Saint Brigid
Irish and Celtic myths and legends, Irish folklore and Irish fairy tales from the Historical Cycle
One of the greatest Saints of Ireland!
One of the three patron Saints of Ireland, along with Patrick and Colmcille, St Brigid of Kildare was a devout Catholic in the very first days of the faith in Ireland. Her feast day is the first of February, which previously had been the pagan festival of Imbolc, halfway between winter and spring.
Brigid herself was the daughter of a baptised Christian slave woman called Brocca who had been pirated from abroad, an ancient pagan practise, and the child Brigid was got on her by her owner Dubhthach, one of the chieftains of Leinster.
Much is made of the similarity between Brigid's name and that of the earlier Gaelic goddess Brigid, but it's as normal to name children after spiritual patrons today as it was back then.
Dubhthach's own wife was fiercely jealous of Brocca and forced him to sell her to the druids when she got pregnant, and so Brigid was born into slavery. She was nothing but a source of trouble for the druids however, and she would vomit whenever they tried to feed her. Legend has it that a white cow with red ears would appear to sustain her with its milk. Having enough of her by age ten, the druids sold her back to her father, where she was no less difficult, being in the habit of giving away his belongings to the poor whenever she could!
So Dubhthach in anger thought he'd make good of his losses and went to see the King to sell her on, as she was beautiful. While he was arranging the deal, Brigid took the king's jewelled sword and sold it at the market, distributing the money among the beggars! Her father was enraged but the King was struck by her holiness and persuaded her father to grant her freedom.
Soon after that, Brigid decided she'd take the oath of chastity and join a holy order, but her brothers were angered since they'd get no share of the price they were to be paid when she married. One called Bacene laughed and said to her, “The beautiful eye which is in your head will be betrothed to a man though you like it or not.”
Well, Brigid stuck her finger in her eye and said, “Here is that beautiful eye for you. I don't think anyone will ask you for a blind girl.”
And yet when she took her vows, the eye returned as if it had never been lost!
At that time there was a pagan oak tree where priestesses would tend a fire for their goddess, Brigid, so St Brigid decided to take it over, inviting seven women to join her, making the first women's Abbey in Ireland, calling the place “the Church of Oak,” or Cill Dara in Irish, which we know today as Kildare. As she had been consecrated to God, so did she consecrate the pagan fires to the Church.
When she had found the ideal spot for her Abbey, she went to the King of Leinster and asked him for that land, which had rich forests and a gurgling stream nearby. He only laughed of course, wanting no Catholics on his pagan soil, but she smiled at the king and asked him if he'd give her as much land as her cloak would cover.
Greatly amused, the king agreed, and she told four of her sisters to take up the cloak. Rather than laying it flat on the turf, each of them ran towards a point of the compass and behind them the cloak grew without end! Soon it was vast, and the king was terrified, wondering what he was dealing with, so he begged Brigid to call them back and he'd give her a good parcel of land.
She accepted, but whenever he was less than generous with the poor and unfortunate, she would remind him of the cloak, and soon he became a Catholic.
She also founded an Abbey for men, and for centuries Kildare was jointly ruled by abbot-bishops and abbesses, with the Abbess of Kildare being regarded as superior general of the monasteries in Ireland.
St Brigid is said to have founded a centre of craft and high art, which worked metal and illuminated manuscripts. A visitor centuries later is said to have been overcome by the skill he saw on display, saying you'd think it was the work of angels, not human beings.
There are many miracles associated with St Brigid – she could turn water into beer, and her prayers were meant to be able to quiet the wind and rain! She healed the injured and the mute, and her charity knew no end.
One of the chiefs in the area gave a silver brooch to a young girl for safekeeping, then quietly crept into her home and threw it into the ocean. Then he accused her of thievery, knowing she'd be his slave, but she fled to St Brigid's community for refuge. One of St Brigid's fishermen pulled in a fish that very day, which when cut open spilled out the lost brooch, and the chieftain confessed his dishonesty.
The symbol by which she is most widely known is St Brigid's cross, made of woven reeds. When a pagan king lay dying, St Brigid came to tend and comfort him, and as she spoke she picked up reeds and rushes from the floor, weaving them into a cross, which she laid upon him. Asking her what it was, she began to explain to him all about Christ and the faith, and he converted before he died.
Brigit bé bithmaith - Brigit ever good woman
breó orda óiblech - A sparkling golden flame
donfe don bithlaith - may she lead us to the eternal realm
in grian tind toidlech - the shining bright sun
Ronsoera Brigit - Save us Brigit
sech drungu demna - from hordes of demons
roroena reunn - may she win for us
cathu gach thedma - battles of every hardship
Although Saint Brigid's day falls on the first of February, in ancient Ireland as in many places the new day began when the sun went down, and so it was celebrated on the 31st of January by the modern calendar.
However it was reckoned, up until very recent times a procession was held by young people around Ireland, who would carry a female figure made of straw, the Brideóg', covered in purest white cloth and dressed in the clothes of some girl of the village, from house to house. Fiddlers and pipers went before them, and a crowd followed. They collected money which would be spent the next day on food and drink for a country feast. Those who carried the effigy would have been the prettiest young girls in the village, called the brideóga.
Saint Brigid's day was known as the time to petition the Saint for good harvests in the coming year – farmers would turn over a few sods in their fields and coastal communities would harvest seaweed for fertiliser on the nearest spring tide to the day.
The Saint was believed to travel around the countryside bestowing her blessings on this night, so housewives would make sure that the house was tidy in what we today call spring cleaning, and various bits of food and drink were left outside for the Saint to enjoy on her travels. And if a poor neighbour or someone in need were to take them instead, all the better!
Bundles of straw were also left to be blessed, and butter, pieces of meat, salt and water would be taken in after the dawn and used for medicinal purposes. A ribbon left outside, then taken in, was called the brat Bríde, and it was said to cure headaches along with many other ailments, and offer protection on long journeys, especially having been left out for seven consecutive years. Handkerchiefs as well as ribbons were used for this purpose.
This was also a day to find out who your future husband or wife might be! Little ladders and spinning wheels were made from rushes and reeds, and placed under the pillows of men and women. When they slept that night, they would dream of their future love.
Hearing the sound of a lark singing on this day was a sure sign of good fortune to come, and the frost could be gathered, or water from a well dedicated to Saint Brigid, and sprinkled on fields, livestock and members of the family to protect them from ill fortune.
But of course the most famous tradition of Saint Brigid's day was the making of the cros Bríde, Saint Brigid's cross from straw or rushes. They would offer protection against disease, disaster, fire and lightning, and prevent evil from entering the house if they were hung by the door. The bits of straw left over form making the cross were scattered before the fireplace with a white cloth over them, to make a bed for the Saint. In other places the straw was tied into bundles and wrapped around an injury or a sick person, then cast into the fire the next day.
Kildare can be found on the map below!
More Tales from the Historical Cycle
Many centuries ago, on a windswept and hostile rock in the North Sea, a place called Iona, the great monk, philosopher and evangelist Colmcille founded a monastery. Men devoted to the new faith worked with fervour, bending their backs to hew from the pitiless stone, amid bleak and harsh weather, a place for worship and meditation upon the saviour o ... [more]
The extraordinary Ballintubber Abbey, known as Tobar Padraic in the Annals of the Four Mastersm is almost a thousand years old, having been built by King Cathal Crobdearg Ua Conchobair - whose father commissioned the beautiful Cross of Cong - in 1216. It has survived ages and centuries of persecution and fire, providing a place for people to visit ... [more]
One of the most imposing legacies of the last of the mighty megalith-builders of the Neolithic and Bronze ages, the Dolmen of the Four Maols, considered by some to be a cist tomb rather than a dolmen or portal tomb. An enormous capstone sits above three other stones, while the entry stone lies not far off. It was once covered by a cairn of smaller ... [more]
The gift of the gab, as it’s known, is a common thing among the Irish – being able to talk all day about anything and everything, and do it in a way that would have you listen as well. It’s as Irish as red hair and freckles. But what if you didn’t have the gift of the gab, or felt a deficiency of gabbiness? Never fear, al ... [more]
We are delighted to be able to present to you the rules of Fidchell, the Irish game of kings! This game can be purchased, but it's easy to get started and try it out for yourself. All you need is a 7 x 7 board, which can be squares or pins marked out - even on paper - 16 white or attacker pieces, a king piece, and 8 darker-coloured defender pie ... [more]
Ireland is full of strange little corners and odd byways that only a few know about, and one such is a mysterious place called the Gearagh, or An Gaorthadh, meaning the wooded river bed, in County Cork. Once it was part of the first forests in Ireland, home to verdant giants that grew after the great ice melted away, but now all that remains is a s ... [more]
Ireland at the beginning of the first millenium was a turbulent place, with many clans and kingdoms fighting among themselves, so that a Lord might be sitting comfortably one day but find himself fleeing for his life the next! And so it was with one of the greatest of Ireland's kings, Cormac Mac Art. Although he was by blood, law and custom ... [more]
On Martinmas eve, that is to say the 10th of November, it used to be the custom in many parts of Ireland to sacrifice an animal to Saint Martin of Tours! This tradition has only recently ceased, having been carried on well into living memory, as lately as the 1940s in some places. In poorer homes a goose, gander, duck or chicken was killed, whil ... [more]
It's true to say that music has a magic all to itself, for it can transport us to different places and times with the strumming of a few notes. It can make us feel angry, or sad, or happy, or any one of a myriad of other emotions. But if you were to hear the music of an occult Sidhe instrument played by one of the fairy folk under a loon's ... [more]
King Cormac Mac Airt was one of the mightiest kings of Ireland, known and well known for his wisdom, but after he lost an eye in a battle with the Déisi, he had to step down, for the solemn law was that a king must be without blemish. His son Cairbre came to him to ask his advice before in turn being crowned king. “O Cormac, grandso ... [more]
"Crom Cruach and his sub-gods twelve," Said Cormac "are but carven treene; The axe that made them, haft or helve, Had worthier of our worship been. "But He who made the tree to grow, And hid in earth the iron-stone, And made the man with mind to know The axe's use, is God alone." Anon to priests of Crom was ... [more]
Most people with an interest in Irish mythology and legends will have heard of the great tale of the Táin Bó Cúailnge, which tells of the heroic deeds of Cú Chulainn as he resisted and gave battle single handed to the armies of Queen Medb. What most don't know is that the ancient tale was once all but lost, for th ... [more]
One of the most legended and powerful relics of ancient Ireland was the Cathach, or battle-book of St Colmcille, who was also known as St Columba. A Cathach was really any sort of sacred or magical artifact, and great was the strife between the tribes and clans of Ireland to gain ownership of them! The psalter or prayer book of Saint Colmcille w ... [more]
Three was a sacred number to the people of ancient Ireland, bearing with it a hint of magic and the sacred, and this belief carried through to their spiritual practices, which occasionally included human sacrifice! Most cultures throughout history have at one point or another practised some form of human sacrifice, and lurid tales passed down fr ... [more]
Saint Colman was a famous Saint in early Irish Christianity, being born a prince not long after Saint Patrick brought the faith to Ireland in the first place. Despite his royal lineage however, his birth was no easy matter, for the druids had prophecised darkly that he would be a great man and surpass all others of his clan! His pregnant mother ... [more]
The old pagan times in Ireland were fraught with peril for even the mightiest warriors, with chieftains and tribes going to war often and for many reasons – pride, hatred, love and greed! And so it was with the fierce King Conall Collomrach. Little is known of his exploits, but his reign was brief and his end was violent, leaving behind only ... [more]
This now is the true tale of mighty King Cathal Mac Finguine of Munster, lord of Cork and warrior without peer. In ancient Ireland this story was told when mead was first brought out, or a prince sat to his feast, or when an inheritance was taken, and the reward for reciting this story was a white-spotted, red-eared cow, a shirt of new linen, or a ... [more]
The river in Meath which we today know as the Delvin, that very same river which flows into the Irish sea in Gormanstown, was not always called so. In the time of Kings it was called Inbher Oillbine, and this is the grim story of how it got that name. There was a prince who lived near to the mouth of the river, and his name was Ruadh Mac Righdui ... [more]
The boy who was to be Saint Colman was born in the northern kingdom of Dalriada, which held both Northern Ireland and Scotland in its power at the start of the sixth century. This was the time of the dawn of Christianity in Ireland, and it was a time when great terrors and monsters from primordial epochs still swam in the deep lakes and lazy rivers ... [more]
Most people have heard of Ireland's famous title, “The Island of Saints and Scholars”, and the reason it was so well known was because of the many fine Irish Catholic universities and colleges that preserved and spread learning throughout Europe. Of them all, there were few finer than the one in Howth, and so wonderful was its reput ... [more]
Very often here in Ireland we walk past the most astonishing buildings, carven stone high crosses, ancient temples and many similar things, but rarely do we wonder who built them. Well as it turns out, legend has it that a surprising number of them were built by a man called Gobán Saor, whose name means “Gobán the Builder,&rdquo ... [more]
I. Once upon a time there was a High King in Ireland by the name of Conn the hundred-fighter, for so many battles had he fought and won to gain his kingship. At the end of his reign was Fionn Mac Cumhaill born. Long was Conn's lineage, although I won't trouble you with the details, but he reigned at Tara of the Kings as Lord of all Irela ... [more]
In the time of High King Lugaid Luaigne, that is around the age when Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his Fianna fought in defence of the great land of Ireland, a dispute arose in the northern Kingdom among the men of the Ulaid, for instead of there being only one king of Ulster, there were two! Well, as anyone who knows anything about kings will tell you ... [more]
St Colmcille is one of the three patron saints of Ireland, and his life is the subject of story and legend. It was by his efforts that Christianity spread not only through Ireland but also Scotland, England and parts of Europe too! He was a tall and powerfully built man with a rich and melodious voice which, it was said, could be heard from one hil ... [more]
From the earliest times and in every corner of the world, mead was held in reverence. This sweet tasting fermented honey drink was especially loved by the ancient Irish, who shared fireside stories about rivers of mead in mystical lands over the edge of the ocean's horizon, ruled by Mannanan Mac Lír, and even in the place where the dead ... [more]
Ancient are the hills and mountains of Ireland, and ancient are her trees, something that the old people who lived here knew well. To them a tree was a mystical thing with its roots reaching down into the underworld of the sidhe mounds, and its branches lifting up high into the heavens towards the sun, moon and stars. Well over ten thousand places ... [more]
The Irish bee has been a beloved part of the culture and folklore as long as there have been people in Ireland, producing honey for cakes and mead as well as beeswax which has no end of uses. Many's the warm summer evening has been filled with their gentle humming above the beautiful flowers they help to pollinate. And yet for all that, old ... [more]
As Saint Patrick travelled across Ireland, spreading Christianity and the light among the pagan tribes, he saw many wonders and defeated many evils, but always more rose up to challenge him. So he took himself to prayer and saw a vision that he should travel to Croagh Patrick – although it was not so known at that time – and spend the L ... [more]
The shifting shadows of pagan times held sway over Ireland when the High King was a man known as Laoghaire, famed for his merciless fury and great strength, and he sat upon the seat of the High Kings in Tara. But unknown to him, Saint Patrick had landed in a little boat at Colpe in the Boyne estuary, travelling to a place called Ferta fer Feic, or ... [more]
One of the three patron Saints of Ireland, along with Patrick and Colmcille, St Brigid of Kildare was a devout Catholic in the very first days of the faith in Ireland. Her feast day is the first of February, which previously had been the pagan festival of Imbolc, halfway between winter and spring. Brigid herself was the daughter of a baptised Ch ... [more]
Through many an ancient legend and tale rings the name of the fierce and powerful druid called Mogh Ruith, meaning “slave of the wheel”. Older legends make him out to be the king of the Fir Bolg, or a druid gifted with many lives by the fairies, or that the name was but a title passed down through generations. Some say he had one eye ... [more]
Ireland has had many high kings, some were wise and kind and others cruel and the holders of grudges, but there were few as great as High King Cormac Mac Art, grandson of Conn of the Hundred Battles and son of Art and Ectach, the daughter of a mighty blacksmith. In his youth he stayed at the hall of the king of the north, Fergus Dubhdedach, but ... [more]
Back in the days of old Ireland when legends walked the earth, before the light drove back the shadows of ancient aeons, the word of a bard was much feared, for the people had no writing, so all of their culture and histories were held in songs and poems by bardic masters. As you can imagine even the mightiest were wary of getting on the wrong s ... [more]
In ancient days there was an Irish King whose name was Labraid Lioseach, known also as Labraid the Sailor for a long voyage he took into fairy seas, and when he came back from that voyage he was never seen without a deep hood over his head, except by one man. That man saw him once a year to trim his hair, and after the King's hair was cut, t ... [more]
It was the custom in Ireland of old to lay geases upon champions, heroes and warriors. These were magical forbiddings, deeds they must not do or disaster would follow, and no disaster fell so hard upon a man who broke his geases as upon Conaire Mor! His mother was a woman of the Sidhe called Etain, who had been married to King Eochaid, but disco ... [more]
Tierna the Historian was one of the many chroniclers and monks who wrote the tales of ancient Irish legends, telling us of strange and notable events in the almost forgotten past, the deeds of heroes and kings, and in one case, the disappearance of the High king himself! For it was by Tierna's hand we know that High King Cormac went missing for ... [more]
In the time between the Tuatha Princes and St Patrick, there rose over the people of Ireland mighty High Kings, who held power by force of arms, wit and wisdom. One of the greatest among them was Cormac of the wide purple cloak, whose hair was as golden as the heavy torc around his neck, with teeth like a shower of pearls and skin as fair as snow. ... [more]
Long ago when the fierce Milesians invaded Ireland and defeated the De Danann after many wars and battles, despite their sorceries and all their courage, skill and sciences, the folk of Danann made for themselves eldritch amulets and charms by which they and all their possessions became invisible to mortals, and so they continued to lead their old ... [more]
The Tailteann games were a grand affair in Ireland once upon a time, every bit as celebrated and renowned as the Olympics are today. Having their roots thousands of years earlier, in the time of the Tuatha Dé Danann, lakes were made and gigantic fires were lit during Lughnasadh, the summer feast in July. Druids and poets would compose cea ... [more]
The Claddagh Ring is one of those well known emblems of Ireland that most people recognise, but how many know the stories behind it? Many's the young man has gifted one to his lady, giving his heart along with it, as did the ring's original maker. Back in the seventeenth century there was a young Irish lad by the name of Richard Joyce, w ... [more]
Ah Tara, Temair of old, seat of more than a hundred High Kings of Ireland for better than a thousand years, home to the royal lines of Cormac and Tuathal, where is your wisdom and beauty? Where are the mighty warriors and poets who once danced in your halls? Why now do cattle and livestock graze where the mighty Fionn faced the Tuatha sidhe with a ... [more]
On Easter Sunday morning, in anno domine 433 it was that Patrick came face to face with the beating heart of the old religion at Tara, and did battle with the Druids. Although some might dispute the miraculous nature of the events that took place on that day, few argue they didn't happen, so take from that what you will! Laeghaire the king a ... [more]
Brian Boru was one of the greatest High Kings of all Ireland, a Christian king whose small dynasty challenged and broke even the power of the O'Neills, who had ruled Ireland from time immemorial. He rose to prominence at a time when the cruel Norseman was pillaging the lands of both Ireland and England, slaughtering and slave-taking, barbarians ... [more]
King Suibhne was master of the northern land of Dalriada in Ulster, and a grim and fierce king he was too, yet fair to behold like palest snow, with deep blue eyes. A mighty master at arms, he was called to war often, but latterly to the bloody battle of Moy Rath. As he readied himself he heard in the distance a church bell ringing, and no man of G ... [more]
