Lá Fhéile Bríde is one of my favourite days of the year, a quintessentially Irish celebration. It marks the beginning of spring, the season of hope when nature wakes up and begins to leap back into life and seed-sowing begins.
This year, there is even more reason to celebrate, because Ireland has declared a national holiday to honour our beloved female patron saint. At last St Brigid has been elevated to her rightful place and has equal billing alongside Saint Patrick. Saint Brigid‘s Day on February 1 also coincides with the start of the Celtic festival of Imbolc, one of the four major fire festivals of the year.
The others in Irish folklore are Bealtaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain. Imbolc which in old Neolithic language translates literally to ‘in the belly’, comes halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox when the days begin to lengthen.
Depending on who or what you read, Saint Brigid is the patron saint of cattle farmers, dairymaids, beekeepers, midwives, babies, blacksmiths, sailors, boatmen, fugitives, poets, poultry farmers, scholars, travellers. For me, Brigid was the original feminist, a trailblazer, a strong woman’s voice in a male dominated world, a feminine role model, a force to be reckoned with. She is still widely venerated and many lovely traditions and rituals endure.
Best known is the tradition of weaving crosses from rushes and reeds. Brigid, we are told, was the founder of the first Irish monastery in Kildare in the fifth century. According to legend, she was called to the bedside of a dying pagan chieftain and while she watched over him, she bent down, picked up some rushes from the floor and began to weave a cross to explain the Christian story whereupon the chieftain was promptly converted to Christianity.
Her ability to intercede with God for special favours for the sick is legendary. There are still 15 holy wells connected to the saint Brigid where the water is believed to have miraculous power to heal. Just as the…
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