayo is a hotbed for it on the 23rd of June. Dublin Louth and Tipperary it appears fo not be a big thing. So which counties is it big in and when isn't it ?

Tis big in cork.

I've only ever heard about this going on in Cork City.Cannot say the same for the county.Although for halloween they would be popular all over.

W.Shakes-Beer · 21-06-2011 11:55PM

Come up to Coolock, its bonfire night every night here.

JONJO THE MISER · 22-06-2011 12:03AM

Never heard about this before, it certainly doesn't happen in kerry or cork.

milehip1 · 22-06-2011 12:05AM

policarp wrote: »

Halloween is it not?

FatherLen wrote: »

i havent seen a bonfire in dublin other than on halloween

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

aw you country folk, how quaint.

Blisterman wrote: »

From Dublin, and I've never head of this before.

Simple-ass city dwellers!
always good for a laugh;)

rossie1977 · 22-06-2011 12:12AM

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

Never heard about this before, it certainly doesn't happen in kerry or cork.

you never heard of bonfire night....:eek:

as a kid growing in roscommon you would be building up to june 23rd for about 6 months

hondasam · 22-06-2011 12:32AM

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

Never heard about this before, it certainly doesn't happen in kerry or cork.

Cork is well know for it's bonfires, there is always trouble with the fire brigade.

Where To · 22-06-2011 12:35AM

Used to be big in Donegal too but electricity and telephones and other gadgetry have ruined it:mad:

The Scientician · 22-06-2011 12:35AM

We had a bonfire of sorts last friday night cos we knew it would be lashing this week.

It's still common practice in Tyrone anyway.

Show Time · 22-06-2011 12:40AM

There is something about watching a good bonna that brings out the inner caveman in us all.

annascott · 22-06-2011 12:43AM

Bonfire night is 5th November. It is the night for fireworks too. I've never understood why they have them at halloween here....

Duckworth_Luas · 22-06-2011 12:44AM

annascott wrote: »

Bonfire night is 5th November. It is the night for fireworks too. I've never understood why they have them at halloween here....

Not in Ireland it aint!:eek:

Cú Giobach · 22-06-2011 09:09AM

annascott wrote: »

Bonfire night is 5th November. It is the night for fireworks too. I've never understood why they have them at halloween here....

And Bastille Day is the 14th of July we don't celebrate that either.
Halloween (Samhain) was one of the main celtic festivals, it was a time when the barriers were down between the worlds and the start of the long dark time of the year, it's old, very old indeed.

Lots of bonfire building going on here at the moment.

FinnLizzy · 23-06-2011 06:51PM

A good sign of inter community peace in NI is when you see Loyalists embracing Irish Catholic culture by placing our dear flag ontop of a pile of wood, high above the Union Flags with a replica of the Pope beneath (wearing a Celtic jersey, Because we all know the Pope is a big fan of the Scottish football)
I wish I could have stuck around for the festivities at nightfall, but I'm sure that by the next day, the flag and effigy were taken down with reverence.

:D:D

Truley · 23-06-2011 07:08PM

Bonfire night has always been huge in Sligo, and when I moved to Dublin I couldn't find a single person that knew what the hell it was. I always loved it because the weather would be good and it coincided with the end of school. It's much mellower than Halloween because you don't have the dodgy youths, fireworks and 'Devil's night' mentality surrounding it. People just sit out in the bright evening chatting and toasting marshmallows.

Joe10000 · 23-06-2011 09:49PM

I have just driven from Galway to west Mayo and there were none in galway and yet the whole of Mayo seems to be on fire , one every few miles but a lot of them seem to be an excuse for burning domestic/farm rubbish as there was nobody near most of them.

charlemont · 23-06-2011 09:53PM

Theres a small one on the street now and I can see several piles of smoke around the city so plenty of bonfires here

Mickeroo · 23-06-2011 10:03PM

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

Not in Ireland it aint!:eek:

In fairness I was always surprised we don't celebrate Guy Fawkes night here considering quite a few Irish people would have been happy to see the Houses of Parliament go boom back in the day :pac:

Bonfire was always great fun when I was growing up, the whole village would get together and we'd get to go off and kiss girls in the bushes.

frantic190 · 23-06-2011 10:05PM

Don't think I have ever seen a bonfire on the 23rd of June here.

Maybe I don't get out enough

Ghost Estate · 23-06-2011 10:12PM

Dublin is too much into health & safety for having fun. Except for shagging strangers which goes a long way to make up for it i suppose

Duckworth_Luas · 23-06-2011 10:15PM

Mickeroo wrote: »

Bonfire was always great fun when I was growing up, the whole village would get together and we'd get to go off and kiss girls our cousins in the bushes.

FYP

Location: Mayo

In fairness you asked for it

Where To · 23-06-2011 10:20PM

My grandmother used to refer to bonfire night (June 23) as "the night for burning the protestant bones"

I could never find a historical reference for this so I assume she was just a bitter ould sod

Duckworth_Luas · 23-06-2011 10:36PM

where do i go from here wrote: »

My grandmother used to refer to bonfire night (June 23) as "the night for burning the protestant bones"

I could never find a historical reference for this so I assume she was just a bitter ould sod

Bonfire night goes back to before protestants, before Catholics, before any form of Christianity. It's a pagan festival, nothing to do with protestants or Catholics. It must be only herself who had this bizarre phrase.

We used to always build our fire around an animal bone though. Why? Because that's what the older boys did, and the older boys before them, and before them, all the way back to prehistory when it had some sort of meaning. The local butcher would give us a cows leg (it seemed like it) and the fire would be built around it.

In the English language bonfire was originally bone-fire I believe.

Cú Giobach · 23-06-2011 10:45PM

Mickeroo wrote: »

In fairness I was always surprised we don't celebrate Guy Fawkes night here considering quite a few Irish people would have been happy to see the Houses of Parliament go boom back in the day :pac:

If we were going to celebrate Guy Fawkes we should do it on April 13th, his birthday. Since Nov 5th was the day they caught him, and the day celebrates the fact he didn't blow up the Houses of Parliament. :pac:

Fires all over the place here.

Buddinplant · 24-06-2011 12:15PM

there was bonfire building going on in the green in front of the house in sligo, being from Tipperary, i was utterly confused about this tradition, and actually just put it down to being in the 'Whest' until i saw what was going into the fire... in tipperary we call em the corporation skip days :P

CHealy · 24-06-2011 12:33PM

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

Never heard about this before, it certainly doesn't happen in kerry or cork.

I dont know about down the sticks but in Cork city its a massive night. Usually turn ugly though, last night being no different. Was woken up at 2 o clock in the morning to stones and fireworks being thrown at the fire brigade and squad cars. And I live in a quiet area, god only knows what carrying on went on up the northside

Mickeroo · 24-06-2011 12:55PM

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

FYP

Location: Mayo

In fairness you asked for it

Touché!! :pac:

dpe · 24-06-2011 01:17PM

Cú Giobach wrote: »

If we were going to celebrate Guy Fawkes we should do it on April 13th, his birthday. Since Nov 5th was the day they caught him, and the day celebrates the fact he didn't blow up the Houses of Parliament. :pac:

Fires all over the place here.

Exactly. November 5th has its roots in anti-catholic sentiment. Hardly a fitting celebration in Ireland. Oh, wait...

kraggy · 24-06-2011 01:34PM

I'm from Galway city and it doesnt exist there. Bonfire night is halloween. Halloween itself originated in ireland and is hundreds of years older than guy fawks so whoever said November 5th is bonfire night can go and walk on hot coals.

24-06-2014 08:55PM

Heard that there was trouble in Cork for bonfire's night. I see its become a community event in Mayo with community fires. That's a bit sad !!

Bonfire night

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