Spread across five nights and four days, the Púca Festival transforms Trim and Athboy into a hive of Halloween activity celebrating Samhain and the Celtic new year. This year’s attractions include live performances from Macy Gray, the Charlatans and Hothouse Flowers, Jason Byrne’s latest hit stand-up show, a mischievous night with the Samhain Circus, and a live recording with comedy podcasters Tony Cantwell and Shane Byrne. Walking tours, boat trips and more will bring Irish mythology to life and round off what will be a packed festival.

Best for: Adults, with some family events. Mixture of free and ticketed events.

Various venues, Athboy and Trim, Co Meath. October 27–31.

On Halloween night, Cork city comes alive with creatures from the underworld for the Dragon of Shandon Samhain Parade. You can join the thousands of people who walk with the dragon (a massive construction made entirely of tape and guided by puppeteers) as she travels between worlds in a celebration of the living and the dead. This parade honours the creative partnership between the artists of Cork as much as it does Samhain and culminates on Coal Quay with a variety of lively performances. 

Best for: Adults and families. Free event.
Shandon, Cork City. October 31.

Dubbed Ireland’s biggest indoor ‘scream park’, the Nightmare Realm is back for 2023 in Mary’s Lane in Dublin. Test your limits and explore Sundown Manor and the Banshee Experience, or speed through them as fast as you can and reward yourself with a stop at the food court and the Little Museum of Horrors. There’s plenty to see, and more than enough terror to tide you over until the realm returns next year.

Best for: Adults and teens. Tickets from €22.
City Market, Mary’s Lane, Dublin. October 6-November 3.

Farmaphobia is not for the fainthearted. Built around a two-hour, pitch-dark trek through Clown Town, the Zombie Morgue and Cornered, this experience at Causey Farm in County Meath is designed to terrify. Sessions are ticketed and advance booking is required. Bring your wellies, a coat and your best screaming voice.

Best for: Adults and teens with supervision. Tickets from €29.

Causey Farm, Fordstown, Co Meath. October 6-November 2.

Walk through the ‘Gates of Hell’ on a night tour of the historic dungeon at Wicklow Gaol. The immersive experience, bolstered by elements of virtual reality, will guide you through the gaol’s grisly history of corruption, rebellion and darkness. You’ll hear stories of the gaol’s most infamous prisoners – and you might see why it’s dubbed one of the most haunted places in Ireland.

Best for: Adults and teens. Tickets from €22.
Kilmantin Hill, Co Wicklow.

Delve into the dark history of Ireland's oldest city on a special Halloween edition of the Waterford Treasures Dark History Tour. Museum curators will guide you from the Viking Triangle to Ballybricken Square on a 90-minute tour explaining the bloody past of the city – and the ghost stories that still haunt Waterford's streets.

Best for: Adults and teens 16 and up. Tickets from €15.

Waterford Treasures: Medieval Museum, Co Waterford.

Feeling morbid? Ponder life and death on an After Dark Tour of the Irish Wake Museum. Learn about the traditions and superstitions surrounding death dating back to early Christian times while examining the creepy artefacts of the unique Waterford museum.

Best for: Adults and teens 14 and up. Tickets from €11.

Waterford Treasures: Irish Wake Museum, Co Waterford.

Get the fright of your life at one of Limerick’s most popular Halloween attractions, the Scare Factory. You’ll get a spooky sense of Limerick history in the Victorian redbrick where the ‘factory’ is housed, and where evil clowns, mutant creatures and zombies await.

Best for: Adults and teens with supervision. Tickets from €20.
53 O’Connell Street, Limerick. October 13-31.

This two-hour long tour of Dublin’s scariest sites carves a route through 600 years of spooky history, colourfully illustrated by the Gravedigger actors. Passing Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral, Cork Hill and other Dublin landmarks with fascinating secrets and tales, the ghost bus will bring you to your final destination at the iconic Gravediggers Pub.

Best for: Adults and teens with supervision. Tickets from €29.
Dame Street, Dublin.

Photo credit: @hiddendublinwalksandtours

While you can tour Cork Harbour’s Spike Island during the day, the ‘After Dark’ night tours showcase the former prison’s darkest history. Learn about the horror of solitary confinement, the hidden mass graves that litter the island and more gruesome details about what was once the largest prison in the world.

Best for: Adults. Tickets from €29.
Spike Island, Cobh Harbour, Co Cork.

Known as Ireland's "Gate to Hell," the cave of Uaimh na gCat (Oweynagat) in County Roscommon has strong ties to the ancient festival of Samhain. Take a guided visit to the cave and down to the bowels of the Earth with the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre on their Origins of Samhain Cave Tour. 

Best for: Adults and families. Tickets from €15.
Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, Co Roscommon. October 23–November 3.