Early 20th century Halloween.

Balor Of The Evil Eye was the Irish mythical king of the Formorians. He was a giant with one large eye in the middle of his forehead, when opened the eye wreaks destruction. He ruled all Ireland from his foreboding glass tower at Dún Bhaloir, Tory Island.

Oct 31: #Celtic holiday of Samhain, or "summer's end", is celebrated; a night where the dead are unleashed from the Otherworld to roam ours.

Though Samhain, the precursor to Halloween, is considered to be a Celtic festival, the Mound of Hostages at Tara, which aligns with the rising sun at Samhain, is thought to be 5,000 years old, far predating Celtic inhabitation, and hints at more primordial roots.

A two-hour docu-drama on the murders and the trial can be seen on the TG4 Player:
https://bit.ly/3AJMruq

TG4

Murdair Mhám Trasna (1-1) | Player | TG4 | Irish Television Channel, Súil Eile

A feature length docu-drama recounting the infamous brutal slaying in 1882 of a family in the remote village of Mám Trasna, the West of ireland.

'Most vulnerable in this bilingual world was the Irish monoglot, a category that the sceptical state often refused to believe even existed: denying any knowledge of English was seen by many officials as a strategy to subvert the judicial process.'
https://archive.is/FQxzQ

The murders themselves were horrific, and the true culprits were never found.

On having the verdict translated, Seoighe pleaded "Níl mé ciontach", meaning "I am not guilty".

James Joyce called him a "bewildered old man, left over from a culture which is not ours, a deaf-mute before his judge ... a symbol of the Irish nation at the bar of public opinion."

"Táim ag imeacht." - the last words of Seoighe before his execution by hanging.

17 August 1882 - the brutal shootings and bludgeonings of John, Micheál, Brighid, Mairéad and Peigí Joyce.