The Irish calendar does not observe the typical astronomical seasons (beginning, in the Northern Hemisphere, on the equinoxes and solstices), or the meteorological seasons (beginning on 1 March, 1 June, 1 September, and 1 December), but rather centres the seasons around the solstices and equinoxes (so that, for instance, midsummer falls on the summer solstice), beginning the seasons at the approximate halfway points between solstice and equinox, following the seasons of the ancient Celts, which are pre-Christian in origin. This Celtic origin is particularly evident in the Irish naming of many of the months: some names, like May (Bealtaine), August (Lughnasadh/Lúnasa) and November (Samhain) were the names of pagan Celtic festivals. In addition, the names for September and October (Meán Fómhair and Deireadh Fómhair respectively) translate directly as "middle of autumn" and "end of autumn."

Winter - An Geimhreadh

• November - Samhain / Mí na Samhna
Samhain (pronounced "sowen" from the Old Irish samain) is the word for November in the Irish language. The Festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, and is generally regarded as "The Celtic New Year." The Irish word Samhain is derived from the Old Irish samain, samuin, or samfuin, all referring to 1 November (latha na samna: "samhain day") and the festival and royal assembly held on that date in medieval Ireland (oenaig na samna: 'samhain assembly'). Its meaning is glossed as "summer's end," and the frequent spelling with f suggests analysis by popular etymology as sam ("summer") and fuin ("sunset," "end").

The same word was used for a month in the ancient Celtic calendar, in particular the first three nights of this month, with the festival marking the end of the summer season and the end of the harvest. A modernized version of this festival continues today in some of the traditions of the Catholic All Souls' Day, the secular Halloween, and in folk practices of Samhain itself in the Celtic Nations and the Irish and Scottish diasporas. The festival is also now observed in a variety of forms by types of Neopagans.

• December - Nollaig

Winter Solstice (Yule): Grianstad an Gheimhridh
Yule is a winter festival celebrated in Northern Europe since ancient times. Yule celebrations at the winter solstice predate Christianity. Many of the symbols and motifs associated with the modern holiday of Christmas are derived from Yule celebrations. The burning of the Yule log, the decorating of Christmas trees, the eating of ham, the hanging of boughs, holly, mistletoe, etc. are all historically practices associated with Yule. When the Christianization of the Germanic peoples began, missionaries found it convenient to provide a Christian reinterpretation of popular pagan holidays such as Yule and allow the celebrations themselves to go on largely unchanged, versus trying to confront and suppress them.

• January - Eanáir

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Spring - An tEarrach

• February - Feabhra
Imbolc is one of the four principal festivals of the Irish calendar, celebrated either at the beginning of February or at the first local signs of Spring. Originally dedicated to the goddess Brigid, in the Christian period it was adopted as St Brigid's Day.

Imbolc is traditionally a time of weather prognostication, and the old tradition of watching to see if serpents or badgers came from their winter dens is perhaps a precursor to Groundhog Day.

Fire and purification are an important aspect of this festival. Brigid (also known as Brighid, Bríde, Brigit, Brìd) is the goddess of poetry, healing and smithcraft. As both goddess and saint she is also associated with holy wells, sacred flames, and healing. The lighting of candles and fires represents the return of warmth and the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months.

• March - Márta

Spring/Vernal Equinox (Ostara): Lá Leathach an Earraigh
Ostara is loosely based on several holidays that were celebrated around the Vernal Equinox (when day and night are nearly of equal length). The modern holiday does not have a strong relation to any known historical Pagan religious observation. A historically correct reconstruction is difficult.

The name Ostara goes back to Jakob Grimm, who, in his Deutsche Mythologie, speculated about an ancient German goddess Ostara, after whom the Easter festival (German: Ostern) could have been named. Grimm's main source is De temporum ratione by the Venerable Bede. Bede had put forward the thesis that the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of April: Eostur-monath was named after a goddess Eostre.

The Old Cows Days: Laethanta na mBó Riabhaigh
The last days of March and the first three days of April are known as The Old Cows Days/The Days of the Brindled Cow or, in the Irish language, Laethanta na mBó Riabhaigh. The term comes from a folk tale, illustrating the unpredictability of the weather at this time of year in Ireland. The tale relates how the bó riabhach, "the brindled cow," complained at the beginning of April to her companions in the herd of the terrible harshness of the previous month of March. As the grumbling of the cow continued, the at first disinterested March began to take umbrage and decided to teach the speckled cow a lesson she would never forget. March "borrowed" the first three days of April but made them so bitterly cold and miserable that before they were ended the unlucky bó riabhach had died. These "days of the brindled cow" are still with us to remind us that we complain about the harshness of the weather at our peril.

• April - Aibreán

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Summer: An Samhradh

• May - Bealtaine
Beltane or Bealtaine (pronounced "bell-tane") is an ancient Gaelic holiday celebrated around May 1. Historically, this festival was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. There were similar festivals held at the same time in the other Celtic countries of Wales, Brittany, and Cornwall. The festival survives in folkloric practices in the Celtic Nations and the diaspora, and has experienced a degree of revival in recent decades.

The word Beltane derives directly from the Old Irish Beltain, which later evolved into the Modern Irish Bealtaine. In Modern Irish, Oíche Bealtaine is May Eve, and Lá Bealtaine is May Day. Mí na Bealtaine, or simply Bealtaine is the name of the month of May.

In Irish mythology, the beginning of the summer season for the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians started at Bealtaine. Great bonfires would mark a time of purification and transition, heralding in the season in the hope of a good harvest later in the year, and were accompanied with ritual acts to protect the people from any harm by Otherworldly spirits, such as the Sídhe. Like the festival of Samhain, opposite Beltane on 31 October, Beltane was a time when the Otherworld was seen as particularly close at hand. Early Gaelic sources from around the 10th century state that the druids of the community would create a need-fire on top of a hill on this day and drive the village's cattle through the fires to purify them and bring luck (Eadar dà theine Bhealltainn in Scottish Gaelic, "Between two fires of Beltane"). In Scotland, boughs of juniper were sometimes thrown on the fires to add an additional element of purification and blessing to the smoke. People would also pass between the two fires to purify themselves. This was echoed throughout history after Christianization, with lay people instead of Druid priests creating the need-fire.

• June - Meitheamh

Summer Solstice (Litha): Grianstad an tSamhraidh
Litha is celebrated on the Summer Solstice, or close to it. The holiday is considered the turning point at which summer reaches its height and the sun shines longest. The evening before (St. John's Eve) is called Bonfire Night.

• July - Iúil

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Autumn: An Fómhar

• August - Lúnasa
Lughnasadh (Old Irish pronounced "loo-nessa") is a Gaelic holiday celebrated on the first of August, or at the time of the ripening of the local berry crop, or on the full moon nearest the midpoint between the summer solstice and autumnal equinox. In Old Irish, the name of the festival has at various points in time been written Lughnasa, Lughnasad or Lughnassadh.

In Celtic mythology, the Lughnasadh festival is said to have been begun by the god Lugh, as a funeral feast and games commemorating his foster-mother, Tailtiu, who died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture. The first location of the Áenach Tailteann was at the site of modern Teltown, located between Navan and Kells. Historically, the Áenach Tailteann gathering was a time for contests of strength and skill, and a favored time for contracting marriages and winter lodgings. A peace was declared at the festival, and religious celebrations were also held. A similar Lughnasadh festival was held at Carmun (whose exact location is under dispute). Carmun is also believed to have been a goddess of the Celts, perhaps one with a similar story as Tailtiu.

• September - Meán Fómhair ("middle of autumn")

Autumnal Equinox (Mabon): Lá Leathach an Fhómhair
Mabon is celebrated on the Autumnal Equinox, which in the northern hemisphere occurs on September 23rd (occasionally the 22nd, although many celebrate on the 21st) and in the southern hemisphere is circa March 21. This holiday is a ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and God during the winter months. The name may derive from Mabon ap Modron, although the connection is unclear.

• October - Deireadh Fómhair ("end of autumn")

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