   lughnasadh or lughnasa (pronounced , ; , ; , ; , ) is a gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. historically, it was widely observed throughout ireland, scotland and the isle of man. originally it was held on 1 august, or about halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. however, over time the celebrations shifted to the sundays nearest this date. lughnasadh is one of the four gaelic seasonal festivals; along with samhain, imbolc and beltane. it corresponds to other european harvest festivals such as the welsh  and the english lammas. lughnasadh is mentioned in some of the earliest irish literature and is believed to have pagan origins. the festival itself is named after the god lugh. it involved great gatherings that included religious ceremonies, ritual athletic contests (most notably the tailteann games), feasting, matchmaking and trading. there were also visits to holy wells. according to folklorist mÃ¡ire macneill, evidence shows that the religious rites included an offering of the first of the corn, a feast of the new food and of bilberries, the sacrifice of a bull and a ritual dance-play. much of this would have taken place on top of hills and mountains. lughnasadh customs persisted widely until the 20th century, with the event being variously named 'garland sunday', 'bilberry sunday', 'mountain sunday' and 'crom dubh sunday'. the custom of climbing hills and mountains at lughnasadh has survived in some areas, although it has been re-cast as a christian pilgrimage. the best known is the 'reek sunday' pilgrimage to the top of croagh patrick on the last sunday in july. a number of fairs are also believed to be survivals of lughnasadh, for example the puck fair. since the later 20th century, [[celtic neopaganism|cel
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