The jack-o'-lantern originated in Ireland, where people carved faces into turnips and other root vegetables at Samhain to ward off wandering spirits. Its name comes from the Irish folktale of Stingy Jack, a drunkard who tricked the Devil and was condemned to roam the earth with a burning coal inside a hollowed-out turnip. Irish and Scottish immigrants brought the custom to America, where the native pumpkin replaced the turnip and became the Halloween icon we carve today.
| Where it began | Ireland and the Scottish Highlands |
| Original material | Turnips, mangelwurzels (a large beet) and swedes, also called rutabagas |
| Festival | Samhain, October 31 to November 1 |
| Legend behind the name | Stingy Jack, the trickster who cheated the Devil |
| First recorded use of the word | 1663, meaning a night watchman carrying a lantern |
| First printed as a carved lantern | 1837, in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales |
| When it became a pumpkin | 19th-century America |
The Legend of Stingy Jack
A Drink with the Devil
The Stingy Jack story comes from Irish folklore about a cunning drunkard, sometimes described as a blacksmith, who lived by lies and tricks. One night Jack invited the Devil to share a drink. True to his name, Jack had no intention of paying, so he persuaded the Devil to turn himself into a coin to settle the bill. Instead of paying, Jack slipped the coin into his pocket beside a silver cross, and the holy symbol trapped the Devil in coin form.
Jack eventually set him free, but only after the Devil promised to leave him alone for ten years and never to claim his soul.
The Apple Tree Trick
When the Devil returned, Jack asked for one last favor: a piece of fruit from an apple tree. As the Devil climbed into the branches, Jack carved crosses into the bark and trapped him again. This time Jack made the Devil swear he would never take his soul to Hell.
No Place in Heaven or Hell
When Jack died, Saint Peter turned him away from Heaven for his life of deceit. Jack went to the gates of Hell, but the Devil kept his word and refused him too. He tossed Jack a single burning coal from the fires of Hell to light his way through the dark. Jack hollowed out a turnip, placed the ember inside, and has wandered the earth with his lantern ever since. People called him "Jack of the Lantern," and in time the name became jack-o'-lantern.
Why It's Called a Jack-o'-Lantern
The word is older than the carved lantern. In the 1660s, "jack-with-the-lantern" meant a night watchman, since "jack" was a common word for any man. Around the same period, the phrase came to describe the eerie lights that flicker over peat bogs, also known as will-o'-the-wisps. Irish storytellers explained those wandering lights with tales of a restless soul named Jack. The first printed use of jack-o'-lantern for a carved vegetable lantern dates to 1837, in a story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Turnips: The Original Irish Jack-o'-Lanterns
Long before pumpkins, the Irish carved lanterns from turnips, mangelwurzels and swedes. They hollowed them out, cut grotesque faces into the skin, and lit them with a glowing coal or candle stub. The results were genuinely frightening, and they were meant to be. An early Irish turnip lantern is displayed today at the National Museum of Ireland's Museum of Country Life in County Mayo.
These lanterns belonged to Samhain, the Celtic festival that marked the end of the harvest and the start of the dark half of the year. The Celts counted each day from nightfall, so Samhain began at sunset on October 31. On that night the boundary between the living and the dead was believed to grow thin, and spirits, fairies and restless souls could walk freely among the living.
Samhain began at moonrise, when the old year gave way to the dark. This crescent moon wraps Celtic knotwork around pavé-set diamonds in rhodium-plated sterling silver, measures about 23mm, and comes on an 18-inch sterling silver chain.
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Jack-o'-Lantern Superstitions and Beliefs
The jack-o'-lantern was never just a decoration. In Ireland it was a working charm, carved for one night of the year when the unseen world came close. These are the beliefs that surrounded it.
Protection from Evil Spirits
The main purpose of the turnip lantern was protection. Families set carved faces on windowsills and doorsteps so that any malevolent spirit wandering on Samhain would see a glowing, grotesque guardian and pass the house by. The uglier the face, the better it worked.
A Light for Wandering Souls
Samhain was also a night to remember the dead. Some believed the lantern's flame helped lost souls find their way, guiding them onward instead of letting them linger among the living. Food was often left out for visiting spirits, and the lantern light marked a home that honored them.
Fire Carried from the Samhain Bonfire
Great bonfires burned across Ireland at Samhain, and hearth fires were traditionally relit from the communal blaze. Carrying a flame safely home through the dark gave the lantern a sacred edge. A light from the Samhain fire was believed to hold its protective power.
A Warning Against a Life of Deceit
Every flickering lantern recalled Stingy Jack, the soul with no place to rest. Parents told his story as a caution: trick your way through life and you may end up like Jack, wandering forever with a coal in a turnip. The lantern was a reminder that cleverness without honesty leads nowhere.
Guising on Samhain Night
People who went out on Samhain night, often in disguise so spirits would not recognize them, carried carved lanterns for light and protection. In Ireland and Scotland this custom of guising, going door to door in costume for food, later became trick-or-treating in America. The same restless night gave Ireland other legends too: the wailing banshee, the headless rider known as the Dullahan, and the shape-shifting Púca. For more old beliefs, see our guide to Irish superstitions.
In Scottish and Irish lore, the fairy cat known as the cait sidhe roamed on Samhain, and households left out a saucer of milk to earn its blessing. This sterling silver ring has a diamond-accented nose and a black enamel trinity knot, measures about 15mm by 10.5mm, and comes in sizes 5 to 10.
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From Turnips to Pumpkins: How the Jack-o'-Lantern Came to America
Irish and Scottish immigrants carried the lantern custom across the Atlantic, and the Great Famine of 1845 to 1852 sent a vast new wave of Irish families to America. There they found the pumpkin, a vegetable native to the Americas that was larger, softer and far easier to hollow out than a hard winter turnip. The switch was practical, but it changed the tradition's look completely. The small, frightening turnip face became the big, glowing orange pumpkin.
Over the following decades the carved pumpkin moved from a protective charm to a festive decoration. The origin of the jack-o'-lantern is still Irish, though. Every carved pumpkin on a porch in October carries the memory of Stingy Jack and the turnip lanterns of Samhain.
October is the season of the red deer rut in Ireland, when the Celtic stag, a symbol of strength and renewal, rules the autumn woods. This rhodium-plated sterling silver pendant measures about one inch, has diamond-accented eyes, and comes on an 18-inch chain with a 2-inch extender.
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What the Stingy Jack Story Means
The Stingy Jack story is a moral tale in a folklore setting. Jack's downfall is greed and constant scheming. His bargains with the Devil warn that no one is clever enough to deal safely with dark powers. His endless wandering speaks to an old Celtic fear of being caught between worlds, belonging to neither the living nor the dead. And his lantern, a small light carried through the dark, became a symbol of protection on the longest nights of the year.
Like many Irish folktales, the legend blends Christian morality with far older Celtic ideas about spirits, sacred fire and the thin places between worlds.
Carving an Irish-Style Jack-o'-Lantern Today
To carve the way Ireland did, try a turnip or a swede instead of a pumpkin. Cut off the top, scoop out the flesh with a sturdy spoon, carve a face, and light it with a small battery tealight. It takes patience, but the result looks far closer to the lanterns of Samhain. Use the template below to get started, and read our tips on how to care for a jack-o'-lantern so it keeps glowing through Halloween.
Celebrate the season with jewelry drawn from the same legends: explore our Celtic Creatures collection, our Celtic Moon and Stars jewelry, and our Samhain gifts.
People Also Ask
What is the real story of the jack-o'-lantern?
The jack-o'-lantern comes from the Irish folktale of Stingy Jack, a drunkard who tricked the Devil twice. Refused entry to both Heaven and Hell, Jack was given a single burning coal, which he placed inside a hollowed turnip to light his way. His wandering lantern gave the jack-o'-lantern its name.
Did the jack-o'-lantern originate in slavery?
No. There is no historical evidence that the jack-o'-lantern began in slavery. The carved lantern custom came to America with Irish and Scottish immigrants in the 19th century. African American folklore of the South also told tales of mysterious wandering lights, but those stories developed alongside the Irish legend rather than creating it.
Is Stingy Jack a real person?
No. Stingy Jack is a folklore character, not a historical figure, and no record shows he ever lived. Versions of his story circulated in Ireland for centuries, sometimes casting him as a blacksmith. He represents greed and trickery, and his fate warns that clever deceit can leave a soul with nowhere to rest.
Why is it called a jack-o'-lantern?
The name comes from jack with the lantern. In the 1660s the phrase described a night watchman carrying a lantern, and it soon also meant the eerie lights over bogs called will-o'-the-wisps. By 1837 it meant a carved turnip or pumpkin lantern, a meaning tied in Ireland to the legend of Stingy Jack.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where did jack-o'-lanterns originate?
Jack-o'-lanterns originated in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands, where people carved frightening faces into turnips and other root vegetables for Samhain, the Celtic festival beginning October 31. The glowing lanterns sat in windows and doorways to scare away wandering spirits. Irish immigrants later carried the custom to the United States.
What were jack-o'-lanterns originally made from?
The first jack-o'-lanterns were carved from turnips, mangelwurzels, which are large beets, and swedes, also called rutabagas. These root vegetables were hollowed out, carved with grotesque faces, and lit with a coal or candle. An early Irish turnip lantern is displayed at the National Museum of Ireland's Museum of Country Life in County Mayo.
Why do we carve pumpkins on Halloween?
We carve pumpkins because Irish and Scottish immigrants in America found pumpkins larger, softer and easier to hollow than turnips. The switch kept the old Samhain purpose of lighting a carved face to ward off spirits, while the native American pumpkin turned the custom into the familiar orange Halloween decoration of today.
How do you spell jack-o'-lantern?
The standard spelling is jack-o'-lantern, with two hyphens and an apostrophe standing in for the word of, as in jack of the lantern. Jack o'lantern and jack o lantern are common informal variants. The word is written in lowercase unless it begins a sentence or appears in a title.
