A Very Derry Halloween and the Best of Belfast

As a big fan of Halloween, I’ve always tried to time my trips abroad to coincide with the spooky season. One year I went to Salem in Massachusetts to see which witches I could find and on another occasion I went on the hunt for Dracula in Transylvania. When an invite to Ireland pinged my inbox promising a cracking good time at Europe’s biggest Halloween festival I instantly knew where I would be on October 31st.

To top it all off, I was going to end my stay at one of the most haunted hotels in the world which has a ghost room that many visitors fear to enter. Lovely stuff!

Many visitors to the country will stay their journey in the capital, and this would actually be my fourth visit here. Its a sign of how well-suited the city is to tourists that there is more than enough to engage repeat visitors, and I had picked a varied itinerary to explore as many facets of Belfast as possible. Don’t worry though, some of the old favourites were absolutely on the list too.

I was staying in the Linen Quarter, one of the appropriately named historical parts of Belfast. Taking a walk to City Hall, it became obvious that Halloween was a big deal in Ireland, and indeed the country is where the American traditions around the season came from. I was off to the Spirit Circle (how apt) to try the Belfast by the Glass experience at The National Belfast. This intriguing concept is an excellent introduction to the city as it runs through six formative periods in the history of Belfast all served with six equally important drinks. You can opt for soft drinks if you so wish and the real value comes from absorbing the atmosphere of the past. Its all part of the charm of Belfast, and there’s aspects from bygone eras everywhere.

After a relaxing night in my hotel, I was ready to head to the Titanic Quarter. This is a part of Belfast you will invariably visit on any trip here, but its rapidly changing too. The Titanic Belfast museum is dedicated to the famous ship is a must and its worth taking time looking around the surrounding area as it gives you a sense of scale of the vessel.

The Titanic Hotel is one of the most popular places to stay in Belfast, but even if you aren’t an overnight guest, head down to the bar and restaurant for another insight on the tragic ship. This was formerly the headquarters of shipbuilders Harland & Wolff and the offices of many of the staff have remained as they were. Exhibiting over 500 artworks and photographs throughout the building, passenger portraits and authentic White Star Line memorabilia transports you back to the Golden Age of Ocean Travel.

A more modern space has recently opened a little further up Thompson Dock. Titanic Distillers in the heart of Maritime Mile and in an old pump house, is producing award-winning vodka and whiskey, something that will certainly warm you up on cold evenings.

Two things stuck with me about Belfast on this visit. The people are as friendly as ever, the Irish welcome might be joked about but it really is true. You can strike up a genuine conversation with a random stranger and have a great time no matter the situation. The other thing is how much there is to do at this time of year and how autumn is embraced through out the city (and as I was about to find out, the rest of the country too).

The drive from Belfast to Derry takes about 90 minutes and takes you into the county of Londonderry in the north. As its quite a lengthy journey you might want to break up the route with a few stops on the way. The seasonal colours and rolling orchards, much like those I recently experienced in Quebec, reveal a great tipple perfect for the conditions.

Long Meadow Farm is a fully immersive cider experience where you spend time in the company of the McKeever family. After exploring the orchard, it time to relax in Long Meadow Farm’s recently built Bramley Barn and enjoy a hot cup of tea with granny’s traditional griddle soda bread, cheese and chutneys. Of course, no visit with the McKeever Family would be complete without tasting their award-winning craft ciders and apple juice.

Our next stop was more of a detour than a direct point of interest on this route, but it was easily one of the highlights of my time in Ireland. The Ulster American Folk Park takes you on a journey back in time for Ulster to America. You start by experiencing life here as locals lived more than a century ago, with farmhouses and cobbled streets carefully curated to showcase the hardships and small pleasures of the time. As you pass through a full scale immigrant ship replica, you’ll emerge in the New World and see what it was like to traverse the Atlantic. It was here that I also learned more about the Celtic Samhain festival, the precursor to modern day Halloween. The park is themed around the relevant season when you visit, and given that Halloween is a big deal here with school kids always having it as a day off, you could see various additional attractions for all ages at the end of October.

I now felt like I was ready for Halloween in Derry, but what exactly was I going to experience?

From its meagre beginnings as a simple fancy dress party in the city’s Castle Bar, Derry Halloween has grown as each Harvest ends, attracting revellers from all around Ireland and beyond showcasing a programme of arts, food, and music as well as cultural, contemporary and family events.

Arriving in Derry as it was in the midst of its week-long celebrations, I could see the small city taking on a unique persona which belies its otherwise subdued demeanour. This historical walled city, which has been thrust into the limelight thanks to the huge success of TV series Derry Girls, has a turbulent past. I was keen to experience every aspect of the city and this was best done in the daytime before many of the Halloween activities begin in earnest.

Derry is the only remaining, completely walled city in Ireland and one of the finest examples of Walled Cities in Europe. Built between 1613 and 1618 by The Honourable the Irish Society, the walls were constructed as defences for the seventeenth century settlers from England and Scotland. Approximately 1.5km in circumference, the walls form a walkway around the inner city, providing a unique promenade from which to view the layout of the original town. The Peace Bridge (opened in 2011) is a cycle and pedestrian link, connecting the city centre and Ebrington Square in the Waterside.

Walking on the walls and observing the murals around the city you can absorb the significance of the city in both historical and modern Ireland. Its worth spending a few hours at the museums and exhibitions here as the delve into the politics of the region by giving them a human tone. The serious side of this is juxtaposed by a museum and mural dedicated to Derry Girls, the comedy series which has become an international phenomenon. If the show put Derry on the map, then its the Halloween celebrations that are really driving tourism back to record levels.

During the last on-street Halloween celebration in 2019, Derry citizens were proud to welcome over 140,000 visitors to their city. This year those numbers were pretty much back and the party felt even bigger!

Brought to life by the people of the city over 35 years ago, Derry Halloween has become one of the world’s foremost Halloween and Samhain celebrations. Drawing on Derry’s rich mythical, creative, and cultural history Samhain celebrations of story-telling, mischief, feasting and hospitality are at the forefront but don’t think the modern ‘fun’ part of Halloween will be overlooked either.

There are small activations throughout the week and all over the city. Live performances, spooky apparitions and spectacular shows take place everywhere and its sometimes hard to keep up! Luckily there are maps to guide you and the website has an excellent what’s on section. Some attractions just turn up, like the wailing nuns, whereas others require a bit of travelling. Head over the river where there is a large courtyard for one of the most spectacular outdoor performances I’ve ever seen.

The climax of the week on Halloween itself includes a large parade and huge fireworks display. This year this was augmented by the addition of a drone show which worked surprisingly well. Everyone is in costume and you should prepare to join in as its wholesome fun. The parade sees all ages take part and you can see the time and effort that goes into it here.

The party goes long into the night and you’ll find a jovial atmosphere which is inclusive of locals and visitors. Unlike other Halloween events I’ve attended, it feels like everyone is happy to stay in the city itself with the bars and pubs remaining open throughout. The only thing you really have to worry about is waking up at a reasonable hour the morning after…

So that was supposed to be that, my Halloween adventure in Ireland had officially come to an end. I should have been on my way home but there was something I just had to do first.

I’ve been to Ireland many times before but I had never made it to the Giant’s Causeway. I also knew that Ballygally Castle was somewhere close by (admittedly my geography of the region was slightly off, but I made it work in the end), and so I booked in an extra night to explore further.

Nestled on the Antrim coast, this 17th-century castle-turned-hotel offers an experience you won’t soon forget. One of the highlights here is undoubtedly the “Ghost Room,” which has stirred up a haunting reputation. Legend has it that Lady Isabella Shaw, a former resident of the castle, was imprisoned in the tower and met an untimely end trying to escape.

The room, in one of the turrets, is accessible for guests and has many artefacts from the past kept in place. You have to climb up to see it, and it is eerily lit for maximum effect. Oh, and guess who was sleeping directly below the ‘haunted’ room for the night? Yep, I had managed to get myself into another fine mess… and secretly loved every second of it!

To be honest, I had an excellent’s night rest and the quirky aspect of the hotel gives it real character. You’re directly on the coast and I could see some really brave people swimming in the morning and others surfing into the late afternoon. I was happy to stay indoors for most of my time here, and that’s when I spotted a door dedicated to Game of Thrones in a corner of the lobby of the hotel. ‘That’s right!’ I thought to myself, this was the location of many scenes from the series, so I was eager to see some of the real-life sets for myself.

When I started my trip to Ireland, which now felt like a distant memory as I travelled along the Atlantic Coast, I saw one of the studios where many of the scenes from Game of Thrones were shot. There is now a museum dedicated to the series just outside of Belfast, but if you want to see some of the real locations you’re better off heading to this part of the country. This set jetting opportunity was just too good to miss!

The Giant’s Causeway has featured in numerous films and TV shows, and is an iconic location in its own right. Formed over 60 million years ago, when molten lava cooled suddenly on contact with water, the causeway is an awe-inspiring landscape of mostly hexagonal basalt columns. Locals have their own version of how the structures were formed, and you’ll become familiar with the legend when you visit it for yourself.

One of the most distinctive attractions here, and one most fans of Gam of Thrones will recognise, are the Dark Hedges. This secluded pathway is surrounded by knotted trees that seemingly join to form a ‘tunnel’. Sadly over-tourism and the elements are slowly eroding the ground these majestic trees stand on, so if you do visit make sure you follow the signs and park away from the main path. It’s much better to walk the route anyway and you’ll appreciate the lack of vehicles when you try and capture the perfect selfie for you own social media. Storms have already claimed some of the trees, but in a moment of genius the decision was made to salvage the trunks and turn them into doors that could be placed throughout the country.

There are a number of other filming locations in this area you will want to visit as well as others that served as inspiration for the series. Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge looks like a precarious structure across a gorge leading to the ocean, but its actually a safe way to experience the North Coast. Clear links to the Iron Islands in the HBO series can be drawn from here and its a thrilled rush to sway in the wind while tightly holding onto the rope railings.

Another significant attraction is The Gobbins, a wild cliff-face walk where the sea batters you as you clamber along a pathway previously used by smugglers. It was actually turned into a tourist attraction as far back as the 19th century and has been modernised with metal bridges and pathways carved directly into the cliffs.

As this is an open-air attraction and given the raw power of the waves here, your route may be changed and truncated by the expert guides who accompany you. Walking this engineering marvel myself, I could see how it and the coast would serve as a major inspiration to anyone who would visit.

Combined with my time in Belfast and Derry, I found a magical country steeped in history, legend and mystery and one which has a bright future ahead of it.