Today is May 1st, a day that has been celebrated for thousands of years.
It has evolved across the centuries, conjuring a long and varied history, taking forms that included pagan festivals, then secular celebrations, and marches to highlight workers’ demands.
Historians believe that the pagan celebration focused on the earth’s cycle of birth, life and death - and claim that the observance originated in ancient agricultural rituals by the Greeks and Romans.
When the Roman empire conquered Britain, it is known that they held a festival called Floralia, which was devoted to the worship of Flora, the goddess of flowers.
Some of these rituals persevered through the ages and were eventually incorporated into the customs of ancient Celts in Ireland during medieval times.
The start of summer was marked with ancient Celtic ceremonies and rituals at Tara in Co Meath during the Festival of Bealtaine or Beltane.
The May 1st festival was one of the most significant dates in prehistoric and early historic Ireland.
It marked the midway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.
Dr Karen Ward of Dublin City University explains: “Directly translated, Bealtaine means ‘mouth of fire’ coming from the Irish Gaelic word Béal (mouth) and tine (fire) referring to the sun as its light and heat rise further and further towards the Summer Solstice.
“However, others relate the first part of name to the old Irish God ‘Bel’ and also the word ‘Bright’ whereas in our sister Celtic countries this early Summer Festival is called Beltane.”
She adds: “For our ancestors, this early summer season initiated the release of the cattle to the summer pastures.
“It was important that certain rituals were performed to protect them before the journey and so they were driven between two fires where the smoke not only eliminated any parasites on their hides, but was seen to offer protection from illness and theft.”
Pagans, or Druids, faced opposition from the Christian Church.
But the celebration of May Day did not change to a purely Christian one, instead it developed into a secular celebration about labour and farming across the northern hemisphere.
Until it was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic last year, a Bealtaine fire had been lit at the Hill of Uisneach, near Mullingar in Co Westmeath, for a decade by President Michael D Higgins.
The Hill of Uisneach was chosen because pagans thought it was the centre of the country.
Some of the old traditions of lighting fires at sunset on Oíche Bealtaine or May Eve, April 30, still survive in areas of the country like parts of Munster.
People would historically walk between the fires to bring them luck, while jumping over the bonfire was said to ensure fertility.
On the morning of May 1st, people would rise at dawn to collect flowers to hang across doorways and outside windows.
Dr Ward added: “Young maidens were also up early to wash their faces in the morning dew to enhance their chances of procuring a lover with a wish tied to the May Bush, usually a small Hawthorn tree, decorated with bright flowers, ribbons and sweet foods.
“We can see England’s version of this with their maypole customs as young lovers criss-crossed the gaily coloured streamers in time to the Morris dancers’ bells.”
While the exact origins of the maypole remain unknown, the annual traditions surrounding it can be traced back to medieval times.
Historians believe the first maypole folk dance originated as part of a fertility ritual, where the pole symbolised male fertility and baskets and wreaths were symbols of female fertility.
In the 19th century, May Day took on a new meaning, as an International Workers’ Day grew out of the 19th Century labour movement for worker’s rights and an eight-hour working day.
Men, women and children were dying every year from poor working conditions and long hours amid the industrial revolution.
Marches were held in countries around the world on May 1st in a bid to end the inhumane conditions.
As a result, May Day is also called Workers’ Day to remember the struggles and gains made by unions.
For example, in America, over 300,000 workers, walked out of their jobs across the country on May 1, 1886, a move which led to disturbances known as the Haymarket Riot.
In 1889, an international federation of socialist groups and trade unions designated May 1st as a day in support of workers in commemoration of the Haymarket Riot.
US president Grover Cleveland signed legislation in 1894 to recognise Workers’ Day, but he moved it to September 1st and is now known in the US as Labor Day.
However, marches continued on May 1st for several more years, with photos showing a large march in New York City on May 1, 1909.
Today, May Day is an official holiday in 66 countries, including Ireland, around the world and is unofficially celebrated in many more.
Modern day events for Féile na Bealtaine are listed on the feilenabealtaine.ie website.