The rise of Irish Paganism

In 2023, an unprecedented crowd of tens of thousands of mostly young people crammed inside and spilled out of the electric arena tent at the Irish music festival Electric Picnic to watch the Wolfe Tones.

The Irish traditional rebel music band, who have always been very popular, had spent the first 60 years of their career playing in hotel bars and pubs with the occasional larger gig. Now, they find themselves one of the hottest acts among young people in Ireland.

The following year, Kneecap, an Irish-language hip hop trio, performed similarly to tens of thousands on the same stage.

It’s fair to say that these two groups would have epitomised everything that was uncool and untrendy in Ireland a decade ago.

In recent years, Ireland has undergone what can be considered a modern-day cultural revival. There is a renewed appreciation for old traditions and a collective re-examination of identity. From the growing popularity of traditional Irish music and the resurgence of the Irish language to the rediscovery of ancient festivals and spiritual practices, Ireland's cultural roots are being brought to the fore of modern-day contemporary life.

Another side to this revival, and something I believe is definitely linked, is a reawakening of interest in Irish paganism—a return to pre-Christian spiritual traditions that focus on honouring the land, its mythology, and its ancient customs.

Ireland’s 21st Century Cultural Revival

The renewed interest in Irish paganism is part of a broader cultural renaissance happening in Ireland. Traditional Irish music, which had long been relegated to tourist pubs and niche gatherings and was often disparagingly referred to as “diddley-i” music, is now front and centre in the Irish music scene.

Bands like Kneecap and The Mary Wallopers have made Irish music contemporary, giving it a new rebellious edginess, much like The Dubliners did for the genre in the 1960s.

The Irish language, in which Kneecap raps, is also enjoying a resurgence. According to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office, over 1.7 million people now claim some ability in Irish, with thousands of young people enrolling in Gaelscoileanna (Irish-language schools) each year.

Kneecap. (Getty Images)

A 2023 article by Little Black Book titled "Ireland’s So Hot Right Now: A Celtic Revival" highlights how Ireland’s creative industries, from literature to advertising, have embraced the idea of Irishness in a way that feels authentic and modern.

Shows like "Derry Girls" and podcasters like Blindboy have redefined Irish storytelling for a global audience, bringing both contemporary humour and a clear sense of pride in their culture.

Derry Girls.

It seems a far cry from the generation of musicians and artists before them, who seemed to do everything possible to shy away from their Irishness. Even modern-day indie-rock bands coming out of Ireland, such as Fontaines D.C., embrace their Irish accents in how they sing and play into their Irishness as a strength.

This modern-day cultural revival not only brings older traditions forward but simultaneously looks backward—not with nostalgia, but with curiosity.

A Growing Interest in the Old Ways

Irish paganism is rooted in animism, seasonal festivals, and reverence for the land. Festivals such as Imbolc (marking the beginning of spring), Bealtaine (celebrating the arrival of summer), Lughnasa (honouring the harvest), and Samhain (the precursor to Halloween) have been celebrated in recent years on a much larger scale than they have been in the past, with large public festivals and parades.

A new bank holiday for Brigid’s Day was introduced in 2023. These festivals, deeply tied to growing a connection and respect for the natural world, resonate strongly at a time when environmental awareness is at the forefront of global concerns.

It is a belief system that, at times, has been dismissed as a relic of our past or something we should be ashamed of (Irish people cringing at the mere mention of a leprechaun comes to mind). While there is a palpable renewal in the interest of these things, experts in the field argue that these ancient beliefs never went away.

“Ireland has a rich, living tradition of mythology and folklore woven through the fabric of our culture, and even the expression of Catholicism in Ireland has always included elements that were more pagan than Christian. From grannies lighting candles to help with exams to popping a Child of Prague statue outside under a bush to ensure good weather for a wedding, Irish people have never really gone far from our own expressions of spirituality,” Lora O’Brien tells me.

Lora O’Brien and Jon O’Sullivan, founders of the Irish Pagan School, have had a front-row seat to this revival. Established in 2017, the online platform has become a hub for people seeking knowledge about Ireland’s history, mythology, folklore, and native spirituality.

“Our goal is to provide an authentic connection to Ireland by getting real information out there,” Lora explains. The school’s emphasis on authenticity and decolonisation has resonated deeply with a global audience, with over 45,000 students from around the world enrolling in their courses.

Lora’s spiritual journey began with exploring Wiccan lore when she was 14. This led her into Irish mythology and spirituality, eventually becoming a guide and manager at Rathcroghan Heritage Centre, home to Queen Medb and the Goddess Mórrígan. She recalls, “Standing on the ancient ceremonial mounds, I felt the stories of our land come alive in ways that I could feel, not just read.”

Jon, on the other hand, grew up in a more traditional Catholic family but found himself increasingly drawn to Ireland’s gods and mythology as he explored the ancient sites around Navan and the Hill of Tara.

“For me, it wasn’t about rejecting the faith I was raised in, but about adding depth to my understanding of what spirituality could be,” he shares.

Jon’s connection to the land and its stories grew stronger as he delved into old texts and rituals.

“You can’t separate Irish spirituality from the land,” Jon says. “It’s in the hills, the rivers, the trees, and even the stones.”

The Hill of Tara. (Ireland's Content Pool)

Festivals and Folklore

Ireland’s ancient seasonal festivals have seen a growth in popularity over the last couple of years. Imbolc, for instance, has gained prominence not only as a spiritual event but also as a cultural one, with Brigid’s Day now recognised as a public holiday in Ireland.

The St. Brigid Festival blends the old traditions of visiting sacred wells to pay tribute to the goddess, while also having a contemporary lens, being a time for people to reflect on prominent women in modern society, with a series of talks and discussions held around the country, keeping with the theme of Brigid as one of Ireland’s most well-regarded female deities.

A Brigid's Cross at Brigid's Holy Well in Co Kildare. (Ireland's Content Pool)

Bealtaine, marked by bonfires and community gatherings, has seen a resurgence in both urban and rural areas, with festivals like the Bealtaine Fire Festival drawing crowds who are curious to be involved with these ancient traditions.

For years, the Fire Festival, which took place on the Hill of in Westmeath, was kept alive as a somewhat niche tradition by a small group of people who would gather on the hill, light bonfires, tell stories, and sing songs on the 1st of May every year. In 2023, thousands of people gathered on the hill to celebrate the festival.

Hill of Uisneach. (RollingNews.ie)

There has also been a modern rethinking of Samhain, the old Irish festival that was blended with various other pagan traditions around the world to become Halloween, which went to America with the Irish diaspora and was sold back to the world in a much more commercialised form.

Now, it is being looked at in a new light and celebrated again by many as something more profound and potent.

Lumen Street Theatre, Samhain Festival, Limerick City in 2024. (Ireland's Content Pool)

Jon and Lora are keen to note that, whilst I keep referring to a resurgence or revival, these festivals have never entirely disappeared. There has always been a strong cohort of people in Ireland keeping these traditions alive.

Lora tells me, “When we reclaim these festivals, we’re not just reviving rituals; we’re reconnecting with the stories and values that shaped our ancestors.

"These celebrations teach us to live in harmony with the natural world and remind us of our place within it.”

A Generation Seeking Meaning

The rise of Irish paganism is noticeable among younger generations. Many young Irish people are exploring the island’s cultural heritage through the lens of mythology, folklore, and the Irish language. While not everyone exploring these old beliefs necessarily identifies as pagan, this curiosity often leads to deeper spiritual exploration.

“The knowledge itself can be enough,” Jon says.

“Belief is something that is unique to each of us and can only come with experience. But how can a person be open to spiritual experience if they are not first informed and empowered by the knowledge of the lore and landscape in which they exist?”

Lora echoes this sentiment: “If you have an authentic connection to native Irish culture, our spiritual belief and expression naturally become part of that,” she says.

“The culture is the spiritual, or fast becomes spiritual.”

Take a stroll through Dublin city centre today, and you will see gangs of young hipsters sitting outside cafés or bars with tattoos done in the form of Ogham or ancient Irish script.

A stone with Ogham carvings. (Getty Images)

This cultural revival—from traditional music to the Irish language—has created a sense of pride and identity among younger Irish people that feels distinctly different from previous generations.

As Jon explains, “Younger generations have less of the ancestral trauma of our elders when it comes to the expression of Irish culture, such as language.

"Absent shame or guilt, their curiosity is free to explore these aspects that make Irish culture so beautifully unique and enriching.”

Lora tells me, “When I see young people celebrating Bealtaine or speaking Irish, I feel a sense of hope.

"They’re not just learning about their heritage—they’re living it in ways that are deeply meaningful to them.”

Paganism and Environmentalism

Links can be drawn between the resurgence of these old ways of thinking, which are inherently built on respect for the land, and their reemergence in the era of climate change. There is a growing acceptance that maybe the way humans have been living for the last couple of hundred years has been negative for the planet.

Traditional pagan beliefs in Ireland were deeply connected to nature and the land, with pre-Christian Celtic spirituality celebrating the Earth and its cycles. Modern paganism heavily emphasises the importance of nature and humanity’s responsibility to live in harmony with it.

Much of our ancient folklore in Ireland surrounds sacred sites, such as fairy forts and fairy trees. In 2006, a motorway going through Navan was rerouted due to locals objecting on the basis that the planned route of the M3 motorway would go through a hawthorn tree that locals believed to be a sacred fairy tree. Due to the opposition and the campaign behind it, the motorway was rerouted to protect the tree.

For me, this is the perfect example of these old beliefs and why they are relevant in the era of climate change. It is not necessarily about whether there are real-life, genuine fairies living in that tree or not, but the fairies in this instance are almost a metaphor or a lesson telling us to respect nature and not knock down trees.

Most of the ancient myths and folktales in Ireland have a theme running through them, where the ultimate lesson and the important thing to take from the stories is not necessarily that they are completely truthful or accurate to real-life events, but that they are there to teach lessons, and that lesson is more often than not about respecting nature.

Pagans may hold ceremonies at sacred natural sites or engage in acts like tree planting or wildlife conservation, which align with contemporary environmental movements. This is particularly significant in Ireland, where landscapes like the Burren or sacred hills still hold spiritual value for many, and where we have more sacred wells than any other country in the world, at around 3,000.

The Burren in Co Clare. (Ireland's Content Pool)

Environmental activism and paganism share a critique of industrialisation’s impact on the Earth. In Ireland, rapid industrialisation and urbanisation have led to habitat destruction and significant carbon emissions. In fact, Ireland’s carbon emissions per capita were around 12.6 tons in 2021, well above the EU average.

Ireland’s biodiversity and its forest cover have been decimated over the last couple of hundred years, but particularly in the last 100 years. Ireland has the least percentage of forest cover in the entire EU.

In 2020, the Natural History Museum and the University of East Anglia conducted a study which ranked Ireland and Northern Ireland as the 12th and 13th worst-performing countries for biodiversity loss, respectively.

Modern pagans often advocate for sustainable living and reducing carbon footprints, seeing these actions as spiritually aligned with protecting the land.

In 2019, the campaign to protect Lough Neagh, Ireland's largest freshwater lake, from industrial development saw pagan groups, environmentalists, and local communities rallying together to prevent damage to the ecosystem, viewing the lake as sacred.

Lough Neagh. (Ireland's Content Pool)

Additionally, events like Imbolc have become occasions for environmental advocacy, with pagans participating in climate marches and green initiatives.

In other countries, similar movements exist. In Ecuador, indigenous groups have even pushed the government to officially grant legal rights to certain aspects of nature, such as selected lakes, so that they are treated almost like people in the eyes of the law and you can be prosecuted for causing harm. This echoes the deep feelings and connections these ancient practices have for the land and shows why they are relevant to modern climate movements.

Weaponisation

A potential challenge faced by this is the weaponisation of Irish mythology and spirituality by political groups. Lora warns of the danger of these beliefs being co-opted for movements across the political spectrum. This happened famously in Nazi Germany and in more modern times with Norse paganism in Scandinavia, but also closer to home with people such as Patrick Pearse, W.B. Yeats, and Lady Gregory, who famously reinterpreted and rewrote much of Ireland's ancient myths to inspire a young generation of revolutionaries in the early 20th century.

This was arguably necessary at the time but is something to be aware of, according to Lora.

“This is why it is so important to provide accessible, accurate information and to ensure that Irish spirituality remains a force for connection and healing, not division,” she says.

She goes on to say, “Figures like Cú Chulainn, Conchobar Mac Nessa, and Fionn Mac Cumhaill may be held up as heroes of Ireland, but the full extent of their stories shows us a much more complex and even villainous side to their actions, maybe intended to show how power can corrupt and privilege can be abused.”

A Living Tradition

“Paganism is a living spiritual expression of life,” Lora explains.

“It’s less about preserving some fossilised ‘old pagan ways’ and more about encouraging people to access quality academic resources, explore the lore, experience the land, and then see where their own spiritual journey takes them.”

Jon agrees, adding, “The beauty of Irish paganism lies in its adaptability. It doesn’t demand rigid adherence to dogma—it invites you to listen to the land, to the stories, and to your own intuition. That’s where its power lies.”

In a world increasingly disconnected from nature and community, Irish paganism offers a path back to the land, to the seasons, and to the stories that have shaped Ireland for millennia.

With the growing interest in these old practices, it may help guide us in changing our views on the land and potentially help us navigate the struggles that will come with climate change. It is a reminder that the old ways are not gone; they have simply been waiting for us to find them again.

*Ethan Rooney is a freelance journalist from Dublin with a focus on subcultural movements in Ireland. You can read more of his work here on EthanRooney.JournoPortfolio.com.