Rotten eggs, rosary threats, and cans of beer: Meet Ireland's oldest trick-or-treaters

The caped crusaders — Con Prout and John A Murphy — are preparing to visit as many houses as possible this Halloween. Their door-to-door antics in Cork date back to 1977 when trick-or-treating was still very much a US phenomenon and had yet to make its way to this side of the Atlantic.

Not content with apple bobbing, which was largely what constituted Halloween fun in the Ireland of the time, the pair recall being captivated by footage of trick-or-treating on television.

The best friends and former schoolmates, who were in their 20s at the time, decided to get in on the fun and set to work making homemade costumes.

John A explains: “Back then, Halloween was very boring. We didn’t want to just stay inside and eat an apple like everyone else. 

The trick-or-treating didn’t always go to plan, but it was still a lot more fun than apple bobbing.

John A from Waterfall was adamant they don Batman and Robin suits. However, Con, who lives in Crossbarry in West Cork, had other ideas.

“We ended up as Batman and a Viking,” John A explains. “ Con really wanted to go as a Viking and we weren’t going to fight about it. We’ve been best friends all our lives. I’m 65 and he is 66. In all that time we have never had a fight despite travelling the world together.” 

However, as trick-or-treating was a new phenomenon, parading around the streets in face paint and costumes sometimes aroused surprise and suspicion — and even fright.

"One woman saw Con coming with the sword," says John A. "It was only a prop to go with the costume but she was convinced we were there to do evil or something. 

She got the whole family to come downstairs and recite the rosary together in a bid to repel us.

John A recalls how their disguises made it easier to chat to women.

“It was much easier to talk to girls we liked when were in costume. One time it backfired as it was only the father who was home. He maintained that his daughter would never associate with people like us before threatening to call the gardaí. The daughter found out what happened the next day and found the whole thing hilarious.” 

The pair have — on occasion — also found themselves under threat from children.

“They don’t like they we are taking their sweets so we have in the past got pelted with eggs,” John A said.

Over the years Con and John A have recruited other members to the Halloween gang, including their friend Katie Duggan, who works as a nurse, and painter and decorator Martin Murphy.

And Cork households have expanded their Halloween stock to cater to their older callers.

We share the sweets with the kids but we couldn’t share the drink. We get ciders, cans of lager, small bottles of whiskey and the like but we don’t drink them until we get home. 

"That’s when we’ll think of the people who wanted to see us who we forgot to visit or even the ones who didn’t want us calling. If this happens we’ll go out a second time.”

Con said they have no plans to hang up their treat bags anytime soon.

“The only time I’ll stop is if I end up in a nursing home and the nurses won’t let me out for the night. The best thing about trick-or-treating at our age is you don’t have to wear a mask anymore.” 

The pair plan to keep it simple this year, with John A donning a mummy costume and Con improvising his rigout on the night.

“John A and I were planning to get a pantomime horse. However, this meant the one in the back would miss out on the whole night. At this stage, I feel I’m too old to take things to the next level. We’re happy to keep it simple really.”