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Alright, if you've just started here, please be aware I finally updated with three new posts today, so please scroll down to view the two I posted before this one!
Halloween in Ireland is a strange thing. First of all, Galwegians (well, all Irish people in fact, but Galwegians especially) take full advantage of any excuse they have to drink copious amounts of alcohol. So, with the bank holiday on the 26th of October and Halloween on the 31st, there exists an entire week of mayhem in between. Pubs and clubs are packed to the brim each night and during the day people don masks and animal heads while they nurse their hangovers over a pre-noon pint.

Other than this, there are several other unique Halloween traditions:

-Peanuts (and other nuts) are handed out in their shells along with the usual candy.

-It is also common for children to ask for money.

-Marshmallows seem to be a standard Halloween treat as well. My personal favorite: Malloweens! I just couldn't resist the wordplay...or the chocolate flavoured coating.

-Halloween barm brack. This is a bread with sultanas/raisins, candied peel, and spices. Several items were traditionally baked into it, and depending on which item was in your share of the bread, it foretold something about your life. Nowadays, you usually only find a ring baked into the bracks, which symbolizes luck in love. I purchased one at the store, brought it home and cut it into quarters for me, my mom, Amber, and Beth to share. Well, we basically tore the bread apart piece by piece and crumb for crumb searching for the ring...and we couldn't find it! I was swearing at the destroyed loaf calling it a pathetic reject. Apparently, the four of us were all doomed to lives lived without love! Mom and Amber ate all of their pieces, so we knew (or sure as hell hoped) the ring wasn't in their half. Beth and I weren't too big of fans of the brack (Beth didn't like the raisins and I despised the bits of candied orange peel), so it took a bit longer for us to pick through ours. We had pretty much given up entirely when lo! Beth found the tiny, paper-wrapped ring! Let me tell you, it's a good thing those things come with a warning about letting children eat them alone because they could easily have swallowed that ring!
Where the heck is it?
There it is!

That night, we dressed up and went to our friend Jaci's house for a Halloween get-together. We attempted to go out later that night, but I only lasted for about ten minutes in the sardine-tin-like pub. A fun night nonetheless!