Our study of Ireland happened to coincide with Halloween! We learned all about the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain, from which we get the modern-day traditions of Halloween, Jack-O-Lanterns, dressing up in costumes, bonfires, and trick or treating.

Navigate this page: Missions, Booklists, Science, Cooking, Composer Study, Folk Dance/Music, Art Project, Art Study, Physical Education, Game, Movies, Videos

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Mapping it out *

“Reader’s Digest Atlas”: display map of the British Isles
Crayola.com’s Free printable of Ireland’s Flag and Map
Seterra.com’s Free printable maps of Europe
Seterra.com’s Free online geography games for Europe

Missions Spotlight

Prayercast.com/Ireland: Prayer Points, Summary, Quick Facts
**parents should preview the short prayercast.com video for sensitive topics that may not be age appropriate.
Saint Patrick
- “Saint Patrick,” by Ann Tompert
- “Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland,” by Tomie dePaola
- “Patrick: Saint of Ireland,” by Joyce Denham and Diana Mayo
- Video: The Torchlighters 19: The St Patrick Story
Saint Brigid
- “Brigid’s cloak: An Ancient Irish Story,” by Bryce Milligan
- Video: St. Brigid of Ireland
Article: The Celtic Cross
Article: Irish Blessings

Booklists

Booklist for Irish-American Culture and Immigration

Introduction to Ireland (These series have been kid approved)

“Ireland,” by Colleen Sexton (Exploring Countries series, grades 2-5)
“Ireland,” by Amy Rechner (Country Profiles series, grades 3-7)
“Ireland,” by Jean Blashfield (Enchantment of the World Series, grades 5+)

Picture Books

“Market Day,” by Eve Bunting
“The Wishing of Biddy Malone,” by Joy Cowley
“Patrick’s Day,” by Elizabeth Lee O’Donnell
“Seamus McNamus: The Goat who Would be King,” by Rob Kurtz
“Patrick and the President,” by Ryan Tubridy
“King Puck,” by Michael Garland
“O’Sullivan Stew: A Tale Cooked Up in Ireland,” by Hudson Talbott
“Angela’s Christmas,” by Frank McCourt
“The King of Ireland’s Son,” by Brendan Behan
“Saint Patrick and the Peddler,” by Margaret Hodges

Folktales and Legends
- “Brave Margaret: an Irish Adventure,” by Robert D. San Souci
- “Finn MacCoul and his Fearless Wife: A Giant of a Tale from Ireland,” retold by Robert Byrd
- “The Wee Christmas Cabin,” by Margaret Hodges
- “The Starlight Cloak,” by Jenny Nimmo (Irish version of the Cinderella story)
- “A Pot O’Gold: A Treasury of Irish Stories, Poetry, Folklore, and (of course) Blarney,” selected and adapted by Kathleen Krull
- “Irish Fairy Tales and Legends,” retold by Una Leavy
- “Tales from Old Ireland,” retold by Malachy Doyle
- “Celtic Tales and Legends,” retold by Nicola Baxter

Slightly scary
- “The Banshee,” by Eve Bunting
- “Fergus and the Night-Demon: an Irish Ghost Story,” by Jim Murphy

About Leprechauns
- “Fiona’s Luck,” by Teresa Bateman
- “The Leprechaun’s Gold,” by Pamela Duncan Edwards
- “A Leprechaun’s St. Patrick’s Day,” by Sarah Kirwan Blazek
- “Too Many Leprechauns,” by Stephen Krensky
- “Jack and the Leprechaun,” by Ivan Robertson
- “That’s what Leprechauns Do,” by Eve Bunting
- “Tim O’Toole and the Wee Folk: An Irish Tale,” by Gerald McDermott

Chapter Books

The ATOS Book Levels specified after each chapter book measure the difficulty of the text for independent reading.

“New Boy in Dublin; A Story of Ireland,” by Clyde Robert Bulla
“The Legend of the Irish Castle,” by Gertrude Chandler Warner (Book Level 4.6)
“The Last Wolf of Ireland,” by Elona Malterre (Book Level 5.1)
“The Island of Horses,” by Ellis Dillon
“The Secret of the Ruby Ring,” by Yvonne MacGrory (Book Level 5.5)

Celtic Festival of Samhain, precursor to Halloween

Article: The Celtic Festival of Samhain
Article: Halloween Printables

Science: Bogs

Bogs of Ireland
- “Big Belching Bog,” by Phyllis Root (elementary level picture book)
- “The Mystery of the Bog Forest,” by Lorus and Margery Milne (higher level chapter book)
Bog Mummies
- “Ballywhinney Girl,” by Eve Bunting (no scary photographs, one illustrated bog mummy)
- “Bodies from the Bog,” by James M. Deem
  (The pictures of preserved bodies from the bog may be graphic for some kids. Most of the pictures are in black and white or sepia.)
- “Bog Mummies: Where did they come from?” by Megan Cooley Peterson
  (These pictures of bog mummies are even more shocking because they are in color.)

Cooking Irish Food with kids

We focused our efforts on the traditions of Samhain, the ancient Celtic festival celebrating the Celtic new year. I found a lot of good information relating our modern-day American celebration of Halloween to Samhain at Irishamericanmom.com. We brought in the harvest by digging up potatoes and baking them. We also carved Jack-o-lanterns and made barmbrack with a hidden bean.

Wycliffe.org has a fun printable recipe to try with kids on page 3 for Irish Cottage Pie.

The rest of the Irish food and recipes we tried are here: Recipes by Country: Ireland. This is one country’s cuisine we will come back to again and again!

Samhain Tradition: Carving Jack O Lanterns

Composer Study

You may have heard of Chopin for his nocturnes, but did you know that Irish composer John Field is actually known as the inventor of the nocturne? For links to information and YouTube videos, visit my page: “Composers: John Field.” For ideas of how to do Composer Study, visit my page: “Art and Music.”

Folk Dance and Music of Ireland

Video: Irish Folk Dance by Eire Born
Video: Riverdance
Video: Irish Step Dancing (Riverdance) 2009
Try it yourself with this video: Becky Teaches You How to Step Dance

Art Project/Handicraft

Try this fun potato printing craft (we did it for St Patrick’s Day 2023 but it’s fun at any time of the year!)

We practiced tying Celtic knots. You could use cord or thick yarn. Here are a few videos, in order of easiest to hardest:

Art Study: Vincent Van Gogh

We discussed Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh, during our studies of the United Kingdom and Ireland. His “Sunflowers” and “Starry Night” have come to mind with all the sunflowers of the season as well as our celebration of the Harvest Moon and getting to see stars and Mars along with it. For a list of suggested artwork and links to videos, visit my page: “Artists: Vincent van Gogh.” For ideas of how to do Art Study, visit my page: “Art and Music.”

Physical Education

We learned about hurling but did not have the equipment to try it ourselves: The Rules of Hurling – EXPLAINED!

Game

For all the Irish superstitions of spirits during the festival of Samhain, the twins played this 2-player ghost game, “Phantoms vs. Phantoms,” for the first time. It had been gifted to them years ago but I actually waited until they turned the recommended age this time, age 8. It is easy to learn and quick to play. Even my 5-year old was able to!

Movies!

We learned an incredible amount about Irish traditions from the Disney channel movie, “The Luck of the Irish.” We watched “Finian’s Rainbow,” which afforded much conversation about perceptions of race in American history.

One of my favorite movies that was filmed in Ireland is “Leap Year,” and I skipped the first few chapters so the kids could watch their comedic journey through the beautiful landscape from Dingle to Dublin. It’s rated PG but there is a bit of rude language, so maybe save this one for your older kids or just yourself.

We watched “The Secret of Roan Inish.” I was horrified at the prospect of losing a baby to the drifting sea, but it was an interesting Irish legend involving selkies.