Poppagator - what town in mayo county? My grandfather is from there as well and came over with his family in 1916. he got married in 1927 so he'd be a bit younger than your grandfarther but still - depending on the twon, they may have known eachother's families!

Let me say it before anyone else does - please let's not repeat the oft told nonsense about the big bad evil Irish emigrants spreading the heresy of halloween in the united states. Every year the Evangelical Christians have programs that depict the nasty Irish Catholics sneaking paganism into a "God-Fearing Christian Country" (The US) and pass out leaflets that say the same.

The tract I got handed last year showed red-nosed drunken Irish cavorting on halloween and then hypocritically going to mass the next day for for all Saints Day. There is a is a similarly racist depiction of Mexicans celebration the Day of The Dead that gets passed out. I asked the gal who handed me the day of the dead pamphlet if the drunken Irishmen in her other pamphlet were the ones who taught that foul practice to the mexicans and she said "Yes, I think they did!" Sadly, she was quite serious.

Halloween as it is currently practised in the USA is a modern invention and has little to do with Mischief night or "Samhain". I saw a scholar on the History channel making a decent case for the modern halloween having its origins in a reiniterpretation of the holiday that took place after World War II. It wasn't until then that halloween took off as a national holiday in the USA. I would guess that it is the fond memories of baby boomers that has helped halloween approach Christmas in popularity. It is now the number 2 retail holiday in the USA and is closing in on Christmas.

Where I live, in Los Angeles, halloween is a huge event for adults looking for another excuse to socialize but kids don't trick or treat. Day of The Dead celebrations are more the norm.