This is the talk I gave at festivals in the summer of 2023
St. Brigid is one of the three patron saints of Ireland. The other two are St. Patrick and St. Columba (or Columcille in Irish.) She lived from about 451 to 525 (or 524 if you ask the people in Ireland. Next year in February there will be celebrations marking the 1500th anniversary of her birth.) Here’s a brief summary from my book, The Roots of Irish Wisdom:
No figure is more revered in Ireland with as much controversy surrounding the question of her existence than Brigid (Bride, Brigit, Bright, Bridget). There was a popular goddess named Brigid (which translates to “exalted one”), and some of her attributes were assigned to the Christian who became St. Brigid when Christianity took over the island. We have no writings from Brigid and no contemporary accounts of her life. Despite the shadow of doubt this casts over Brigid’s life, people in Ireland and in many other places in the world cherish her. What we do have is stories—lots of stories about her deeds and merits. It’s not surprising that all we have is what has been handed down orally; as is the case with most of the old legends, the ancient texts that refer to Brigid were transcribed oral tales, perhaps at times embellished by the author. They were only recorded on vellum after many generations had recited them in tales and ballads.
There were two well-known ancient biographies of Brigid: The Life of St. Brigit the Virgin by the seventh-century scribe Cogitosus, a monk at Kildare, the site of Brigid’s duel monastery; and Beatha Bhrighdi (The Life of Brigid) in the Leabhar Breac (The Speckled Book), dating to the fifteenth century. Other accounts other life were written, which sometimes contradict each other.
The Roots of Irish Wisdom: Learning from Ancient Voices by Cindy Thomson. p.19-20.
So why are we talking about this now? In 2023 St. Brigid’s Day became a national holiday in Ireland. That’s 120 years after St. Patrick got his day in 1903! Ireland has been slow when it comes to granting women certain rights and respect. The Magdalene Laundries are an example. These were institutions where young girls were sent if they were unwed mothers, accused of petty theft, thought to be promiscuous, or too pretty, or for various other ridiculous reasons. Lest you think this was something from the 1800s, it was, but the last one did not come until the 1990s! The government, who along with the church benefitted from this unpaid labor and for too long ignored it, did issue a formal apology in recent years. You can read more about that if you’re interested here.
These days everyone in Ireland is interested in St. Brigid. St. Brigid crosses are now in higher demand in tourist shops in Ireland.
I know this because a shopkeeper in Ireland told me so while my best friend Sandy and I were shopping in Galway for a St. Brigid’s cross necklace for her. Brigid’s following in Ireland and abroad is growing due to a focus on women’s rights and empowerment, environmental awareness, peacemaking, and caring for the downtrodden. She walks in two worlds as saint and goddess.
Let’s look at all that.
An artist going by the name of Friz, created a mural on the side of a building in Dundalk, County Louth, near the reported site of Brigid’s birth and where an annual pilgrimage takes place on St. Brigid’s Day (as it has for centuries.)
Some of the details featured and attributed to either the saint or goddess or both, with as the artist says a nod to the Book of Kells:
- Water/Rod of Asclepius (snake) from Greek Mythology, healing and medicine
- Holy wells and the power of healing
- Fire/Smoke/Hammer/leather apron and glove: patron saint of blacksmithing
- Feather quill: patron saint of poets
- St. Brigid’s Cross
- St. Brigid’s Cloak
- Dandelion/snowdrops/birch trees: She was born on the first day of spring in Ireland
- Belt and rosary
- bull/cows
- torc necklace
Be sure to visit the artist’s website: https://thisisfriz.com
Many legends and stories were passed down and that’s what inspired me to write my novel, Brigid of Ireland. Let’s look at some of them:
Brigid and Nature
The ancient Celtic people were attuned to nature. They had to be due their dependance on the land. Brigid worked in a dairy. The animals listened to her. She once saved a man who had accidentally killed a king’s pet fox. As she was going to plead his case, another fox jumped into her wagon with her. It turned out this fox could do all the same tricks the king’s fox could do. Pleased, he released the accused man. However, later the fox ran away back to his den. Brigid was born on the first day of spring, a season of new life and renewal. Today, more than ever, people are becoming aware of our affect on the environment. Climate change is in the news. Brigid, for many people, represents caring for the earth.
Brigid was a Peacemaker
As many saints were. Clan disputes were frequent and Brigid was called upon to mediate. She created what we would call win-win situations, so both sides left happy. This was described as her causing so much confusion both sides thought they won. There is a legend about Brigid giving away her father’s sword. If you haven’t heard it, I blogged about it here. The fact that she gave the sword to a man because he could then use it to by bread was symbolic of turning swords into plowshares, a concept today that finds favor with many.
Brigid was Compassionate
She was always giving, saying, “What’s mine is yours.” A powerful example for the world today and at least some to strive toward. There was poverty in her day that is a bit hard to conceptualize for most of us. The people then were either part of a wealthy family, part of a royal family, a slave, or homeless. Brigid was a friend to those without connections. (This is where I began my novel Brigid of Ireland.)
Brigid Practiced Hospitality
Generous to a fault because it sometimes got her into trouble. She gave away so much food that was always restored (a miracle). Hospitality believes there is worth in every person. In Brigid’s faith it meant she saw Christ in every person. The Celtic belief was that if you sent blessings out, blessings would return to you.
Brigid was a Woman of Contemplation
Today we might call this self-care, taking time for yourself, renewing your spirit. For Brigid there was a deep and mysterious presence of God everywhere. Pausing, reflecting, and contemplating on that is what allowed her to do the things she did. I thought of self-care when I read this poem by John O’Donohue found in the book Rekindling the Flame, A Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of Brigid of Kildare by Rita Minehand, CSB.
A Blessing of Solitude
May you recognize in your life the presence,
power and light of your soul.
May you realize that you are never alone,
that your soul, in its brightness and belonging,
connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe.
May you have respect for your own individuality
and difference,
May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique,
that you have a special destiny here, that, behind the facade of your life, there is something
beautiful, good and eternal happening.
May you learn to see yourself with the same delight,
pride, and expectation
with which God sees you in every moment.
John O’Donohue from Anamcara: Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World
Brigid’s Mantle
The legend of how Brigid obtained the land to build her monastery can be found here.
Spread Thy Mantle
O Brigid, Mary of the Gael,
May thy protection never fail.
Spread thy mantle over me,
Where’re I pass, where’re I be;
Weather foul or weather fair,
Keep me in your loving care,
Till I rest, my journey o’er
With God and thee for evermore.
From Rekindling the Flame, p. 58.
A Saint For Everyone
From Rekindling the Flame:
People are searching for a spirituality that is inclusive of all creation…she [Brigid] is attracting substantial scholarship and understanding. She reaches across the divides of faith, having merged Christian saint and Celtic goddess.
Darach MacDonald in his book, Ireland’s Pilgrim Paths, said about St. Brigid, “More recent scholarship has sifted through the political chaff and winnowed out some kernels of truth, as well as plausible explanations of why accounts of Brigid’s life … incorporate clear elements that echo pagan beliefs and traditions in a Christian context. Rather than being deceptions designed to fool people into false belief, the merging of Christian interpretation with pagan tradition created a continuum in the expressions of the spiritual life of the people.” He points out that Brigid sat on the boundaries of those two eras. She was a Christian but Christianity had not yet taken a firm hold on the island. That’s the symbolism of the tale that she was born on the threshold of the house, neither inside nor outside. These kinds of portals to the Celtic were thin places where the spiritual and the natural world merged imperceptibly.
After the Norman conquest anything the church viewed as pagan was destroyed, including the perpetual flame Brigid’s nuns had kept burning. That must have been devastating to the people, although they did continue some of their traditions in their homes. Brigid’s flame was ceremonially relit in the 1990s.
Two churches in Kildare bear her name: Catholic and Anglican. This year they celebrated St. Brigid’s Day with a joint service. In a country where it’s well-known that religion divides the people, this is significant and amazing.
Rev. Philip McKinley, curate of St. Brigid’s Cathedral in Kildare said, “She’s a very, very modern saint that speaks to the really cutting-edge issues of our day—gender equality, environmental issues, social care, poverty, peacemaking.”
Perhaps finding again the things Brigid represents is driving her new popularity and returning Ireland, and perhaps the world, back to its spiritual roots.
