Lammas. © Ilona / pixabay.com / 2016 / CC0 1.0
Lammas is an Irish holiday that follows the day after Lughnasadh.
While Lughnasadh was merry-making, on Lammas thanks would be given for the coming grain harvest by prayers and offerings of bread. Loaves of bread from the new grain would be made on this morning.
The day is more of a Christian tradition superimposed on the pagan one of Lughnasadh.
Fairs would sometimes be held on the day following Lammas.
The word “lammas” is presumed by some to be a contraction of “loaf mass.”
Lammas Fair in St Andrews, Scotland (2007). © Sandy Gemmill / http://www.geograph.org.uk / 2007 / CC BY-SA 2.0
