Halloween may have developed partially from the pre-Christian holiday Samhain, which was celebrated in early medieval Ireland around November 1 as the beginning of a new year. However, it seems to have developed mostly from Christian feasts of the dead from later in the Middle Ages, including All Saints’ Day on November 1 and All Souls’ Day on November 2. By the 9th century, October 31 was being celebrated as All Hallows’ Eve, later contracted to Halloween, throughout Western Christendom.