Halloween in Derry is surely something not to be missed! Derry City has established itself as the global place to be at Halloween featuring in the media the world over. With parades, exhibitions, music, fireworks and shows all over the town, including the historic city walls, crowds have been flocking to participate. Derry is always a great place to visit but the family atmosphere at Halloween has saw the city being the only place to be at Halloween.
Friends of Derry City Cemetery decided to add daily guided tours for the festival, and they have been a huge success. The ever-increasing numbers necessitating the staging of tours at intervals…. not a bad problem to have. The tours cover the general history of the city in a serious historical manner but many of the customs and traditions associated with death are included. One feature that interests foreign visitors is the Irish Catholic tradition of the corpse being on view at a family home for a three day “wake” where neighbours, family and friends can come and pay their respects.
There are tales of body snatching, ghosts and tales of man and wife buried apart due to having different religions. Honouring the dead is a huge part of Irish tradition and snippets such as all the dead are buried facing the East except Catholic clergy who face the West some say to get a preview of the resurrection before anyone else. The architecture and images are explored covering, urns, skulls, lambs, veils and the Victorian and Edwardian cultures and traditions of death.
Tours are not all dark doom and gloom and many laughs are heard for the humour of many epitaphs, including the chiropractor whose headstone has “my last six feet” carved. The cemetery tour run by volunteers is now in the top 10 of things to do in Derry on Trip Advisor, hard earned by passionate people telling great historical stories.
If you are interested in doing a Tour with us, we would be delighted to see you. Contact Us to book a tour.
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Halloween in Derry City | Jan 2023
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