In Ireland, we’ve had a dual tradition of conventional Christianity running alongside older folk religions. The year was marked with Christian festivals applied as thin veneers over the ancient underlying (so called) Celtic calendar, which originated in something much older and mysterious.<\/p>\n
St John’s Eve<\/a> is a typical Christian front applied to the folk celebration of the summer solstice which occurs around the 21st June, the longest day of the year. The actual Feast of St John the Baptist falls on the 24th June (known as midsummer day), and ‘Celtic\u2019 festivals start at sundown on the evening before the feast day, when the major festivities occur. It’s an event known as Bonna Night<\/a> in Cork.<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n From RT\u00c9 Archives, Ciar\u00e1n Mac Math\u00fana’s Fires of St John: Midsummer in County Clare reports on St John’s Eve boinfires and traditions near Spancil Hill in Co Clare<\/p>\n While gathering around a community bonfire was a chief part of St John\u2019s Eve well into living memory, the custom has become unknown in some regions. To this day though, bonfires blaze on hilltops in some areas and the sight of them still prove quite a spectacle, reminding us of the pivotal time in the calendar.<\/p>\n A visual spectacle<\/p>\n For the St John\u2019s Eve bonfire, a spot was chosen at a high vantage point so that it could be seen and it tended to be the same location every year. The visual aspect of the bonfires on every hilltop was important. Writing in the 1820s, Thomas Crofton Croker described<\/a> St John\u2019s Eve: \u2018the effect produced by fires lighted early in the evening on the highest points of the surrounding [landscape\u2026] was very impressive”.<\/p>\n Young and old were involved in gathering fuel for the fire; turf, furze, old hay and any waste materials were collected. Old bones were considered good fuel as these would burn for a long time (the word bonfire has its origins in \u2018bone fire\u2019). As with other European bonfire customs, people would preserve bones specifically to be burned in the bonfire, especially those of animals who had been sick<\/a>, in the hope that it would somehow purify the rest of the herd of disease.<\/p>\n Processions, food and cures<\/p>\n There were often processions to the bonfires, with applause and cheering as the fire was lit around sunset. It was notable<\/a> as a community get-together usually with no appointed leaders, religious or secular, and the fire was responsibly managed.<\/p>\n The midsummer bonfire was associated<\/a> with luck and purification, and the tangible remains of the ashes were thought to be good fortune and spiritual cure for the year ahead. As the fire burned, a treat called ‘goody’ was served for the occasion in some regions: it was a mixture of bread in hot milk with sugar and spices. Early potatoes were sometimes roasted in the fire and shared.<\/p>\n Obtaining a light from the bonfire was considered lucky and whoever came home first with the \u2018sacred\u2019 fire was thought to bring the good luck of the year with them. Jumping through the bonfire was a common custom<\/a>. A farmer might do this to ensure a bigger yield for his crops or livestock, while engaged couples would jump together as a sort of pre-wedding purification ritual. Single people jumped through in the hope it would bring them a future spouse.<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n From RT\u00c9 Radio 1’s Today With Sean O’Rourke in 2017, folklorist Michael Fortune discusses St John’s Eve traditions <\/p>\n Finally, the fire was raked over and any cattle not yet at the summer pasture<\/a> were driven through the smouldering smoke and ashes to ensure good luck. The remaining ash was scattered over crops or could be mixed into building materials to encourage good luck in a building. The ash was considered curative too, and some mixed it with water and drank as medicine. Embers were brought into the house as protective talismans.<\/p>\n Bonfires in Irish folk tradition were a chief feature of both St John\u2019s Eve and Bealtaine<\/a> (May 1st) but there were some differences. St John\u2019s Eve was a regular working day usually with communal bonfires lit only after the day\u2019s toil was complete, while Bealtaine was a day off with both community and home bonfires in most areas.<\/p>\n On St John’s Day itself, holy wells <\/a>were visited and some fairs were held. It was believed herbs gathered on St John\u2019s Day itself had an extra potency and would be reserved for use in folk medicine and divination, such as St John\u2019s wort, foxgloves, mugwort and yarrow. It was customary for people to take their first swim of the year at this time. People predicted<\/a> the weather too at this time of year with one saying predicting “Midsummer rain spoils hay and grain”.<\/p>\n In some parts of Ireland, bonfires were lit on the Eve of Saints Peter and Paul<\/a> (June 28th) instead of St John’s Eve. The tradition was known in the east and south-east of the island and in some parts of the country it was known as Little St John\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n From RT\u00c9 Archives, Stella Carroll reports for Nationwide in 2002 on the rituals and rites associated with Ireland’s holy wells<\/p>\n Ancient fires and sun worship<\/p>\n As ceremonial bonfires are part of archetypal pre-Christian rituals (as depicted in films from The Wicker Man<\/a> to Midsommar<\/a>), one might wonder how long our ancestors have been lighting them to mark midsummer. Although there have been some examples of urban St John\u2019s bonfires, they are predominantly rural and seem intrinsically linked with agriculture. It may be the case that comparable rituals were found in early farming communities in Ireland.<\/p>\n The solstices represented key points in the farming calendar, and the summer solstice marked the time when the sun was at its height in the sky. The sun was the governing force<\/a> that ruled the lives of people in the ancient world. As far back as the 5th Century, St Patrick alluded<\/a> to people who worshipped the sun and not Christ.<\/p>\n In Irish Heritage<\/a>, Estyn Evans speculated that midsummer fires were lit from ancient times to keep the sun, now at its highest point and about to decline, on its course. By the 19th century, as Thomas Crofton Croker noted<\/a>, the feast was not for St John but \u2018a popular custom of remote antiquity and a remain of pagan rites in honour of the sun\u2019.<\/p>\n Going further back, there is evidence that some Neolithic monuments were aligned to sunrise and sunset at certain times of the year. Newgrange<\/a> is the most well-known astronomically aligned monument in Ireland, and several other Neolithic tombs appear to have an intentional placement with the sun, such as Townleyhall<\/a> (near Newgrange) which is a summer solstice ‘sunrise’ alignment.<\/a> Cairn G <\/a>and Cairn H<\/a> at Carrowkeel in Co. Sligo are also loosely summer solstice ‘sunset’ aligned<\/a>.<\/p>\n Midsummer bonfires offered an opportunity to salute the light of the superessential sun, and were both a celebration of and devotion to the natural world. The St John\u2019s Eve bonfires that continue today – managed under controlled circumstances as they were in the past – echo our ancestors\u2019 feeling of optimism, good fortune and continuation, and remain a valuable part of our cultural heritage.<\/p>\n Follow RT\u00c9 Brainstorm on WhatsApp<\/a> and Instagram<\/a> for more stories and updates<\/p>\n The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RT\u00c9<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/001e498b-614.jpg\"\/)
\n‘St John’s fireplace\u2019, Athea, Co. Limerick in June 1960. Photo: Caoimh\u00edn \u00d3 Danachair\/D\u00fachas \u00a9 National Folklore Collection, UCD<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/001e49a2-614.jpg\"\/)
\nSt. John’s Eve Bonfire Night by Jack Butler Yeats<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/001e4982-614.jpg\"\/)
\nBonfires of Saint John burning on Arrigunaga beach in Basque Country, Spain. Photo: Mikel Bilbao\/VW PICS\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n