Jack of the Lantern: From Irish Curse to Halloween Icon

Long before pumpkins lit American porches, eerie turnips glowed across Irish hillsides, carved to ward off spirits during Samhain and inspired by the legend of Stingy Jack, the trickster doomed to wander the Earth with a single ember from Hell. As Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America, they found the pumpkin—larger, softer, and perfectly suited for carving—and the Jack-O’-Lantern was reborn. Over centuries, this symbol of fear transformed into one of community, harvest, and Halloween cheer, its flickering light carrying echoes of ancient superstition beneath its modern smile. Even today, every glowing pumpkin honors the ghostly traveler whose cursed light first shone across the Irish bogs.

Episode Sources:

https://www.theirishjewelrycompany.com/blog/post/the-origins-and-superstitions-of-the-jack-olantern-in-irish-tradition?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=13177453168&gbraid=0AAAAAD9dF0mxHMnpTkHjaDqZNwOlvaWc1&gclid=CjwKCAjw3tzHBhBREiwAlMJoUorOXiOPP3Ebu1fiUbtICkUZNt5MP6biSNMrQ6xyD1ZsVws4SF5iyxoCKFAQAvD_BwE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack-o%27-lantern

https://www.history.com/articles/history-of-the-jack-o-lantern-irish-origins

https://carnegiemnh.org/the-jack-o-lanterns-origins/

https://www.npr.org/2025/10/17/nx-s1-5576485/from-folklore-to-your-front-porch-the-history-of-the-jack-o-lantern