Snap Apple Night Another Name for Halloween
“And poor Norah, though smiling still She'd missed the snap-apple turning.”
On the Festival of Hallow Eve (1833), verse accompanying Daniel Maclise’s painting.
Halloween has gone by many names around the world, and in parts of Ireland, one of them is Snap Apple Night. The name snap apple comes from one of the games traditionally played on October 31. Apples have long been part of Halloween celebrations, appearing in games, food, and fortune-telling traditions. Snap apple became so closely connected with the night that in some communities, the game gave Halloween another name.
And although Snap Apple Night may sound like a name from the past, it has not completely disappeared today. Irish folklorist Michael Fortune notes that he still hears Halloween called Snap Apple Night in Wexford, along with several other regional names for the night.
What Is Snap Apple?
There are several versions of the game, but they share one important rule: no hands allowed.
In one version, an apple is hung from the ceiling by a string, sometimes with a stick. Players put their hands behind their backs and try to catch the swinging apple with their teeth. Another version uses apples floating in a tub of water, with players trying to grab one using only their mouths, much like the apple bobbing game still associated with Halloween today.
Descriptions collected by the Irish Folklore Commission in the 1930s show how familiar these games once were. One account from County Cork describes Halloween as Snap Apple Night and tells of family members trying to catch apples from a tub of water. Other accounts describe apples hanging from the ceiling while players try to catch them with their mouths.
The exact game varies from place to place. Some versions involve hanging apples, some use tubs of water, and others add extra challenges like burning candles. What stays the same is the apple, the lack of hands, and usually a lot of laughter.
Why Apples?
Apples appear again and again in descriptions of traditional Irish Samhain celebrations.
Of course, they were an autumn food, but they were also used for entertainment and fortune-telling. Apple peels might be thrown over a shoulder in the hope that they would form the initial of a future partner. Apples could be hidden or placed in water as part of games, while nuts, barmbrack, cards, saucers, and other household objects were used in traditions meant to offer a glimpse of what the coming year might bring.
These games were part of a much larger night of Halloween traditions. Families and neighbours gathered together, shared food, told stories, played games, and sometimes tried to predict marriages, journeys, wealth, or other events in their futures.
A Painting of Snap Apple Night
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| Snap-Apple Night, painted by Irish artist Daniel Maclise in 1833 (wikimedia commons - public domain) |
The crowded scene is filled with Halloween activity. People dance, talk, play games, and gather around the room. In the center, a man tries to bite an apple suspended from above, while nearby children duck their heads into a container of water to catch apples with their mouths. If you look closely, other fortune-telling customs appear around them as well.
The title itself is particularly interesting. Maclise called the work Snap Apple Night, or All Hallow Eve, placing the two names side by side and showing just how closely the apple game was connected with Halloween in nineteenth-century Ireland.
Why Is Halloween Called Snap Apple Night?
The name was never used everywhere.
Folklore collected across Ireland records many local names and traditions for Halloween. In some communities, particularly in the south of Ireland, Snap Apple Night became one of those names. A County Cork account recorded in the Schools’ Collection describes “All Hallows Eve or Snap-Apple-Night” as the name used in the local district. Other records also refer to October 31 as Snap Apple Night.
And the name has not completely disappeared. In Wexford, Michael Fortune has recorded hearing Halloween called Snap Apple Night alongside other regional names.
So Snap Apple Night is not another universal name for Halloween. It is one of many names shaped by local customs, and in this case, by one particularly memorable game.
A Halloween Tradition That Continues
Most people today may not recognize the name Snap Apple Night, but many would recognize the game. Snap Apple and bobbing for apples remain probably the best-known Halloween party activities, even though much of the fortune-telling once connected with apples has faded from common practice. Other forms of snap apple are less familiar today, but the tradition itself has not vanished.
It is a small example of the way Halloween traditions change over generations while still carrying pieces of the past into the present.
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