Iomaire

Iómhair is a Gaelic festival name from the Irish and Scottish languages. It is also the Irish word for the month of November.

This festival was traditionally celebrated in Ireland and Scotland on the first Sunday in November, which made it coincide with the beginning of winter. It served as a day of the harvest festival, and as a way to give thanks for the food and the harvest collected.

On the eve of this festival, both in Ireland and in Scotland, it was customary to hold great licentious festivals, sometimes referred to as 'Iómhair Féile', with plays, music, dance and food on offer. However, with the coming of the Christian era, these festivals were gradually suppressed and, in its place, the church introduced its own festival of the saints, which was celebrated in the same month, i.e., November.

The Roman Catholic feast day, Iomaire, has fallen somewhat out of fashion, and, therefore, word of the festivals have largely disappeared. However, the discovery of ancient fragments of harpooning artifacts and strings of Gaelic song balls aimed at the purpose to illustrate them add credence to the supposed fact.

After the irruption of epidemic disease in Ireland in the year 1847, this culture rapidly perished, leaving very few influences on folklore of Ireland.