An iconic character in the culture of the nation, St Brigid was the first female and native-born patron saint of Ireland and remains a strong role model for independent women everywhere to this day.
Known by names such as Brigid of Kildare and Mary of the Gael, she is predominant among the many inspiring and powerful women who have shaped Ireland’s story.
Born around AD 450, Brigid was converted to Christianity with the help of St Patrick, and as the founder of several convents and maker of miracles her influence in Ireland over the centuries is as extraordinary as the great man himself.
Direct, confident, outgoing and ahead of her time, Brigid was also renowned as being abundantly generous to the poor, with many stories describing her as one of the most open-hearted, giving souls ever to live in Ireland.
The saint’s feast day is inextricably linked to the Celtic goddess Bríd and the ancient festival of Imbolc, the first of the four major ‘fire’ festivals from Gaelic Ireland; the three others being Beltane, Lughnasa and Samhain, or what is now known as Halloween.
Bríd was regarded as a goddess of healing, poetry, arts and crafts and the Celts originally acknowledged her influence on 1 February, a day that signalled renewal, new growth, and escape from darkness.
Over the centuries, the stories of the two women have melded to become a powerful, intricate Celtic knot of myth and miracle, legend and lore.
Cathedrals, round towers, St Brigid stones and holy wells still dot the Irish landscape in honour of St Brigid today, but she is most widely associated with a simple cross made out of rushes.
Legend has it that she soothed and converted a dying chieftain with stories about her unwavering trust in God, illustrating her belief by picking up rushes from the ground to make a cross.